05.27.17 The Maine Maritime Academy Honors Program Committee has announced the seminar Chess as Metaphor as its offering for the Fall 2017 semester. The class will be co-taught by Paul Wlodkowski, Tom Batt, and Amy Gutow. Spanning the fields of history, mathematics, military strategy, economics, psychology, and international affairs, Chess as Metaphor is an Honors Seminar that is open to novices to the game, as well as experienced players who want to learn the societal context of this amalgam of science, art, and sport.

Here's the full description of the Honors Seminar Chess as Metaphor to be offered next semester at Maine Maritime Academy:

The MMA Honors Program Committee is delighted to announce its offering for the Fall 2017 semester. Chess as Metaphor will be co-taught by Paul Wlodkowski, Tom Batt, and Amy Gutow. We seek outstanding- and intellectually curious - students who would benefit from this survey course on the Royal Game and its ability to model the human condition. Spanning the fields of history, mathematics, military strategy, economics, psychology, and international affairs, Chess as Metaphor will captivate MMA's best and brightest. It is an Honors Seminar that is open to novices to the game, as well as experienced players who want to learn the societal context of this amalgam of science, art, and sport.

Chess has a rich history that our instructors surely will bring into the course, but their primary interest is what the game can teach us about ourselves and our students: how we plan and think, see and fail to see; how we handle our emotions, read our opponents and cope with adversity. Termed the "touchstone of the intellect" by the German philosopher Goethe, this ancient game, in which luck plays no role (beyond the initial drawing of white or black pieces), sheds a sometimes unflattering light on who we are, provoking questions about identity and character. The many aspects of chess--its openings and gambits, sacrifices, pins, discovered attacks and combinations--serve as metaphors for the storm and stress of everyday life, offering insight into our essential humanness. For almost 1,500 years, chess has been celebrated for its elegance, and we plan to address the aesthetics of the game as well as its underlying, ineluctable logic.

We envision the course as discussion-based and student-centered. In the first weeks, we plan to invite the students to help us create the curriculum, which may include elements such as student projects and presentations, guest speakers, field trips to tournaments, analysis of master games and, of course, game play itself: certainly we will play chess! (The course will be open to anyone interested in learning the game.) By its very nature, the subject of chess is interdisciplinary, and we expect the diverse backgrounds of our instructors and those of our students will create a fruitful dialogue on a wide range of subjects, including the following:

 The epistemology of chess: how we "know" and "see," such as via logical, intuitive, spatial, kinesthetic abilities.
 How cognitive bias shapes our decision-making as illustrated by chess moves (e.g., loss aversion and the Einstellung effect.
 Chess and computers: how computer play differs from human play.
 Chess as illustration of game theory
 The playing style of chess masters and what they can teach us about strategy, tactics and thinking process.
 Chess in literature: how authors have used the game of chess in fiction and poetry.
 The truly global history of chess.
 The relationship of chess to mathematics, music, economics, business strategy, problem solving and critical thinking.
 The role and meaning of error, adversity, winning and losing, purpose, surprise, defeat, initiative, attention and concentration, creativity vs. rote play.
 The ethics, etiquette and traditions of chess around the world.

Provisional reading list

1. The Immortal Game: A History of Chess by David Shenk
2. "The Morals of Chess", an essay by Benjamin Franklin
3. "Bobby Fischer Goes to War: How the Soviets Lost the Most Extraordinary Chess Match of All Time by David Edmonds and John Eidinow
4. Dynamics of Chess Psychology by Cary Utterberg [fragments as significant part of book requires knowledge of theory and recording notation]
5. Computers in Chess: Solving Inexact Search Problems by Mikhail Botvinnik [fragments, for the aforementioned reason]
6. A History of Chess by H.J.R. Murray (the original 1913 masterpiece, reprinted in 2012)
7. The Bright Side of Chess by Irving Chernev
8. Kasparov and Deep Blue by Bruce Pandolfini
9. The World's Great Chess Games by Rueben Fine
10. The Defense by Vladimir Nabokov