As allegorists and political theorists connected the moves of the pieces to their real-life counterparts, chess took on important symbolic power. More than pleasure was at stake, Adams contends. Power Play is the first book to ask why chess became so popular so quickly, why its pieces were altered, and what the consequences of these changes were. In its Western form, chess featured a queen rather than a counselor, a judge or bishop rather than an elephant, a knight rather than a horse in some manifestations, even the pawns were differentiated into artisans, farmers, and tradespeople with discrete identities. In Power Play, Jenny Adams looks to medieval literary representations to ask what they can tell us both about the ways the game changed as it was naturalized in the West and about the society these changes reflected. Characters in countless romances, chansons de geste, and moral tales of the eleventh through twelfth centuries also played chess, which often symbolized romantic attraction or sexual consummation. Both men and women, and even priests played the game despite the Catholic Church's repeated prohibitions. The game of chess reached western Europe by the year 1000, and within several generations it had become one of the most popular pastimes ever. Includes sample Spot the Power Move training videos! Do you want to see the entire book and my Spot the Power Move Training videos for free? Call or send an email to the author. Suitable for players of all levels from amateur to tournament chess players below expert level. The Six Power Moves are the key to the skillful jousting and maneuvering of the chess pieces in unknown and random positions to gain both tactical and strategic advantages, the skill which separates all players.
Many players don't need to "get better" or learn more per se, what they need is a different model for choosing the best moves. Nothing will improve your game faster than this revolutionary insight into chess which shows the unifying force to both strategy and tactics. The Six Power Moves of Chess could be called "The Missing Chess Lesson," because "The Six Power Move Thinking Process" is what is needed most by most players and what is missing from the chess books on your bookshelf.