Counterplay - Robert Desjarlais

'Chess gets a hold of some people, like a virus or a drug', writes Robert Desjarlais in this absorbing book. 

Drawing on his lifelong fascination with the game, Desjarlais guides readers in to the world of twenty-first-century chess to help us understand its unique pleasures and challenges and to advance a new 'anthropology of passion'.

Immersing us directly in chess's intricate culture, he interweaves personal stories, keen observations, expert narrative, and unforgettable biographical sketches to elucidate the game and to reveal what goes on in the minds of experienced players when they face off over the board. 

Counterplay offers a compelling take on the intrigues of chess and shows themes of play, beauty, competition, addiction, fanciful cognition, and intersubjective engagement shape the lives of those who take up this most captivating of games.

Robert Desjarlais is Professor of Anthropology at Sarah Lawrence College

Contents:
1. Blitzkrieg Bop ...1
2. Notes on a Swindle ...26
3. Psych-Out ...55
4. Sveshnikov Intrigues ...82
5. Son of Sorrow  ...103
6. Ambivalence ...126
7. Cyberchess ..152
8. 24/7 on the ICC ...184

Endgame ...203
Appendix 1. Note on Chess Annotation ...213
Appendix 2. "Life is touch-move" ...217
Notes ...225
Glossary ...239
Acknowledgments ...245
Index ...247