23 results for "History"

Wow in the World: Two Whats?! and a Wow! Think & Tinker Playbook Activities and Games for Curious Kids

Mindy Thomas,Guy Raz
From the creators of the #1 kids podcast Wow in the World comes an interactive, science-based activity book based on their daily game show, Two Whats?! and a Wow ! Choose between three unbelievable science statements to identify the true wow fact from the fallacies--and then learn the why and how behind the wow ! But that's not all! After each round, tackle a STEAM-based challenge using a few household items and a lot of creativity. And discover even more science fun in the sidebars, which are filled with brain-bursting facts and figures. Packed with Wow in the World 's signature, family-friendly humor and fascinating science facts, the Two Whats?! and a Wow! Think & Tinker Playbook will provide hours of learning, laughs, and wows.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2020-06-30 80 pages

Your Move What Board Games Teach Us about Life

Jonathan Kay,Joan Moriarity
The great board game revolution is here-- What do these games tell us about our society, our relationships, and ourselves? "Games, Jonathan Kay and Joan Moriarity show in this lively and insightful book, are not just fun and games: they allow us to explore the complexities of the world, from evolution to war to climate." - STEVEN PINKER, Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and author of Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress "Kay and Moriarity are both skilled writers and elucidators, and their voices are distinct enough to provide the book with a pleasing yin and yang. It's a far more perceptive and intriguing book than it appears at first blush, particularly for those readers who have never thought of games as an artistic medium - at least not one that comments on society." - KIRKUS REVIEWS Board games are among our most ancient and beloved art forms. During the rise of digital media, they fell from prominence for a decade or two but today they are in a new golden age. They're ingeniously designed, beautiful to look at, and exhilarating to play. Games are reclaiming their place in our culture, as entertainment, social activity, and intellectual workout equipment. Alone among all art forms, games require their audience (called "players") to participate. If nobody's playing, there is no game. As a result, games can tell far more about us than our TV shows, movies or music ever could. How does The Game of Life illustrate our changing attitudes about virtue? How does a World War II conflict simulation game explain the shortcomings of a failed novelist? Each chapter of Your Move examines one game, and what it reveals about our culture, history, society, and relationships. The book's two co-authors bring the perspectives of a writer who plays, and a player who writes. Before Jonathan Kay began his distinguished career as an author and commentator, he had a passion for games, and in recent years he has rediscovered them. Meanwhile, Joan Moriarity's career has been spent designing, developing, distributing, art directing, recommending and teaching board games and, recently, writing about them for a wider audience. With its short, punchy essays, and beautiful photographs of the games themselves, every chapter will be a worthwhile read in itself, and the book overall will leave you inspired to discover the truths of your own inner and outer world through play -- whether you're a seasoned veteran or a total newcomer.
Sutherland House Incorporated 2019-09-11 180 pages

Garry Kasparov on Garry Kasparov 1973-1985

Garry Kasparov
Garry Kasparov on Garry Kasparov, part 1 is the first book in a major series. This series will be unique by the fact that it will record the greatest chess battles played by the greatest chessplayer of all-time. The series in itself is a continuation of Kasparov's mammoth history of chess, comprising My Great Predecessors and Modern Chess. Kasparov's historical volumes have received great critical and public acclaim for their rigorous analysis and comprehensive detail regarding the developments in chess that occurred both on and off the board.. This new volume and series continues in this vein with Kasparov scrutinising his most fascinating encounters from the period 1973-1985 whilst also charting his development away from the board. This period opens with the emergence of a major new chess star from Baku and ends with Kasparov's first clash with reigning world champion Anatoly Karpov - a mammoth encounter that stretched out over six months. It had been known in Russia for some time that Kasparov had an extraordinary talent but the first time that this talent was unleashed on the western world was in 1979. The Russian Chess Federation had received an invitation for a player to participate in a tournament at Banja Luka and, under the impression that this was a junior event, sent along the fifteen year old Kasparov (as yet without even an international rating!). Far from being a junior tournament, Banja Luka was actually a major international event featuring numerous world class grandmasters. Undeterred Kasparov stormed to first place, scoring 111⁄2/15 and finishing two points clear of the field. Over the next decade this 'broad daylight' between Kasparov and the rest of the field was to become a familiar sight in the world's leading tournaments.
Everyman Chess 2020-06-15 522 pages

