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Chess Was Dead, Now It Broke the Internet

As COVID-19 spreads around the world, confining millions of people indoors, online chess has exploded in popularity and provided much-needed social connections for longtime players and newcomers alike. Chess.com, the most-visited global website for online chess play, expects 10 years worth of site growth to occur within the next few months. It has gained more than 700,000 members over the past three weeks, according to figures provided to Sporting News, and last weekend elevated to 9.1 million games played per day. The company is asking its engineering team to work overtime to keep its servers stable. Bernard Shaw despised it. "Chess," he said, "is a foolish expedient for making idle people believe they are doing something very clever when they are only wasting their time." HG Wells took a similar line. "The passion for playing chess is one of the most unaccountable in the world," he wrote in an essay. "It annihilates a man." Raymond Chandler was just as rude, calling it "as elaborate a waste of human intelligence as you could find anywhere outside an advertising agency". I prefer the view of the German-born Siegbert Tarrasch, the best player in the world in the 1890s, though never world champion (the official title had only been instituted in 1886). "Chess, like love, like music, has the power to make men happy," he wrote in the preface to The Game of Chess, which was published in 1931, three years before his death. The more you know about the game, the more limitless it seems. Thirty-two pieces and pawns on a 64-square board, yet more possible game variants than there are atoms in the universe. We all differ in our abilities to solve problems, learn, think rationally, acquire new knowledge and integrate existing and new ideas.

By |January 30th, 2021|Categories: Games, Uncategorized|Comments Off on Chess Was Dead, Now It Broke the Internet

Scripta- The Game of 12 Inscriptions

Ludus Duodecim Scriptorum – Duodecim Scripta – The Game of Twelve Inscriptions From ancient games.com Ludus Duodecim Scriptorum, or Duodecim Scripta, is an ancient Roman game, which combined elements of luck and strategy. It is somewhat similar to Backgammon, in the fact that each player has 15 pieces, and the pieces stack and move on and off the board in a similar fashion. The name Ludus Duodecim Scriptorum in Latin, means The Game of Twelve Inscriptions, and refers to the fact that many Duodecim Scripta boards had a Latin letter written for each cell, instead of just circles. There is a theory that the reason letters were used and not circles or squares is because the game was used for gambling, which was prohibited during the later years of the Roman empire, and so the writing on the boards was used as an excuse to call them “inscriptions”, instead of gambling devices, thus preventing the users from being arrested and the boards confiscated. I emphasize that this is just a theory, because some of the inscriptions are so specific to gaming and gambling that it is really hard to believe that somehow the inscription would conceal the gambling aspect of the game. The three large rosettes or circles in the center of the boards were markers where the players would put the coins that were being gambled on. https://www.ancientgames.org/ludus-duodecim-scriptorum-duodecim-scripta-the-game-of-twelve-inscriptions/ we are going to try to make a board like this stellar one from https://www.ignitedartsdesign.com/listing/735295503/ludus-duodecim-scriptorum-an-ancient

By |May 24th, 2020|Categories: Games, Uncategorized|Comments Off on Scripta- The Game of 12 Inscriptions

The Egyptian Game of Senet

our handmade Senet board, pieces and dice sticks Ancient Games, Senet Senet, originating from ancient Egypt, holds a significant place in the annals of gaming, representing one of the earliest board games known to humanity. Dating back to at least 3100 BCE, this game is prominently featured in Egyptian texts and hieroglyphs, demonstrating its widespread popularity across all societal strata, with players continuously refining its rules. Consisting of a board placed atop a rectangular box, Senet featured etched spaces where players maneuvered their pieces, simulating beliefs regarding the afterlife in Egyptian culture. Some boards even boasted a storage drawer for pieces, adding a touch of practicality to this otherworldly pastime. Surviving versions of Senet, often adorned with intricate designs and vibrant colors, hint at diverse gameplay scenarios, leading archaeologists to speculate about the game's nuances and the strategic maneuvers employed by its players. Yet, despite the wealth of physical evidence, the exact rules and mechanics of Senet remain shrouded in mystery, leaving historians to ponder its gameplay and the experiences of its ancient enthusiasts. Senet is a race game dating back to ancient egyptian times, and it is thought that it may be the ancestor of modern day backgammon (Soubeyrand (1995)). We know of this game today due to discoveries made through the excavation of ancient tombs. The original rules of Senet (The Game of Passing) are unknown. There are no records of the rules ever having been discovered, however many have attempted to reconstruct the rules using knowledge gathered through excavations in which images have been found on ancient tomb walls, as well as through Senet related artifacts. Two of the most well known versions of the games rules have been created by T.

By |May 20th, 2020|Categories: Games, Uncategorized|Comments Off on The Egyptian Game of Senet

The Game of Life

Who knew that the 1982 version of this game is fun and not mindless like the dumbed down version that is currently in stores. Our daughter thinks all board games are great fun, but she even thinks the old one is way better.

By |April 19th, 2020|Categories: Games|Comments Off on The Game of Life

Koob Viking Lawn Game

Our game crazed daughter found this interesting craft idea online during the Coronavirus craze, so I decided to try to make it from leftover scrapes and it turned out to be a great yard game. And it was easy to make from materials laying around the garage. We’re going to try to paint it a little more vibrant colors and put it in an extra tote box for storage and carrying. Instructional video: https://lets-get-together.com/2014/07/24/diy-koob-the-best-lawn-game-ever/#_a5y_p=3816571 And, its very easy to play, set up the blocks on opposite sides with the lager king in the middle. Team's or individuals take turns throwing sticks and after you knock all of the other side’s blocks down you can throw for the king to win.

By |April 18th, 2020|Categories: Games|Comments Off on Koob Viking Lawn Game