RULES BASED GAMING: 1/4: Seven Games: A Human History, by Oliver Roeder.

Aug 27, 2023, 01:18 AM

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RULES BASED GAMING: 1/4: Seven Games: A Human History, by Oliver Roeder.

https://www.amazon.com/Seven-Games-History-Oliver-Roeder/dp/1324003774

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 pleasing.

Roeder introduces thrilling competitors, such as the evangelical minister Marion Tinsley, who across forty years lost only three games of checkers; Shusai, the Master, the last gochampion of imperial Japan, defending tradition against “modern rationalism.” and an IBM engineer who created a backgammon program 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.