Counterplay : an anthropologist at the chessboard / Robert Desjarlais.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Desjarlais, Robert R.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Chess--Philosophy.

Chess.

Chess players--Psychology.

Chess players.

Anthropology--Philosophy.

Anthropology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (261 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, c2011.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"Chess gets a hold of some people, like a virus or a drug," writes Robert Desjarlais in this absorbing book. Drawing on his lifelong fascination with the game, Desjarlais guides readers into the world of twenty-first-century chess to help us understand its unique pleasures and challenges, and to advance a new "anthropology of passion." Immersing us directly in chess's intricate culture, he interweaves small dramas, closely observed details, illuminating insights, colorful anecdotes, and unforgettable biographical sketches to elucidate the game and to reveal what goes on in the minds of experienced players when they face off over the board. Counterplay offers a compelling take on the intrigues of chess and shows how themes of play, beauty, competition, addiction, fanciful cognition, and intersubjective engagement shape the lives of those who take up this most captivating of games.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

1. Blitzkrieg Bop

2. Notes on a Swindle

3. Psych-Out

4. Sveshnikov Intrigues

5. Son of Sorrow

6. Ambivalence

7. Cyberchess

8. 24/7 on the ICC

Endgame

Appendix 1. Note on Chess Annotation

Appendix 2. " Life is touch-move"

Notes

Glossary

Acknowledgments

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786613277473

9781283277471

1283277476

9780520948204

0520948203

OCLC:

705945757