Figure 15:9, a-b Manuscript of the Qi Jing (Classic of Weiqi) Since my reading response was based on the importance of written manuals to the survival of games, I thought it would be fitting to describe the weiqi manual depicted in the Art of Contest. Dating to the middle of the sixth century, the weiqi manual is…

The study of cultural pass-times can become particularly difficult when studying aspects that no longer survive.  Even games that enjoyed a particularly long span of popularity are easily lost to the sands of time.  Liubo, game of leaves, and boyi, are all once widely understood ancient games that today only serve to confuse modern scholars.…

This image from the Art of Contest is one of my favorite. The imaculate design of the board and pieces is incredible. No where (in America) today do we see this sort of craftsmanship going into a game that I can think of. Todays games seem to be all paper and plastic without the beautifal…

The Birth of the Chess Queen was by far one of my favorite pieces we have read so far. The history behind not only the queen but the game itself was fascinating.People gave their chess sets to churches to be preserved. They left them to their families or the church whether rich or poor. This…

Player constructed rules are really interesting to me from a designer as well as player stand point for a variety of reasons, most notably the ways in which self or locally imposed rules influence the personal meaning or culture within or surrounding a game. And while I have one particular instance of self imposed rules…

This is an 18th century Indian chess set found on page 156 of Art of Contest. Of particular interest to me is the use of human bishops rather than elephants. Yalom suggests that the elephant would have represented the most foreign piece on the original chessboard to Europeans, and that as a result they started incorporating…

Games reflect the culture at large. This applies to any kind of cultural element, be it essentials like food and architecture or more discretionary elements of life such as music and games. The Birth of the Chess Queen reinforces this idea, driving home the interactions between leisure activities and the culture that surrounds them. The…