Live out the wildest fantasies in the world of KonoSuba: God's Blessing on this Wonderful World with the TRPG developed under Natsume Akatsuki's full oversight. Whether it's playing as a luckless reincarnation or pursuing a quest as an all powerful magician, a life of hilarious adventures awaits!

A pocket guide to bridge, written by two internationally regarded writers and players For every bridge player who wants to be sure of the best bid, lead, or play, this book is designed as a quick reference. It includes what players need to know for opening bids, responses, and rebids. There is also guidance on hand evaluation, competitive bidding strategy, opening leads, declarer play, and defense so that the reader will have all the basic essentials of good play within easy reach.

The Barry Attack is a highly aggressive system that arises after 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 g6 3 Nc3 d5 4 Bf4. Although the concept of the Barry Attack has been known for a century or so, the modern interpretation (as with a number of other dynamic white systems) has mainly been developed by English grandmasters over the past couple of decades. This "modern interpretation" is often not very subtle. If Black provides a target by castling early on the kingside, White will often let rip with moves such as Qd2, Bh6, 0-0-0 and h4-h5, playing very directly for a quick checkmate. If this strikes you as too crude to have a chance against a sophisticated and competent defender, then a quick glance through this book will undoubtedly change your mind. You will witness countless games where very strong players are destroyed on the black side in less than 30 moves. Sometimes a lot less. This makes the Barry an ideal weapon for those who love to attack. Black's defence has to be very accurate. If not, a quick annihilation is on the cards. Play the Barry Attack is the ideal guide to this fascinating opening. Anyone who reads this book carefully and studies all White's attacking ideas will have a fearsome weapon in their armoury.

Instant Guides are packed with essential information and useful facts covering a wide variety of subjects from survival skills to stargazing. Portable, easy to use and durable they contain all the basics whether you're studying the subject or just interested. For practical topics such as Bicycle maintenance they offer expert advice, to-the-point instructions and tips from insiders. Booklets on more educational topics such as The Human Body provide colourful diagrams and straightforward information.

Joe Navarro is a former counterintelligence officer specializing in nonverbal communications and behavioral analysis with nine-time World Series of Poker Champion. Phil Hellmuth presents the next evolution in poker strategy - becoming a human lie detector at the tables. Success in poker is part luck, part maths, and part subterfuge. While the maths of poker has been refined over the past twenty years, the ability to read other players and keep your own "tells" in check has until now been mostly learned by instinct and practice. However by using Navarro's techniques illustrated with Hellmuth's examples, you will be able to decode and interpret other players nonverbal communication while concealing your own. You will essentially become a human lie detector and a feared player.

Power Play The Literature and Politics of Chess in the Late Middle Ages Jenny Adams The game of chess reached western Europe by the year 1000, and within several generations it had become one of the most popular pastimes ever. Both men and women, and even priests played the game despite the Catholic Church's repeated prohibitions. Characters in countless romances, "chansons de geste," and moral tales of the eleventh through twelfth centuries also played chess, which often symbolized romantic attraction or sexual consummation. In "Power Play," Jenny Adams looks to medieval literary representations to ask what they can tell us both about the ways the game changed as it was naturalized in the West and about the society these changes reflected. In its Western form, chess featured a queen rather than a counselor, a judge or bishop rather than an elephant, a knight rather than a horse; in some manifestations, even the pawns were differentiated into artisans, farmers, and tradespeople with discrete identities. "Power Play" is the first book to ask why chess became so popular so quickly, why its pieces were altered, and what the consequences of these changes were. More than pleasure was at stake, Adams contends. As allegorists and political theorists connected the moves of the pieces to their real-life counterparts, chess took on important symbolic power. For these writers and others, the game provided a means to figure both human interactions and institutions, to envision a civic order not necessarily dominated by a king, and to imagine a society whose members acted in concert, bound together by contractual and economic ties. The pieces on the chessboard were more than subjects; they were individuals, playing by the rules. Jenny Adams teaches English at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. The Middle Ages Series 2006 264 pages 6 x 9 9 illus. ISBN 978-0-8122-3944-7 Cloth $59.95s 39.00 ISBN 978-0-8122-0104-8 Ebook $59.95s 39.00 World Rights Literature Short copy: Reading through influential texts of the later Middle Ages, Adams shows how specific representations of chess encoded concerns about political organization, civic community, and individual autonomy.

"Who are Carlotta J. Thompkins, Lottie Deno, Miss Kitty, Laura Denbo, Faro Nell, and Charlotte Thurmond? For answers to these and other questions, read Cynthia Rose's account of the life of Lottie Deno.... Recommended for anyone that is interested in reading a complete history of a western gambler from cradle to grave". (Review of the West)

"Rose paints an intriguing picture of Western heroine Lottie Deno.... Readers will gain insight into the devastation caused by the Civil War and also into the wild but opportunity-filled West". (School Library Journal)

The true story of the woman who has been "immortalized" in frontier novels and more recently in television and film (as "Miss Kitty" in "Gunsmoke" and "Laura Denbo" in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral). Santa Fe writer Cynthia Rose presents verbatim accounts by people who knew Lottie Deno and rare period photographs documenting her life and times.

