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Seven Games: A Human History
A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice"Beguiling, mesmerizing, and utterly charming." —Stefan Fatsis, author of Word FreakA group biography of seven enduring and beloved games, and the story of why—and how—we play them.
Checkers, backgammon, chess, and Go. Poker, Scrabble, and bridge. These seven games, ancient and modern, fascinate millions of people worldwide. In Seven Games, Oliver Roeder charts their origins and historical importance, the delightful arcana of their rules, and the ways their design makes them pleasurable.
Roeder introduces thrilling competitors, such as evangelical minister Marion Tinsley, who across forty years lost only three games of checkers; Shusai, the Master, the last Go champion of imperial Japan, defending tradition against “modern rationalism”; and an IBM engineer who created a backgammon program so capable at self-learning that NASA used it on the space shuttle. He delves into the history and lore of each backgammon boards in ancient Egypt, the Indian origins of chess, how certain shells from a particular beach in Japan make the finest white Go stones.
Beyond the cultural and personal stories, Roeder explores why games, seemingly trivial pastimes, speak so deeply to the human soul. He introduces an early philosopher of games, the aptly named Bernard Suits, and visits an Oxford cosmologist who has perfected a computer that can effectively play bridge, a game as complicated as human language itself.
Throughout, Roeder tells the compelling story of how humans, pursuing scientific glory and competitive advantage, have invented AI programs better than any human player, and what that means for the games—and for us. Funny, fascinating, and profound, Seven Games is a story of obsession, psychology, history, and how play makes us human.
Checkers, backgammon, chess, and Go. Poker, Scrabble, and bridge. These seven games, ancient and modern, fascinate millions of people worldwide. In Seven Games, Oliver Roeder charts their origins and historical importance, the delightful arcana of their rules, and the ways their design makes them pleasurable.
Roeder introduces thrilling competitors, such as evangelical minister Marion Tinsley, who across forty years lost only three games of checkers; Shusai, the Master, the last Go champion of imperial Japan, defending tradition against “modern rationalism”; and an IBM engineer who created a backgammon program so capable at self-learning that NASA used it on the space shuttle. He delves into the history and lore of each backgammon boards in ancient Egypt, the Indian origins of chess, how certain shells from a particular beach in Japan make the finest white Go stones.
Beyond the cultural and personal stories, Roeder explores why games, seemingly trivial pastimes, speak so deeply to the human soul. He introduces an early philosopher of games, the aptly named Bernard Suits, and visits an Oxford cosmologist who has perfected a computer that can effectively play bridge, a game as complicated as human language itself.
Throughout, Roeder tells the compelling story of how humans, pursuing scientific glory and competitive advantage, have invented AI programs better than any human player, and what that means for the games—and for us. Funny, fascinating, and profound, Seven Games is a story of obsession, psychology, history, and how play makes us human.
298 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 25, 2022
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3370 people want to read
About the author
Oliver Roeder
4 books28 followersOliver Roeder has been a senior writer at FiveThirtyEight and editor of The Riddler, a collection of the site’s math puzzles. He studied artificial intelligence as a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University and holds a PhD in economics focused on game theory. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 195 reviews
January 24, 2022
I was expecting another entry in the (admittedly engaging!) gender of "history of underappreciated things that actually make us human," but what surprised me (and engaged me) about this book was its unexpected focus on AI and games and how humans have adapted successfully (chess or go) or less so (checkers) to computers gaining great skills at the games. As someone whose career is AI adjacent and fully in machine learning and statistics, games are an interesting space because they are constrained by rules and patterns and usually have good data (which is why a system like Watson can destroy a game like Jeopardy but be an utter failure so far in health care). Roeder does a great job explaining the guts of the computer programs and the ways that they have affected game strategy and culture, but an even better job exploring the people that are/were champions facing a looking machine eclipse of their abilities or the creators of the algorithms with surprisingly diverse outlooks and motivations. Of particular interest was the final chapter on Bridge which does not yet have a computer program that is better than humans, partially because of the complex nautre of communication and bluff in the game and partially because, as Roeder describes it, it is a "dying" game, immensely popular in the 2th century but not much played now (and it's the only game f the 7 I've never personally played). The book doesn't go deep on the history or strategy of the games, but it is very interesting as an examination of the exponential rise of computing power and how it has affected our lives.
