Leading expert Paul Booth explores the growth in popularity of board games today, and unpacks what it means to read a board game. What does a game communicate? How do games play us? And how do we decide which games to play and which are just wastes of cardboard? With little scholarly research in this still-emerging field, Board Games as Media underscores the importance of board games in the ever-evolving world of media.

Having learnt the basic moves, how exactly should a player improve?In this much loved classic, Irving Chernev explains 33 complete games in detail, telling the reader the reason for every single move. Playing through these games and explanations gives a real insight into the power of the pieces and how to post them most effectively.

Match the cats and kittens of 25 breeds from around the world in this beautifully illustrated memory game. To play, simply place the cards face down and see if you can remember where the mother cat and her kitten are located. Collect more pairs than your opponent to win! With all kinds of breeds included – from the British Shorthair to the Siamese, and from the Maine Coon to the hairless Sphynx – this fun and educational game will appeal to cat lovers everywhere.

This is a fictionalized account of the life and career of world chess champion Alexander Alekhine. Born into Russian nobility, Alekhine lost his family and nearly his life to the Bolsheviks before becoming the worlds most powerful chess player. The coming of World War II placed the chess master in a difficult position, forcing him to collaborate with the Nazis and to produce anti-Semitic materials. Desperate to win back his credibility after the war, Alekhine was preparing for the redemptive title match at the time of his sudden death. Alekhines life was marked by alcoholism, fits of depression, scandalous affairs, marriages of convenience, painful compromises, and his battle to become "the Greatest." The novel is told as fiction but is based on the actual people and events that were part of his triumphant career and troubled life.

Liberty London is known for its floral and graphic prints and the offering of innovative and eclectic designs. The Liberty Anita Peggable Chess Set from Galison highlights Liberty's classic floral themes, perfect for any game enthusiast. This set features a peggable chess construction with pops of red and blue for the 32 chess pieces. Makes a perfect gift. * Box: 7.8 x 7.8 x 2.8", 198 x 198 x 71 mm * 32 Wood Chess Pieces * 1 Portable Chess Board * Instructions are included * Perfect for playing on the go!

The game of chess was wildly popular in the Middle Ages, so much so that it became an important thought paradigm for thinkers and writers who utilized its vocabulary and imagery for commentaries on war, politics, love, and the social order. In this collection of essays, scholars investigate chess texts from numerous traditions - English, French, German, Latin, Persian, Spanish, Swedish, and Catalan - and argue that knowledge of chess is essential to understanding medieval culture. Such knowledge, however, cannot rely on the modern game, for today's rules were not developed until the late fifteenth century. Only through familiarity with earlier incarnations of the game can one fully appreciate the full import of chess to medieval society. The careful scholarship contained in this volume provides not only insight into the significance of chess in medieval European culture but also opens up avenues of inquiry for future work in this rich field.

Grandmaster and renowned chess coach Zenon Franco provides a training course designed to help all aspiring players to improve their chess. During each lesson, you are invited to play a 'game' in which you try to find the best moves at all the important moments. Points are awarded for selecting the best moves - and are deducted for selecting blunders! At the end of each lesson there is a points scale to indicate how well you have 'played'. This means you are able to accurately measure your progress as you work through the book. Readers are tested in all aspects of chess: attack, defence, counterattack, tactics, structures, strategy, endgames and so on. Following this interactive course of lessons is an ideal way to improve your game. *A structured course of chess training *Includes 40 deeply annotated exercise games *Ideal for both chess students and trainers

Your quick and easy guide to chess Kings, queens, knights does chess seem like a royal pain to grasp? Taking the intimidation out of this age-old pastime, Chess For Dummies, 4th Edition is here to help beginners wrap their minds around the rules of the game, make sense of those puzzling pieces, and start playing chess like a champ. From using the correct chess terminology to engaging in the art of the attack, you'll get easy-to-follow, step-by-step explanations that demystify the game and give you an extra edge. Chess isn't a game you can master it's an activity that requires patience, strategy, and constant learning. But that's all part of the fun and challenge! Whether you're playing chess online, in a tournament, or with a family member or friend, this hands-on guide gets you familiar with the game and its components, giving you the know-how to put the principles of play into action from the opening to the endgame. * Grasp the principles of play and the nuances of each phase of the game * Familiarize yourself with the pieces and the board * Pick the perfect chess board and set * Know each of the pieces and their powers If you find yourself in a stalemate before you even begin a game, this friendly book helps you put your chess foot forward!

More than a decade has passed since IBM's Deep Blue computer stunned the world by defeating Garry Kasparov, the world chess champion at that time. "Beyond Deep Blue" tells the continuing story of the chess engine and its steady improvement. The book provides analysis of the games alongside a detailed examination of the remarkable technological progress made by the engines - asking which one is best, how good is it, and how much better can it get. Features: presents a total of 118 games, played by 17 different chess engines, collected together for the first time in a single reference; details the processor speeds, memory sizes, and the number of processors used by each chess engine; includes games from 10 World Computer Chess Championships, and three computer chess tournaments of the Internet Chess Club; covers the man-machine matches between Fritz and Kramnik, and Kasparov and Deep Junior; describes three historical matches between leading engines - Hydra vs. Shredder, Junior vs. Fritz, and Zappa vs. Rybka.

The Mensa Riddles and Conundrums Pack explores some of the most fascinating areas of puzzling pleasure. As well as some really challenging lateral-thinking puzzles and brain-befuddling riddles, it contains a variety of ingenious games designed to challenge the most demanding mind. There are lateral-thinking problems of great cunning, ancient games from China and Siam, and a host of original puzzles that will stretch ingenuity to breaking point. It is rare to find such a diverse collection of puzzles and games in one place. They call for a wide variety of puzzling skills and will keep readers pleasurably engrossed for many, many hours! Contains more than 50 fiendishly difficult riddles and conundrums; double-sided game board with dice and counters; tangram set; pentominoes set; matchsticks; jailbreak game.

