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The Immortal Game: A History of Chess
 
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The Immortal Game: A History of Chess (Hardcover)

by David Shenk (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
RRP: £20.00
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The Immortal Game: A History of Chess + How Life Imitates Chess: Insights into life as  a game of strategy + Game Over: Kasparov And The Machine [DVD] [2004]
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Product details

  • Hardcover: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Souvenir Press Ltd (10 Oct 2007)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 028563786X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0285637863
  • Product Dimensions: 21.6 x 14 x 3.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 438,162 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Product Description

Does playing chess require a great mind, or are great minds formed by playing chess? Chess is the seemingly simple game that contains infinity and which has had a profound effect for centuries on societies all over the world. Chess involves thirty-two figurative pieces, moving over sixty-four black and white squares according to simple rules. Yet, it has driven its greatest players to madness and has been the driving force behind the intellectual development of mankind. The rules and pieces of chess are a metaphor for society, they have formed the basis for military strategy and acted as an influence on mathematics, literature, the arts and artificial intelligence. Popes, rabbis and imams have condemned it is as the devil's game; Caliph Muhammad al- Amin lost his throne and life trying to checkmate a courtier while Benjamin Franklin used chess as a cover for secret diplomacy. Ranging from chess's invention in India in A.D. 500, its spread across the world by Islamic warriors to its role as a moral guide in the Middle Ages and its political use in the Enlightment, its key role int he development of twentieth-century Modernism and its twenty-first century importance in the development of artificial intelligence.

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2 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Book that Will Please every Lover of this Wonderful Game, 29 Dec 2006

This is a very special book that will appeal to Chess Players, to History Lovers and Collectors. Any one with a passion for the game of chess will find this book to be a very enjoyable reading, that will open your eyes to a different aspect of the game: its origins, its traditions, the philosophy and everything that makes chess much more than a simple game, a hobby or a past time. Even those not familiar with chess will find here a wonderful introduction and will understand why chess player are so passionate about its practice.

All in all the book offers a very pleasant and interesting reading, not just for chess players but also anyone interesting in learning about the game. Just be aware that this is not an instructional book on chess practice.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Place to Start, 4 Sep 2008
By M. Martin (Ireland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I found this book quite interesting, never having read a book (or other material) on the history of chess before. It was however, different from what I was expecting and seemed a lot shorter than it appears to be for some reason.

It will give you a good overall sense of the history of the origin of the game, with some very interesting facts and stories. Throughout the book it is paralleled with society and how it reflected changes in culture. This was interesting, though sometimes felt a slight bit stretched. What was more interesting, as the book gets into the more recent history, were the discussions of the usefulness of chess (in maths, logic, language, artificial intelligence etc.). But none of these discussions went very deep and I was left wanting to know much much more.

I would recommend this book as a casual introduction to chess history, and an enjoyable book for a rainy afternoon. It will probably spark your interest in further reading (as it did mine).
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