Beauty of Chess

Forgive me if something along these lines has been posted before...

I am a senior in high school, and I am conducting a research paper on the beauty of chess as an intellectual art. I'm looking at the order, structure, logic, creativity, etc. of chess and chess players, and how they make the game, in my opinion, beautiful.

In short, I'm looking for suggestions on books or articles that might address these ideas. I'm not interested in books that explain how to play chess.

Currently, I have:

Kasparov's How Life Immitates Chess
David Shenk's The Immortal Game
Benjamin Franklin's "Morals of Chess"

Any suggestions appreciated.

Originally posted by wittywonka
Forgive me if something along these lines has been posted before...

I am a senior in high school, and I am conducting a research paper on the beauty of chess as an intellectual art. I'm looking at the order, structure, logic, creativity, etc. of chess and chess players, and how they make the game, in my opinion, beautiful.

In short, I'm look Immortal Game[/i]
Benjamin Franklin's "Morals of Chess"

Any suggestions appreciated.

http://www.amazon.com/Art-Learning-Journey-Optimal-Performance/dp/0743277465/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264371900&sr=1-1

I read this one, and I think it's precisely what you're looking for.

--

http://www.amazon.com/Chess-Metaphors-Artificial-Intelligence-Human/dp/026218267X

this one I haven't read yet, but I can't wait!

--
http://www.amazon.com/London-Elista-Championship-Vladimir-Kasparov/dp/9056912194

this one does include some serious chess analysis, but it's mainly the back stage stories of Kramnik's 3 WC matches, explained in an interview format by his seconds during the matches (except with the match againt Topalov, in which the authors weren't his seconds), and I think it's something you should have in your library.

GM Gufeld touched on this theme repeatedly in his works. I'd go to Amazon.com and look up "Gufeld chess" and check out the books that pop up. I believe he was the originator of the idea that chess occupies the nexus where sport, science, and art intersect, or something like that.

These are exactly the types of books/resources I'm looking for. Thanks for the help; more is appreciated!

I know someone made a thesis on how chess programs could reproduce the aesthetic aspect of chess (which implies some formalization, for sure...) . It is available on the internet, I read part of it, but I can't find the link anymore. It is somewhere in a thread on RHP...

maybe others will remember that...

Originally posted by wittywonka
These are exactly the types of books/resources I'm looking for. Thanks for the help; more is appreciated!

The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin


This book attacks the subject matter in a different perspective.

-GIN

Hi

The creativity of chess players and how they make the game beautiful?

You don't need to consult books for that chapter.
I doubt if the written word will suffice.

I offer one study and one game.

First a study posted by HeinzKat a few days composed by Gijs van Breukelen

The months that lad must have spent composing that just
to give other chess players the simple pleasure of seeing
his beautiful idea.

And then look at the absolute shambles of the game I give below.
But I've yet to see a chess player not laugh when they see it.

How the same game (chess) can produces such extreme opposite examples
of itself and yet still give pleasure is infact the beauty of chess.

White to play and win. (Gijs van Breukelen)



And after years of playing over games by all the great masters
the first 11 moves of this game played between two novice players
made me really glad I know the game of chess. The Beautiful game.

Game 5040009

Originally posted by Macpo
I know someone made a thesis on how chess programs could reproduce the aesthetic aspect of chess (which implies some formalization, for sure...) . It is available on the internet, I read part of it, but I can't find the link anymore. It is somewhere in a thread on RHP...

maybe others will remember that...

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5730

Originally posted by wittywonka
Forgive me if something along these lines has been posted before...

I am a senior in high school, and I am conducting a research paper on the beauty of chess as an intellectual art. I'm looking at the order, structure, logic, creativity, etc. of chess and chess players, and how they make the game, in my opinion, beautiful.

In short, I'm look ...[text shortened]... Immortal Game[/i]
Benjamin Franklin's "Morals of Chess"

Any suggestions appreciated.

Maybe this will help. Read DYLAN LOEB McCLAIN chess column in yesterday's New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/crosswords/chess/24chess.html

"Chess as a metaphor for sex may seem far-fetched, but it has been used before, as in a tension-laden scene between Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway in the 1968 movie “The Thomas Crown Affair.”

What may seem even more far-fetched is the idea that there is a way to apply ideas about sex to improve chess skills, and vice versa. But Natalia Pogonina, who is No. 17 among women, and her husband are writing a book about just that. The book is titled “Chess Kamasutra.”

'We will be reviewing the most interesting openings and middlegame positions and relating them to positions from Kama Sutra,' Pogonina said in an interview last year with Chessbase.com."