Lasker's Manual of Chess

Emanuel Lasker
"Lasker's Manual of Chess" is one of the greatest chess books ever written. The fact that it was first published over 80 years ago has diminished neither its relevance nor significance in today's modern chess world. Lasker was both a wonderful fighter and a deep thinker; his book is the quintessence of the exceptionally successful experiences he had over many long years, and his thoughts about them. He teaches what he himself considers most important: general principles and methods applicable to any situation. Once you have read the "Manual", you will become smarter - afterwards, this is bound to help you, both in chess and in life. Emanuel Lasker, the Second World Champion, begins at the most basic level, explaining the board, the pieces, how they move and then goes on to describe the fundamentals of chess strategy, chess tactics and even chess philosophy. The result is one of best chess books ever written. This 21st Century Edition has been supplemented with dozens of archival photographs of Lasker and his contemporaries. In addition, an entertaining and instructive feature, "Lasker Lore," highlights the chess history and trivia of the Lasker era. Finally, if the significance of "Lasker's Chess Manual," needed to offer more, the greatest chess instructor of the modern era, Mark Dvoretsky, has penned a special foreword to this new edition of the legendary classic.
Russell Enterprises 2009 350 pages

Garry Kasparov on Modern Chess, Part 1 Revolution in the 70s

Garry Kasparov
This book is the first in a brand new series that follows on from My Great Predecessors and sees chess legend Garry Kasparov reflecting on a pivotal time in chess history. Bobby Fischer's spurt towards the chess summit (1970-1972) marked the approach of a new era affecting all aspects of the game and opening theory in particular. Fischer demonstrated the need for deep preparation with both colours, expanded the range of openings knowledge, and laid the foundations for present-day professional chess. The leader of the new generation, Anatoly Karpov, fully reaped the benefits of the Fischer revolution by mastering the lessons of his great predecessor. Of the players of the older generation, only Victor Korchnoi was able to achieve such a high level of professionalism. Alas, Fischer then left the chess stage. However, the tectonic shifts he had brought about led to the beginning of a genuine revolution in opening theory and a revolution that overturned traditional impressions about many typical positions. Between 1972 and 1975 alone, progress in the field of opening theory was more significant than in the entire preceding decade! Under Fischer's influence chess was radically regenerated, a process which then continued to accelerate. As a result, from the 1972 Fischer-Spassky world championship match to 1984 and the Kasparov-Karpov matches, the overall picture of chess openings changed almost beyond recognition. This fascinating book tells the story of this opening revolution. This story is told not only with the insight of Garry Kasparov, but also as seen through the eyes of the leading players who were at the forefront of the development of chess theory during those key years. The reader will witness at first hand how rapidly and inexorably chess development approached the coming computer era.
Everyman Chess 2007-02 418 pages

A World Champion's Guide to Chess Step-By-Step Instructions for Winning Chess the Polgar Way!

Susan Polgar,Paul Truong
The best-selling A World Champion's Guide to Chess is available again!! Winning Chess the Polgar Way! In A World Champion's Guide to Chess, Women's World Champion Susan Polgar's exclusive training methods will have you playing winning chess! Topics include Chess Essentials, Tactics, Strategy, Pattern Recognition, Endgames, Chess Etiquette, Advice for Parents & Coaches and much more! SUSAN POLGAR is a winner of four Women's World Championships and the top-ranked woman chess player in the United States. She became the #1 woman player in the world at 15 and remained in the top 3 for over 20 years. In 2013, she received the U.S. Coach of the Year Award and the following year, she was named the Chess Trainer of the Year by the International Chess Federation (FIDE). She thus became the first person in history to be accorded both honors. Under her guidance, SPICE chess teams at both Texas Tech University and Webster University have won a combined five consecutive National Division I Collegiate Chess Championships. PAUL TRUONG is winner of eleven national titles, a prolific chess trainer, and award-winning chess author. He was also captain and manager of the historic 2004 US Women's Olympiad team which won two gold and two silver medals, as well as the coach of the five-time national champion SPICE chess teams.
Russell Enterprises, Incorporated 2015-11-19 384 pages

