A History of Chess


Book Description




Burma


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Board Games: Throughout The History And Multidimensional Spaces


Book Description

In this richly illustrated book, Dr Jorma Kyppö explores the history of board games dating back to Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, India and China. He provides a description of the evolution and various interpretations of chess. Furthermore, the book offers the study of the old Celtic and Viking board games and the old Hawaiian board game Konane, as well as a new hypothesis about the interpretation of the famous Cretan Phaistos Disk. Descriptions of several chess variations, including some highlights of the game theory and tiling in different dimensions, are followed by a multidimensional symmetrical n-person strategy game model, based on chess. Final chapter (Concluding remarks) offers the new generalizations of the Euler-Poincare's Characteristic, Pi and Fibonacci sequence.




A World of Chess


Book Description

With more than 400 illustrations, and detailed maps, this immense and deeply researched account of the history of chess covers not only the modern international game, derived from Persian and Arab roots, but a broad spectrum of variants going back 1500 years, some of which are still played in various parts of the world. The evolution of strategic board games, especially in India, China and Japan, is discussed in detail. Many more recent chess variants (board sizes, new pieces, 3-D, etc.) are fully covered. Instructions for play are provided, with historical context, for every game presented.







Burma


Book Description

This book examines the origins and consequences of Burma's current policies from military, political, social, and economic perspectives. It analyzes the Asian decision to "constructively engage" Burma, especially in economic affairs, versus the position of the United States and many other Western countries to treat Burma as a pariah. Other chapters focus on the drug trade (Burma produces more than 60 percent of the world's heroin), the growing role of China as Burma's military and economic "big brother," political culture and democratic traditions, the unsustainable nature of current economic growth, shortfalls in education and health systems, and Burma's potential for foreign investment.







A Short History of Chess


Book Description

A compact and comprehensive chronicle of the worldwide origins and history of the game of chess—from 500 A.D. to its modern gameplay today Have you ever wondered what the pieces in the chessboard mean or why each piece has a unique move? In A Short History of Chess, Henry A. Davidson explores the ancient roots of chess and the developments around the world that led to the modern version of the popular game. For people new to the game and experienced players alike, Davidson includes a polyglot—a lexicon of chess terms in the forty major languages of the world. And for the skeptical reader or those interested in learning more, there is also a working bibliography of English language references.




The Lady from Burma


Book Description

In Allison Montclair's The Lady from Burma, murder once again stalks the proprietors of The Right Sort Marriage Bureau in the surprisingly dangerous landscape of post-World War II London... In the immediate post-war days of London, two unlikely partners have undertaken an even more unlikely, if necessary, business venture - The Right Sort Marriage Bureau. The two partners are Miss Iris Sparks, a woman with a dangerous - and never discussed - past in British intelligence and Mrs. Gwendolyn Bainbridge, a war widow with a young son entangled in a complicated aristocratic family. Mostly their clients are people trying to start (or restart) their lives in this much-changed world, but their new client is something different. A happily married woman has come to them to find a new wife for her husband. Dying of cancer, she wants the two to make sure her entomologist, academic husband finds someone new once she passes. Shortly thereafter, she's found dead in Epping Forest, in what appears to be a suicide. But that doesn't make sense to either Sparks or Bainbridge. At the same time, Bainbridge is attempting to regain legal control of her life, opposed by the conservator who has been managing her assets - perhaps not always in her best interest. When that conservator is found dead, Bainbridge herself is one of the prime suspects. Attempting to make sense of two deaths at once, to protect themselves and their clients, the redoubtable owners of the Right Sort Marriage Bureau are once again on the case.