Checkers backgammon chess and Go. Poker Scrabble and bridge. These seven games ancient and
modern fascinate millions of people worldwide. In Seven Games Oliver Roeder charts their
origins and historical importance the delightful arcana of their rules and the ways their
design makes them pleasurable. Roeder introduces thrilling competitors such as evangelical
minister Marion Tinsley who across fourty years lost only three games of checkers Shusai the
Master the last Go champion of imperial Japan defending tradition against modern rationalism
and an IBM engineer who created a backgammon programme so capable at self-learning that NASA
used it on the space shuttle. He delves into the history and lore of each game: backgammon
boards in ancient Egypt the Indian origins of chess how certain shells from a particular
beach in Japan make the finest white Go stones. Beyond the cultural and personal stories
Roeder explores why games seemingly trivial pastimes speak so deeply to the human soul. He
introduces an early philosopher of games the aptly named Bernard Suits and visits an Oxford
cosmologist who has perfected a computer that can effectively play bridge a game as
complicated as human language itself. Throughout Roeder tells the compelling story of how
humans pursuing scientific glory and competitive advantage have invented AI programmes better
than any human player and what that means for the games-and for us. Funny fascinating and
profound Seven Games is a story of obsession psychology history and how play makes us human.
