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Seven Games: A Human History

By Oliver Roeder

Product Image: Seven Games: A Human History

Seven Games: A Human History

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Description
Checkers, backgammon, chess and Go. Poker, Scrabble and bridge. These seven games, ancient and modern, fascinate millions of people worldwide. In Seven Games, Oliver Roeder charts their origins and historical importance, the delightful arcana of their rules and the ways their design makes them pleasurable. Roeder introduces thrilling competitors, such as evangelical minister Marion Tinsley, who across fourty years lost only three games of checkers; Shusai, the Master, the last Go champion of imperial Japan, defending tradition against "modern rationalism" and an IBM engineer who created a backgammon programme so capable at self-learning that NASA used it on the space shuttle. He delves into the history and lore of each game: backgammon boards in ancient Egypt; the Indian origins of chess; how certain shells from a particular beach in Japan make the finest white Go stones. Beyond the cultural and personal stories, Roeder explores why games, seemingly trivial pastimes, speak so deeply to the human soul. He introduces an early philosopher of games, the aptly named Bernard Suits, and visits an Oxford cosmologist who has perfected a computer that can effectively play bridge, a game as complicated as human language itself. Throughout, Roeder tells the compelling story of how humans, pursuing scientific glory and competitive advantage, have invented AI programmes better than any human player and what that means for the games-and for us. Funny, fascinating and profound, Seven Games is a story of obsession, psychology, history and how play makes us human.
Product details
Edition:
1
Number of Pages:
320
Release Date:
2022-01-25
Publication Date:
2022-01-25
Publisher:
Blue Guides Limited of London
Languages:
Original: English
ISBN10:
1324003774
ISBN13:
9781324003779
Weight:
548 g
Height:
155 cm
Width:
235 cm
Thickness:
30 cm
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Very good
Almost no signs of wear. Book pages have no markings, accessories are intact and all other media are in good condition.
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