Players and Pawns: How Chess Builds Community and Culture

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
• | Publisher: University Of Chicago Press
• | Publication Date: Apr 21, 2019
• | Number of Pages: 288 pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Paperback
• | ISBN-10: 022663986X
• | ISBN-13: 9780226639864