Players and Pawns: How Chess Builds Community and Culture (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780226639864)

A chess match seems as solitary an endeavor as there is in sports: two minds, on their own, in fierce opposition. In contrast, Gary Alan Fine argues that chess is a social duet: two players in silent dialogue who always take each other into account in their play. Surrounding that one-on-one contest is a community life that can be nearly as dramatic and intense as the across-the-board confrontation. Fine has spent years immersed in the communities of amateur and professional chess players, and with Players and Pawns he takes readers deep inside them, revealing a complex, brilliant, feisty world of commitment and conflict. Within their community, chess players find both support and challenges, all amid a shared interest in and love of the long-standing traditions of the game, traditions that help chess players build a communal identity.
Full of idiosyncratic characters and dramatic gameplay, Players and Pawns is a celebration of the fascinating world of serious chess.

Author: Gary Alan Fine
ISBN-10: 022663986X
ISBN-13: 9780226639864
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Language: English
Published: 04/21/2019
Pages: 288
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.93lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.64d