American Trivia Quiz Book

Richard Lederer Lederer,Caroline McCullagh
Recent surveys reveal that more Americans can name at least two members of the Simpsons cartoon family than can name the first four American presidents in order. Richard Lederer and Caroline McCullagh have written the American Trivia Quiz Book to make your knowledge of our nation and history at least match the nation and knowledge of The Simpsons.
ReadHowYouWant.com, Limited 2018-01-09 210 pages

Rich As a King How the Wisdom of Chess Can Make You a Grandmaster of Investing

Susan Polgar,Douglas Goldstein
Chess champions are among the strongest strategic thinkers in the world. Imagine if you could apply the thought processes of grandmasters like Bobby Fischer, Garry Kasparov, and Susan Polgar to your own investments.Rich as a King: How the Wisdom of Chess Can Make You a Grandmaster of Investing unlocks the secrets of chess in a tangible way so you can apply them to managing your own finances. With the guidance of World Chess Champion and Grandmaster Susan Polgar--one of the greatest players in the history of the game--along with international investment advisor Douglas Goldstein, CFP®, you can learn how to apply the wisdom of chess to make you a grandmaster of your investments.Packed with practical examples and never-before-heard stories from the chess world, Susan and Doug will show you: What has been holding you back from success The moves Susan used to win 10 Olympic medals, which you can start using right now to manage your money The 64 strategies that can make you Rich as a King!Thinking one step ahead and creating a detailed financial plan will bring you closer to your ultimate goals of building your wealth.
Morgan James Publishing 2014-10-21 298 pages

Poker Face A Girlhood Among Gamblers

Katy Lederer
“The intricacies of family and the complexities of the games they play mingle wonderfully here in a memoir quite unlike any other.”—George Plimpton, author of Truman Capote Katy Lederer grew up on the bucolic campus of an exclusive East Coast boarding school where her father taught English, her mother retreated into crosswords and scotch, and her much older siblings played “grown-up” games like gin rummy and chess. But Katy faced much more than the typical trials of childhood. Within the confines of the Lederer household an unlikely transformation was brewing, one that would turn this darkly intellectual and game-happy group into a family of professional gamblers. Poker Face is Katy Lederer’s perceptive account of her family’s lively history. From the long kitchen table where her mother played what seemed an endless game of solitaire, to the seedy New York bars where her brother first learned to play poker, to the glamorous Bellagio casino in Las Vegas, where her sister and brother wager hundreds of thousands of dollars a night at the tables, Lederer takes us on a tragicomic journey through a world where intelligence and deceit are used equally as currency. Not since Mary McCarthy’s Memories of a Catholic Girlhood has a writer cast such a witty and astringently analytic eye on the demands of growing up. An unflinching exploration of trust and betrayal, competition, suspicion, and unconventional familial love, Poker Face is a testament to the human spirit’s inventiveness when faced with unusually difficult odds.
Three River Press 2003 209 pages

First Book of Chess

I. A. Horowitz,Fred Reinfeld
This book holds the distinction and is famous for being the first chess book Bobby Fischer ever read. As Bobby himself tells the story, when he was 6 years old, one day his sister Joan brought home a plastic chess set she had bought in the market and they learned how to play by reading the instructions on the box. Later, when Bobby had developed an interest in the game, Joan brought home a book appropriately entitled "First Book of Chess." It was then a new book, just out. As they say, the rest is history. We will not guarantee that you will become the World Chess Champion if you read this book. We will not even double your money back if you do not become World Chess Champion. However, we will guarantee that you cannot go wrong if you start chess with this book.
Ishi Press International 2001-12 134 pages

