Friday, February 16, 2007

Big Ideas: Chess & Evolution

Writing from his perch in suburban New Jersey, ace blogger and chess Expert Michael Goeller of the The Kenilworthian proves time and again that he is among the big brains of American chess. Michael is partial to the Shenkian thesis that chess is not just a game, but a pillar of human culture that has been central to the march of civilization for a millennium and a half. Frequently, he rides the idea to interesting places. This week, in a post entitled “Chess and Evolutionary Theory,” he explores the parallels between the work of Charles Darwin and the development of chess ideas over the centuries. He’s got Kasparov in there, too.

The post defies easy summary, and there are so many money quotes I would be at pains to choose one to represent it. So I’ll just say that if you like big ideas—and who in Hyde Park doesn’t?—check it out.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

Tom--

Great post honoring and bringing further attention to the exemplary blogging work of Michael Goeller--- Michael goes particularly deep on this one.

I think my favorite line was that old straw how "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny" --- meaning more or less that the course of development of the individual follows that already charted by the species...

Michael is not only a breath of fresh air in the chess blogoshere but doe the whole of blogging universe as well.

I believe Michael is playing in the Team Tourney this weekend (east coast version) on the Kenilworth Chess Club squad so we wish him the best......I'll be heading out to the midwest version tomorrow myself...