The rich history of Egypt has provided famous examples of board games played in antiquity. Each of these games provides evidence of contact between Egypt and its neighbours. From pre-dynastic rule to Arab and Ottoman invasions, Egypt's past is visible on game boards. This volume starts by introducing the reader to board games as well as instruments of chance and goes on to trace the history and distribution of ancient Egyptian games, looking particularly at how they show contact with other cultures and civilizations. Game practices, which were also part of Egyptian rituals and divination, travelled throughout the eastern Mediterranean. This book explores the role of Egypt in accepting and disseminating games during its long history. Over the last few years, the extent and the modes of contact have become better understood through museum and archival research projects as well as surveys of archaeological sites in Egypt and its surrounding regions. The results allow new insight into ancient Egypt's international relations and the role of board games research in understanding its extent. Written by three authors known internationally for their expertise on this topic, this will be the first volume on Ancient Egyptian games of its kind and a much-needed contribution to the field of both Egyptology and board games studies.

Master the ancient art of chess, the game of kings. Learn the key techniques and classic moves of the chess masters, including basic and advanced tactics, combinations, sacrifices, and pawn structures. Over 300 examples demonstrate attacking and defensive strategies for the opening, middle, and end phases of the game.

PLAY AND LEARN: learn Shakespeare as you play this new board game for all the family SCREEN-FREE FUN for 2-5 players aged 8 and up SOMETHING TO TREASURE: this is a quality product made to last, with bespoke illustration and sleek and stylish packaging EXPLORE THE ENTIRE SERIES: this game is part of our bestselling Shakespeare range illustrated by Adam Simpson, including The World of Shakespeare: 1000-piece Jigsaw Puzzle and Shakespeare Playing Cards Journey from Stratford to London in the footsteps of the world's best loved playwright, collect characters and race round London's theatres to put on as many plays as you can before other playwrights steal your ideas, burn down your theatres or spread the plague! In this fun family board game, you will absorb details of Elizabethan England as well as learn loads of references to Shakespeare's plays. The winner is the player whose plays take the most money at the box office, and the fastest in the race to fame and glory.

PLAY BINGO AND SWEAR LIKE A SAILOR! WARNING! Contains deeply offensive words, smut and all round bad language THE PERFECT GIFT: ideal for sweary friends and family GLOSSARY INCLUDED: to explain some more unusual terms and generally raise your swearing game FOR 3-12 PLAYERS: the ultimate party game for large and small groups Play bingo with 64 colourful and highly offensive swear words! Each player gets a game card with 16 random expletives: the first to complete their board gets to shout BINGO - or something far worse... BOX CONTAINS: A master board, 12 player boards, 64 tiles, 100 counters, Fold-flat tile box, Sweary Glossary

Advance Chess: The Longitudinal Star Gate 14 (S. G. 14) Model. Edition 1. "Are we on the same page? Are we there yet?" Reminiscing through the quiet contemplations in the corners of my mind, like the gentle meandering streams of viscous channel flow, with its ever so fluid twists, turns and churns, along the seemingly endless river banks, where the streams erode the land, I cannot help but find my true self, in an endless barrage of possibilities and problematic probabilities, yet, while enjoying those inspirational moments in time while contemplating my next move, I cannot help but sigh, at the momentous capacity of knowing the seemingly endless, in-fathomable depths of my learning capacities. The game in question, yet, as you may surmise, without doubt, is not the conventional game of classical Chess, but rather, the beginnings of an exponential conglomerate of the space-age game of 3-Dimensional Chess, where the contenders are more likely to be closely human resembling programmable Robots or Androids that have human-like response, action-reaction behavioral inter-phases. It is without doubt, in order to be ahead of the curve of Advance Chess engagements, purchasing this book and the Board Game Model, which incidentally sells separately due to logistics problems of distribution, storage, marketing and advertising, as well as the supplemental Compact Disc (C.D.), does ignite an oasis of pragmatic knowledge gravitating towards and promoting upwards an individual's Advance Chess playing Skills. It is at this juncture, in reference to the connecting issues of Advance 3-D Chess and artificial Robotic Intelligence, I pose the following questions to you, the Reader, "Are we there yet?" and "How long does it take?"

One of the most important chess books ever written, reissued in celebration of a chess genius, Bobby Fischer. The American takes the reader through 60 of his games, describing his thoughts, the intricacies behind his and his opponent's strategies, the tactical justification of moves and the psychological battle in each one. You''ll find beautifully simple positional play next to out-of-this-world combinations that are just breathtaking. Fischer played nearly all of these games as a grandmaster so they are at the very highest level, but his lucid commentary makes every move and idea both accessible and understandable. Every player will learn huge amounts from this book. It is essential for each chess enthusiast, competitor and professional. The controversial alterations that were made to Bobby Fischer's words in the last edition have been omitted in this book, so only the author's own words are expressed, giving a true insight into one of the most gifted, troubled and controversial minds of the 20th century.

As readers complete each section of dots in this fun activity book, beautiful animal portraits are revealed -- so intricate they're ready for display The 20 puzzles in this book are much more sophisticated than the one-dimensional images created in childhood connect-the-dots books. Tonal shading and expressive line work build as each numbered section is finished. Dot-to-dot puzzles have also been proven to increase short-term cognitive acuity, hand-eye coordination, and concentration skills. Whether readers are filling time on a rainy day, using the puzzles for a party game, or learning the principles of drawing, "1000 Dot-to-Dot: Animals" is fun for all ages.