The Immortal Game: A History Of Chess, Or How 32 Carved Pieces On A Board Illuminated Our Understanding Of War, Art, Science And The Human Brain (2006)
About book The Immortal Game: A History Of Chess, Or How 32 Carved Pieces On A Board Illuminated Our Understanding Of War, Art, Science And The Human Brain (2006)
People have been doing it for more than 1300 years. James Bond did it. So did Kirk and Spock. Ben Franklin was addicted to it. Harry Potter did it the wizard way, but never once did Doyle ever directly say Sherlock Holmes did. I picked up The Immortal Game: A History of Chess, expecting it to be the dorkiest book ever written, a checkered feather in my Nerd cap. I expected it to be boring and confusing, full of that chessy shorthand I can’t seem to follow despite its simplicity, and I never expected to actually finish it. I was so wrong. Author David Shenk presents a surprisingly fascinating history of the game, starting with its roots in India in the 600’s, played in similar fashion on a squared but monochrome board. The game spread to the Middle East just as Mohammad was gathering his followers, and the spread of Islam throughout the Mediterranean carried the game to Spain, where it spread upwards all the way to the Vikings. Chess underwent several incarnations as different kings and clerics tried to ban it, adding the familiar two-toned board to make it easier to follow. In the late 1400’s, the king’s minister became the all-powerful queen, in response to the presence of several very strong queens in Europe at the time, such as Isabella of Spain and Mary, Queen of Scots. It was during this renaissance that our current game was born. Chess has been used throughout the ages as a teaching tool of the masses, from teaching peasants their place in society, to teaching the peasants that they are just as powerful as kings and helping to fuel revolutions (Ben Franklin allegedly told a player who check-mated him to go ahead and take his king; America had no need of kings and he would continue to play without it), to teaching battlefield strategies, to almost freeing the imprisoned Napoleon, but the man sent to tell him of the rescue plans stored in the game died en route. Shenk alternates his chapters of history with play-by-play explanations of one historic game, explaining why each move was important. This breaks up the history with examples of strategy, without delving too deep into QH4/BH3 shorthand, and makes for an enjoyable and educational read. Shenk argues that chess masters are made, not born (reiterating M. Gladwell), and that any person can become a Grand Master at any age, if enough practice is given. I am no chess master, playing on an entertainment level in a very random and haphazard fashion and doing rather well at it. However, after reading the book, with very little thought effort on my part, I was able to beat my computer chess program – four times in a row. A very painless and interesting book whether you actually play or just want to read about it. As Spock would say : Fascinating.- Reviewed by Susan http://cheshirelibraryblog.wordpress....
People have been doing it for more than 1300 years. James Bond did it. So did Kirk and Spock. Ben Franklin was addicted to it. Harry Potter did it the wizard way, but never once did Doyle ever directly say Sherlock Holmes did. I picked up The Immortal Game: A History of Chess, expecting it to be the dorkiest book ever written, a checker-board feather in my Nerd cap. I expected it to be boring and confusing, full of that chessy shorthand I can’t seem to follow despite its simplicity, and I never expected to actually finish it. I was so wrong. Author David Shenk presents a surprisingly fascinating history of the game, starting with its roots in India in the 600’s, played in similar fashion on a squared but monochrome board. The game spread to the Middle East just as Mohammad was gathering his followers, and the spread of Islam throughout the Mediterranean carried the game to Spain, where it spread upwards all the way to the Vikings. Chess underwent several incarnations as different kings and clerics tried to ban it, adding the familiar two-toned board to make it easier to follow. In the late 1400’s, the king’s minister became the all-powerful queen, in response to the presence of several very strong queens in Europe at the time, such as Isabella of Spain and Mary, Queen of Scots. It was during this renaissance that our current game was born. Chess has been used throughout the ages as a teaching tool of the masses, from teaching peasants their place in society, to teaching the peasants that they are just as powerful as kings and helping to fuel revolutions (Ben Franklin allegedly told a player who check-mated him to go ahead and take his king; America had no need of kings and he would continue to play without it), to teaching battlefield strategies, to almost freeing the imprisoned Napoleon, but the man sent to tell him of the rescue plans stored in the game died en route. Shenk alternates his chapters of history with play-by-play explanations of one historic game, explaining why each move was important. This breaks up the history with examples of strategy, without delving too deep into QH4/BH3 shorthand, and makes for an enjoyable and educational read. Shenk argues that chess masters are made, not born (reiterating M. Gladwell), and that any person can become a Grand Master at any age, if enough practice is given. I am no chess master, playing on an entertainment level in a very random and haphazard fashion and doing rather well at it. However, after reading the book, with very little thought effort on my part, I was able to beat my computer chess program – four times in a row. A very painless and interesting book whether you actually play or just want to read about it. As Spock would say : Fascinating.
