Chessays - Burton, Howard

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Résumé :
A collection of exhilarating essays by physicist-turned-filmmaker Howard Burton about a wide range of chess-related issues which he encountered during the production of the 4-part documentary series about the fascinating history and sociocultural significance of chess, Through the Mirror of Chess: A Cultural Exploration. Howard has produced a comprehensive investigation into the remarkable impact of chess across a wide range of times and places up to the present day, touching on cultural history, the nature of competitiveness, artificial intelligence, psychology, art, literature, gender issues, education, and much more in an attempt to comprehensively address the question of what makes the game so unique. These essays provide insightful and playful reflections on a wide range of chess-related issues which Howard encountered while being a tourist in the chess world, such as the (ab)uses of the history of the game to the birth of the modern game as a competitive sport and the way it is run by FIDE. Howard also questions several of the long-held assumptions about its widely acclaimed benefits and highlights the many surprising contemporary applications of chess to artificial intelligence, prison reform, social inequality, and more and makes sharp observations on what chess reveals about current attitudes to gender, technology, sports, entertainment and the nature of play.

Biographie:
Howard Burton is the founder of the award-winning multimedia initiative Ideas Roadshow, an author and a documentary filmmaker. Howard holds a PhD in theoretical physics and an MA in philosophy and was the Founding Director of Canada's Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. He lives in France.

Sommaire:
Howard is an independent filmmaker and author. He is the creator of the upcoming four-part documentary series, Through the Mirror of Chess: A Cultural Exploration, and Pandemic Perspectives (2022). In 2012 he founded Ideas Roadshow, creating over 1,000 videos and 120 books based upon detailed, long-format conversations with internationally renowned experts across the arts and sciences.Howard holds a PhD in physics and an MA in philosophy, and was the Founding Executive Director of Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics from 1999-2007. He lives in France....