Dice Deception, Fate and Rotten Luck

Ricky Jay
A classic small celebration and meditation on dice through theages; both brilliant and beautiful. "Jay\'s writing is exactly what one would expect from theextremely erudite, witty and decent author of Learned Pigs &Fireproof Women and Jay\'s Journal of Anomalies. There is anexplanation of the etymology of "craps," and there are varioustales of armless dicers, ingenious hustlers, and Scandinavian kingsof the Middle Ages who diced for islands. Dice turn out to be richsubjects for Purcell\'s photography. She presents them as, in away, monumental ruins on a Stonehenge-type of scale relative to thebook. Their forms are enriched by their disintegration and arebathed in light that their varying translucence seems to containfor a moment before releasing it to the lens . . . The book itselfis, like a die, a modest object, small for a book of photographyand, with a short text, casually organized." -- Crispin Sartwell,Los Angeles Times 21 color photographs.
Quantuck Lane Press 2007-10-30 64 pages

Progressions The Art of Jon Foster

Jon Foster
Jon Foster's art is dark, beautiful, and visually overpowering. From his Dark Horse Comics' Star Wars covers to his game industry work on Dungeons & Dragons Third Edition and Alternity, Foster always knows how to move the soul of the viewer. Progressions features a selection of Foster's paintings, sketches, and illustrations and is a must have for anyone who has ever admired art.
Cartouche Press 2002 79 pages

Curious Chess Facts

Irving Chernev
Curious Chess Facts is Irving Chernev's first book. Published in 1937, it is his famous collection of chess anecdotes. The facts in this book are so famous that they have become part of chess lore, repeated thousands of times, published in countless books and magazine articles by many different authors, such that it is almost forgotten that this book is the original published source. Here are some examples: At a dinner somebody gave a toast to the World Chess Champion. Both Steinitz and Zukertort stood up. (They played a match to determine the real world champion. Steinitz won the match but Zukertort had finished three points ahead of him in London 1883.) This is Curious Chess Fact Number 197 in this book. One that I use that often helps me remember chess history is that Steinitz was World Champion for 28 years. His record was not quite equaled by Lasker who was world champion for 27 years. This is Curious Chess Fact Number 21. Since I remember that Lasker lost the world title to Capablanca in a match in 1921, I can calculate back to determine the year in which Lasker won the world championship by defeating Steinitz in a match. Then, going back another 28 years I can calculate the year that Steinitz defeated Adolf Anderssen who some consider to have been the first world chess champion. Another example is that Marshall won a famous game by a queen sacrifice that was so brilliant that the spectators showered the board with gold pieces. This is Curious Chess Fact Number 9. The moves of the game itself with the spectacular queen sacrifice are to be found in almost every anthology of famous chess games. The story that the spectators showered the board with gold pieces is always included with the moves. The list goes on any on. There are so many of them that you just have to read this book to see and recall them.
Ishi Press International 2013-03 84 pages

Chess Openings Theory and Practice

Israel Albert Horowitz
"Speaking for myself and for players of my strength, Chess Openings: Theory and Practice is the greatest aid I have ever seen for preparing for a tournament. Speaking for all other players, the book is a "must." Current thinking on all important lines is meticulously presented, offering myriad, clear-cut ideas a completely new and effective arsenal of weapons. "-Samuel Reshevsky, United States Open Champion." Chess Openings Theory and Practice is a remarkable book, unequaled by any book of that era or since. It is not a mere openings book with long columns of moves followed at the end by punctuation marks such as + -- or =. It presents opening ideas and games, often including the first game where each opening was played, plus the history of the opening, the names of famous players who played this opening and the ideas and plans on which the opening is based. It provides "idea variations." These are variations that may not actually occur in actual practice, but are what you would play if given the chance. No other book does that, at least not in English and not to this extent.
Ishi Press International 2015-06-07 800 pages

Even More Things That Nobody Knows 501 Further Mysteries of Life, the Universe and Everything

William Hartston
A fascinating exploration of the limits of human knowledge of our planet, its history and culture, and the universe beyond, from the author of The Things that Nobody Knows There are many, many more things that nobody knows. Do animals have a sense of humor? Why do we have five fingers? How long can humans live? What did Jesus do in his youth? Which speech did Lincoln deliver at Gettysburg? Does the appendix have any use? Is there an odd perfect number? In this witty and enlightening follow-up to The Things that Nobody Know s, William Hartston takes us on a guided tour of 501 further gaps in our knowledge of cosmology, mathematics, animal behavior, medical science, music, art, and literature.
Atlantic Books, Limited 2015-11-05 384 pages