Boris Spassky is a true chess legend, a World Champion who, thanks to his monumental battles with Bobby Fischer, raised the popularity of the game to a level that had never been seen before. Although at the height of his powers many saw Spassky as a complete and universal player, adept at outplaying his opponents in any type of position, it is no secret that from an early age he thrived on sharp, attacking play. He was a superb practical player, and with the initiative at his hands he could conjure up wonderful combinations and deadly attacks.
In "Boris Spassky Master of Initiative," Alexander Raetsky and Maxim Chetverik look back over Spassky's long and distinguished career to examine how he defeated his long-time adversaries, carefully highlighting his most colourful and celebrated encounters over the chessboard. A deep study of his style and games will entertain and inspire any true chess fan.
*Includes Boris Spassky's most brilliant sacrificial games
*Ideal for the attack-minded chess player
*Perfect for sharpening your tactical ability
Alexander Raetsky is a Russian Grandmaster and an experienced competitor on the chess tournament circuit. He's also a skilled writer and has been a frequent contributor to the famous Russian magazine 64 and the internationally renowned publication New In Chess. His many books for Everyman Chess include "Meeting 1 e4," which was very well received by critics and chess players alike.
Maxim Chetverik, also from Russia, is an International Master and a renowned openings theoretician. Earlier works for Everyman Chess include "Mikhail Tal: Tactical Genius," which he also co-authored with Raetsky.

Hex: The Full Story is for anyone - hobbyist, professional, student, teacher - who enjoys board games, game theory, discrete math, computing, or history. hex was discovered twice, in 1942 by Piet Hein and again in 1949 by John F. nash. How did this happen? Who created the puzzle for Hein's Danish newspaper column? How are Martin Gardner, David Gale, Claude Shannon, and Claude Berge involved? What is the secret to playing Hex well? The answers are inside... Features New documents on Hein's creation of Hex, the complete set of Danish puzzles, and the identity of their composer Chapters on Gale's game Bridg-it, the game Rex, computer Hex, open Hex problems, and more Dozens of new puzzles and solutions Study guide for Hex players Supplemenetary text for a course in game theory, discrete math, computer science, or science history

teNeues NYC Stationery is proud to share our newest offering, classic Playing Cards with our signature style curated from museum art and illustrations from our favourite artists around the world printed on embossed, premium blue-core card stock in a gift box with flip-top magnetic closure. Our Watercolor Camera art is drawn and painted by hand from Kimberly Ellen Hall for her company Nottene. Kimberly creates one-of-a-kind hand painted art in sketchbooks for gifts, home decor and wallpaper. She creates art with a lovely loose style using optimistic colour choices and whimsical subjects. Our little portable box is giftable and great for travel, fits in any bag and the magnetic closure keeps the cards together between games. Standard deck of 54 playing cards including 2x joker cards Full-colour, richly -printed artwork on embossed, blue-core card stock Giftable flip-top box with magnetic closure Box measures: 69 x 95 x 25 mm Kimberly Ellen Hall is one half of Nottene, pronounced (nuh-ten-uh), a Philadelphia based print and pattern studio that makes hand-drawn and printed wallpaper and fabric. Kimberly is interested in drawing the small details of everyday life. Her illustration work has graced runways, books, museums, and retail products internationally.

Two great books from the Everyman Chess Library, The New Old Indian by Alexander Cherniaev and Eduard Prokuronov and The New Sicilian Dragon by Simon Williams, brought together in one volume. The Old Indian Defence is considered to be a sound way for Black to meet 1 d4. Some might argue that it is steady rather than spectacular, but is this reputation totally deserved? Grandmaster Alexander Cherniaev strongly disagrees, and in this book he introduces ambitious and aggressive ways for Black to play in the main lines. He constructs an improved version of a repertoire he has himself utilized with great success against grandmaster opposition. Using illustrative games, he studies the fundamental tactical and positional ideas for both sides, and also covers what to do if White avoids the Old Indian. This book tells you everything you need to know about playing the New Old Indian. Grandmaster and well-known Sicilian Dragon expert Simon Williams takes a totally fresh look at this famous opening. Concentrating on his favourite Dragadorf Variation, Williams constructs a cutting-edge repertoire for Black, one which is perfect for the modern Dragon player who wishes to cause his opponents maximum problems in the opening. Drawing upon his considerable experience and using illustrative games, Williams covers the key tactical and positional ideas for both players, and highlights crucial modern day themes such as the importance of move orders. The Sicilian Dragon is a highly popular opening, ideal for players of all levels. It enjoys such a great appeal because it leads to fascinating and fun-to-play positions in which both players regularly attack each other's kings with a complete lack of inhibition.