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The book provides a great history of the game. Its first chapters chart the game's origin, and connect it to major world events. For fans of the game, the book is an enjoyable read. I'd give it higher stars if the games that are analyzed at the end were provided the same "play by play" analysis offered to the game that inspired the book's title. Simply posting chess moves isn't helpful for the casual fan. Great gesture, but not helpful. Because some of the chapters venture into different aspects of culture (science, war, education, etc) some chapters aren't going to be as interesting as others. It's also important to note that the chapters do not appear tightly connected. Rather, the book appears as a series of essays with few, if any narratives that connect chapters.
—Nick Zaveri
The Immortal Game is a fascinating and quick read. It begins with the earliest known origins of the game whose rules have hardly altered for 5 centuries and continues to baffle and intrigue us, giving its players insight into everything from (as the title indicates) war, science, the human brain, and teaches the player about herself. Why Chess? Why this game? Chess takes place at the meridian of absolute freedom and unlimited possibilities and total structure:"It all starts out simply: in the first move, White is limited to twenty options ... Black has the same possible twenty moves with his first response. But with chess the number of legal moves is only a small part of the equation. Because while there are only forty possible first moves per pair of players, there are actually 400 possible board positions inherent in those moves... Think of it as chess chemistry: each player moving just once can yield any one of 400 distinct chess "molecules," each with its own special properties. In the second move, the number of possible chess molecules shoots up almost past belief: for every one of those 400 positions, there are as many as 27 options that each play has for a second move ... the total number of distinct board positions after the second complete move (two moves per player) is 71, 852 ... After three moves each, the players have settled on one of approximately nine million possible board positions. Four moves each raises it to more than 315 billion...The number of unique chess games is not literally an infinite number, but in practical terms the difference is indistinguishable ...10 to the 120 power ... In conversational English, it is a thousand trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion games. By way of comparison, the total number of electrons in the universe is, as best as physicists can determine 10 to the 79 power. Mind blowing, right? Bobby Fisher, Benjamin Franklin, Chess Geniuses and the mental illnesses, paranoias, and deterioration they suffer, multicultural, ancient, it's really very fascinating. And, although chess seems more intimidating than ever, the book definitely sparks the interest to start playing some "real" chess. Wouldn't it be amazing to become a decent chess player and make it a point to play when traveling? How neat to experience the kind of personal vulnerability, scheming, communication, and wit with complete strangers without verbal communication in Amsterdam, Budapest, Tokyo, Reykjavik or wherever we find ourselves?! An astounding universal language...
—Emily
David Shenk is the author of four previous books, including The Forgetting, an acclaimed study of Alzheimer's, and Data Smog, about information overload in the Internet age. The greatest asset of The Immortal Game is its accessibility. Through an educated layperson's knowledge of chess, Shenk focuses on his subject's more intriguing points and leaves arcane rehashes of famous games for more technical texts. (An appendix obliges those who revel in such details.) At its most engaging, the book meditates on the ways that chess can enrich lives. Given its brevity, Shenk's overview sometimes sacrifices depth to coverage, though such an approach barely decreases the pleasure even an interested "wood-pusher"__chess slang for a weak player__might take away from this passionate and well-researched historyThis is an excerpt from a review published in Bookmarks magazine.
—Bookmarks Magazine