Cutting Up Touches A Brief History of Pockets and the People who Pick Them

David Avadon
Show business junkies, magic fans and lovers of the variety arts, put your hands on your wallets and read on. Cutting Up Touches is the first book ever written on the history of exhibition pickpocketing. This specialty act features dynamic performers who deftly steal watches and wallets - even neckties and belts from unsuspecting volunteers. F.D.R., J. Edgar Hoover, Pierce Brosnan and Michael Douglas are some of the many celebrities and political figures who've found their pockets emptied by these light-fingered showmen. David Avadon, one of the smoothest pickpockets in the country, unveils the rich history of this fascinating entertainment from its music hall beginnings to the largest showrooms in the world. He explores the powerful subliminal emotions touched by each act of theatrical theivery. This street crime turned performance art is unique among all entertainments. It is the human-to-human activity which most closely resembles bull fighting. Avadon puts the reader wise to the wires, dips and cannons of the street corner variety then, in elegant prose, limns the masters of stealing on stage: Dr. Giovanni, Borra, Dominique and many, many more. Illustrated with photos, playbills and posters, many published here for the first time.
Squash Pub. 2007 148 pages

Practical Chess Openings

Reuben Fine
Practical Chess Openings is a basic openings book covering all the major openings, in alphabetical order. At the beginning of each section is a general description of the opening and its history, including the names of famous players who played it. The opening lines are in Descriptive Notation and are arranged in columns from the most popular to the least popular. Nowadays chess grandmasters do not study opening books. Instead they work with computer databases with millions of games in them, and then run them through chess analysis programs like Fritz, Houdini and Rybka, searching for new ideas and for flaws in their rival grandmaster's analysis. Amateur chess players cannot compete against this. We must just play for the enjoyment of the game without any hope of ever making grandmaster status. Having a book with the latest most up to date lines is of no added value. A serviceable, shorter and highly readable book like Fine's “Practical Chess Openings” is just as good and perhaps even better than a new book crammed with all the latest stuff.
Ishi Press International 2013 488 pages

Rubinstein's Chess Masterpieces 100 Selected Games

Akiba Rubinstein,Hans Kmoch
This is not merely a great book. It is an important piece of chess history, because the author Hans Kmoch visited the Rubinstein Family Home in 1933 in an effort to get the great grandmaster of chess to return to active play. When Rubinstein could not be induced to return, his family who was living in dire poverty asked Kmoch for help in raising funds. The result was an ad placed asking to finance this book on a subscription basis. The result was a book entitled "Rubinstein gewinnt : Hundert Glanzpartien des grossen Schachkunstlers. Erlautert von Hans Kmoch. Biographische Einleitung von Jacques Hannak. Verlag der Wiener Schachzeitung, Wien 1933" That book was then translated into this book. It was a direct translation. All the games are the same. I have not been able to find any changes at all, although there are no doubt a few. I have just purchased the only original copy of the 1933 book Rubinstein gewinnt left that I have been able to find after months of searching. I am reprinting it as ISBN 4871875806. Akiba Rubinstein was born on 12 December 1882 in Poland. He has long been regarded as the strongest chess player in history who never became world champion. A recent trivia quiz appeared in Chess Life Magazine: Who is the player who defeated Lasker, Capablanca and Alekhine the first time he played each of them. The answer was of course Akiba Rubinstein. Rubinstein won five tournaments in a row during the period 1912-1914. There is little doubt that he was the strongest player in the world at that time. Rubinstein's contribution to chess opening theory has been enormous. Almost every major chess opening has a Rubinstein Variation or a Rubinstein Defense. Think about it: There is no Fischer Defense, no Capablanca Defense. But there are many variations called the Rubinstein Defense or Variation. Only Steinitz has as many openings named after him, but the Steinitz Defenses are no longer played. Rubinstein far outlived all of his contemporaries. His family all survived the war. Rubinstein died on 5 March 1961 in Antwerp, Belgium at age 83. He was in good physical health until just before he died. So perhaps there was a method to his madness."
Ishi Press International 2012-12 202 pages