This book brings together the two greatest names in the history of chess. The author, Garry Kasparov, is the world number one and, by common consent, the greatest player ever. The subject of the book, Bobby Fischer, is the only American to have become world champion and is probably the greatest natural talent the world has ever seen.In the period between 1955 and 1972 Fischer, more or less single-handedly, took on the might of the Soviet Chess Empire, and won. During this time Fischer scored astonishing successes the like of which had not been seen before. These included 11/11 in the 1963/64 US Championship and match victories (en route to the World Championship) by the score of 6-0 against two of the strongest players in the world, Mark Taimanov and Bent Larsen. The climax of Fischer's campaign was his unforgettable match win in Reykjavik in 1972 against Boris Spassky. Fischer is almost equally well-known for his temperamental behaviour away from the board, as his play on it. He made extreme demands of all those around him including tournament organisers. When these demands were not met he often refused to play. The 1972 match against Spassky required the intervention of no less than Henry Kissinger to smooth things over. In 1975 when he was due to defend his title against Anatoly Karpov, Fischer was completely unable to agree terms with FIDE (the World Chess Federation) and was defaulted. After this he more or less gave up chess, playing only once, a 'return' match against Spassky in 1992. In this book, a must for all serious chessplayers, Kasparov analyses deeply Fischer's greatest games and assesses the legacy of this great American genius.

Improve your ability to take calculated risks! In order to win a game of chess you very often have to sacrifice material. Gathering the courage to do so while accurately assessing the potential benefits is a real challenge. The big question is always: whats my compensation? Generations of chess players grew up with the idea that a sacrifice was correct if the material was swiftly returned, with interest. Almost by reflex, they spent lots of time counting, quantifying the static value of their pieces. But is that really the best way to determine the correctness of a sacrifice? In this book, Grandmaster Davorin Kuljasevic teaches you how to look beyond the material balance when you evaluate positions. With loads of instructive examples he shows how the actual value of your pieces fluctuates during the game, depending on many non-material factors. Some of those factors are space-related, such as mobility, harmony, outposts, structures, files and diagonals. Other factors are related to time, and to the way the moves unfold: tempo, initiative, a threat, an attack. Modern chess players need to be able to suppress their need for immediate gratification. In order to gain the upper hand you often have to live with uncertain compensation. With many fascinating examples, Kuljasevic teaches you the essential skill of taking calculated risks. After studying Beyond Material, winning games by sacrificing material will become second nature to you.

What separated Alexander Alekhine from the rest of his contemporaries? Why did he dominate the chess world for so long? The main reason was undoubtedly his brilliant attacking style of play. Alekhine had a combinative gift and thrilled the chess public and influenced every great chess player since. Garry Kasparov once said, 'I fell in love with the rich complexity of his ideas at the chessboard. Alekhine's attacks came suddenly, like destructive thunderstorms that erupted from a clear sky.'
In this book Alexander Raetsky and Maxim Chetverik take a look back at how Alekhine defeated his opponents in dazzling style. They carefully select and analyze some of Alekhine's most famous attacks and glorious combinations. A deep study of his games cannot fail to entertain and inspire any true chess fan.
*Includes Alekhine's most celebrated games
*Test yourself with his most difficult combinations
*Perfect for sharpening your attacking play

Market Garden was a bold plan, designed to capture the Rhine crossings along the Dutch-German border and establish a foothold for an advance into Germany. A massive combined arms operation involving airborne landings and an armoured thrust, it was one of the most dramatic and controversial operations of the war. This new Campaign Book for Bolt Action allows players to command the forces facing each other across the Rhine, fighting key battles and attempting to change the course of history. New, linked scenarios, rules, troop types and Theatre Selectors provide plenty of options for novice and veteran players alike.

Chess is an easy game to learn, but a difficult one to master. A study of tactical play and some practical experience can get a player to a standard where they are skilful enough to prevent both checkmate and material loss. However, to advance from here to a higher level it is necessary to tackle positional play. This can appear daunting. However, once the principal strategic ideas are recognized, then everything becomes clearer and the game becomes simpler. In this book Grandmaster and experienced chess writer John Emms provides the improving player with the fundamental knowledge required to enter very game with confidence.This book offers a complete introduction to chess strategy, important positional ideas and is ideal for club and tournament players. (6 x 9, 144 pages, diagrams)

Viktor Moskalenkos bestselling books The Flexible French (2008) and The Even More Flexible French (2015) were hailed by reviewers from all over the world as eye-opening, full of new ideas, easy to read, sparkling, and inspirational. Time has not stood still, and the popular French Defence has seen a lot of new developments, not in the last place thanks to Moskalenkos books. The Ukrainian grandmaster himself has kept playing and researching his beloved chess opening and decided to write a new book with countless improvements, alternatives, new ideas and fresh weapons that will delight and surprise the reader. As always, Moskalenkos analysis is high-level, yet his touch is light and fresh. In his own inimitable style, he whets the readers appetite and shares his love for the French with gusto. The wealth of original and dynamic options in every main line proves that the French continues to be a highly intriguing defence that is very much alive. The Fully-Fledged French is a typical Moskalenko book: practical, accessible, original, entertaining and inspiring.

