A single comprehensive guide to chess and all its extended family of boardgames.

I was able to play So I was contacted by the author David B. Pritchard who asked me to write a chapter about Makrook Thai. I declined because was not certain about one rule, which was the draw rule, so I asked Mr. Pritchard to contact Prajob Nimitiyongshul about that rule.

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.

At age 97, Yuri Averkakh is the World's Oldest still living chess grandmaster and is still active in chess. In the ending, the advantage of a single "insignificant" pawn can frequently prove decisive, as that pawn inexorably pushes forward and is finally able to reach the last rank and is able to transform itself into a queen.

This volume is the Proceedings of the First International Workshop on Entertainment Computing (IWEC 2002). Entertainment has been taking very important parts in our life by refreshing us and activating our creativity. Recently by the advancement of computers and networks new types of entertainment have been emerging such as video games, entertainment robots, and network games. As these new games have a strong power to change our lives, it is good time for people who work in this area to discuss various aspects of entertainment and to promote entertainment related researches. Based on these considerations, we have organized a first workshop on entertainment computing. This workshop brings together researchers, developers, and practitioners working in the area of entertainment computing. It covers wide range of entertainment computing such as theoretical issues, hardware/software issues, systems, human interfaces, and applications. The particular areas covered by the workshop are: 1. Computers & Games Computer game algorithms, modeling of players, web technologies for networked games, human interface technologies for game applications. 2. Home/Arcade Games and Interactive Movies Video game computer technologies, motion capture technologies, real-time computer graphics technologies, interactive movie systems, story generation for games/movies, human factors of video games.

Learn the many varieties of chess the world over with this concise chess guide. Chess Variations is a must for all chess enthusiasts and an outstanding book which promises many hours of pleasurable entertainment for all others. With more than 40 variations of the popular board game, this book contains, among others, the oldest known form of chess (Chaturanga), the game created by Edgar Rice Burroughs and introduced in his Martian series (Jetan), as well as regional forms currently played in Korea, Malaya, Burma, Thailand, and Japan. For those games that require boards or pieces other than those issued in playing modern chess, the author presents guidelines on "The Construction of Sets." Also included in the book are charts, diagrams, and sample games played by the author and his friends. The excitement of playing these exotic chess variations increases with the knowledge of their historic beginnings as well as with the movements of such strange-sounding pieces as the Zarafah, Ashwa, and Firzan.