How does one determine the "best" chess games? What one may see as brilliant, another may see as simply necessary. Like some art lovers, chess fans claim that they know a good game when they see it, and that they know better from good. But "best"? How is this articulated? This book, itself a work of art, is brought together by the use of five criteria: the overall aesthetics (clever and relentless are insufficient qualities); the originality (e.g., not yet another white knight sacrifice in a Sicilian); the level of opposition (the loser played very well); the soundness (i.e., Are the moves refutable with perfect play?), accuracy (few of the moves are second-best), and difficulty (the winner overcame major obstacles) of the game; and finally the overall breadth and depth (one wants a series of sparkling ideas, with no dry patches). The 100 best games were taken from an initial field of about 7,000 played from 1900 through 1999 that had already gained some attention in magazines, books and periodicals. Three hundred games were then selected that appeared to have features consistent with the criteria. The 300 games were evaluated with scores - points given for each category of criteria. The games were then ranked, one to 100, by the score they received. No attempt was made to balance the selection according to period, nationality of players or opening. Also included is a chapter on the most overrated games of the twentieth century and one on games that would have made the list if...It includes 335 diagrams, an index of players and an index of openings by ECO codes.

The Richter-Veresov Attack is characterized by the moves 1 d4, 2 Nc3 and 3 Bg5. It is a great system for players who want to take their opponents away from well-known theory, force them into unfamiliar situations and make them fight on their own resources. There are various modern interpretations of the Richter-Veresov Attack which usual involve White playing f3 at some point. However, in this book, the highly experienced chess author and coach Cyrus Lakdawala focuses on the traditional treatment which generally eschews f3 in favour of more classical development with moves such as Nf3, e3 or even Qf3. In Opening Repertoire: Richter-Veresov Attack, Lakdawala guides the reader through the complexities and carves out a repertoire for White. He examines all aspects of this highly complex opening and provides the reader with well-researched, fresh, and innovative analysis. Each annotated game has valuable lessons on how to play the opening and contains instructive commentary on typical middlegame plans. * A complete repertoire for White to counter all replies. * The question and answer approach provides an excellent study method.

In the summer of 1972, with a presidential crisis stirring in the United States and the cold war at a pivotal point, the Soviet world chess champion, Boris Spassky, and his American challenger, Bobby Fischer, met in Reykjavik, Iceland, for the most notorious chess match of all time. Their showdown, played against the backdrop of superpower politics, held the world spellbound for two months with reports of psychological warfare, ultimatums, political intrigue, cliffhangers, and farce to rival a Marx Brothers film. Thirty years later, David Edmonds and John Eidinow have set out to reexamine the story we recollect as the quintessential cold war clash between a lone American star and the Soviet chess machine. A mesmerizing narrative of brilliance and triumph, hubris and despair, Bobby Fischer Goes to War is a biting deconstruction of the Bobby Fischer myth, a nuanced study on the art of brinkmanship, and a revelatory cold war tragicomedy.This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.

Technology can be more than just practicalit can also be fun. And fun is exactly what youll have when you try geocaching. It's a high-tech treasure-seeking game that uses the Global Positioning System (GPS).

Because geocaching combines the outdoors, puzzles, and adventure, everyonefrom kids to kayakers, and retirees to rock climberscan easily become involved. You'll join a rapidly expanding worldwide network of people who hide containers of prizes in the wilderness, suburbs, and even in the middle of cities, then provide clues for others to discover them.

Borrowing from the classic pursuits of orienteering and letterboxing, geocaching can be as easy as a walk in the park or as challenging as scuba diving to a hundred feet. You don't need to be an expert in electronics, navigation, or even hiking to start. With this book, youll soon understand GPS technology, know how to find your way about, and be able to prepare for your next hike-and-seek adventure!

Containing interviews with the developers of 36 of the coolest games in video game history from Deus Ex and Night Trap to Mortal Kombat, Wasteland and NBA Jam, The Minds Behind the Games gives you an inside look at how some of the most influential, iconic, infamous and forgotten games of all-time were created. From the painstaking hours at the computer developing to problems with mega publishers and with the media after release, The Minds Behind the Games gives you unparalleled access to the minds behind some of your favorite games. It will even introduce you to games that you never knew existed, but should.