January 11, 2022
Thank you to Netgalley for providing an ARC of the audiobook for this title in exchange for an honest review. To be clear, this is the perfect book for a reader like me; someone very much into more then one of the games highlighted in the text (I have been an avid chess player for the better part of my life, as well as loving poker, backgammon and checkers.) In addition, my interest in areas such as computer science, game theory and artificial intelligence were all useful in appreciating this book. Here is my breakdown:
Checkers - Possibly my favorite part of the book. Checkers is a game I've always felt like I should know more about - whenever I've played, I haven't been able to analyze what I was doing or why. The narrative about the very best players in the world and the hunt to solve the game of checkers using computers was absolutely fascinating.
Chess - Strangely, this wasn't a section I enjoyed all that much, despite being by far my favorite game covered. It just felt like a shallow addition to most of what I already knew about the game and its history. I think an average reader will get a lot out of it.
Go - Absolutely fascinating - this is a game I need to learn.
Backgammon - Awesome section - I knew barely anything about the game beyond the basic rules, and felt like I got a lot out of this.
Poker - I had some base knowledge of "solvers", but still really enjoyed this portion of the book.
Scrabble - I really enjoyed this section. The narrative about the world's best player was both hilarious and crazy.
Bridge - What can I say? I really had trouble following along here, as I don't know the rules and have little interest in the game.
On balance, I think readers who enjoy one or more of these games, topics such as game theory, AI, neural networks, algorithms, mathematics, etc. will get a lot out of this.
As it was the audiobook that I reviewed, I do have to say that the narrator William Sarris did a nice job with the narration.
Checkers - Possibly my favorite part of the book. Checkers is a game I've always felt like I should know more about - whenever I've played, I haven't been able to analyze what I was doing or why. The narrative about the very best players in the world and the hunt to solve the game of checkers using computers was absolutely fascinating.
Chess - Strangely, this wasn't a section I enjoyed all that much, despite being by far my favorite game covered. It just felt like a shallow addition to most of what I already knew about the game and its history. I think an average reader will get a lot out of it.
Go - Absolutely fascinating - this is a game I need to learn.
Backgammon - Awesome section - I knew barely anything about the game beyond the basic rules, and felt like I got a lot out of this.
Poker - I had some base knowledge of "solvers", but still really enjoyed this portion of the book.
Scrabble - I really enjoyed this section. The narrative about the world's best player was both hilarious and crazy.
Bridge - What can I say? I really had trouble following along here, as I don't know the rules and have little interest in the game.
On balance, I think readers who enjoy one or more of these games, topics such as game theory, AI, neural networks, algorithms, mathematics, etc. will get a lot out of this.
As it was the audiobook that I reviewed, I do have to say that the narrator William Sarris did a nice job with the narration.
May 19, 2022
A little underwhelming for me, mostly because the ratio of science/tech talk outweighed the more human-interest and historical stuff, which are vastly more interesting to me.
April 9, 2022
The book provides brief histories of seven classic games: Checkers, Chess, Go, Poker, Backgammon, Scrabble, and Bridge. It leavens the histories with stories about some of the best players, including many contemporary players.
The book's focus, however, is about computers' ability to master these games. In some cases, to 'solve' them to that it cannot be beaten. This is not emphasized in the descriptions I read. While there is some focus on tournament play by humans, there is much more description of how various programmers created programs that could eventually outshine any human player. Some of these you may have heard of, such as DeepMind which beat Gary Kasparov in chess, or AlphaGo that beat the best Go master.
Each chapter follows a similar pattern: after a brief description of the game (if necessary), the author falls into a discussion of automating the game, mainly with brute force computation that plays millions of billions of games in order to master it. In other words, what is called machine learning. Only in Bridge (where humans have partners, not just opponents) have computers failed to beat the best humans.
The author also spends considerable time explaining his involvement with each game, some more than others (such as participating in the World Series of Poker, or the national Scrabble championship). While this explains his interest in writing this book, it is more detail than necessary.
Only in the epilogue does the author mention the next phase of gaming, one taking the younger generation by storm: video gaming. By definition, it is done only via computer code, so it doesn't really match his pattern of discussing how computers have overcome humans in classic games.
The most salient point may also be in the epilogue: This ability at deep machine learning may mean the total gamification of reality, where all our endeavors are done more flawlessly by machines. If that happens, what value will humans still be able to produce? Will we be reduced to simply playing games that are 'the voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles', as the book puts it?
The book's focus, however, is about computers' ability to master these games. In some cases, to 'solve' them to that it cannot be beaten. This is not emphasized in the descriptions I read. While there is some focus on tournament play by humans, there is much more description of how various programmers created programs that could eventually outshine any human player. Some of these you may have heard of, such as DeepMind which beat Gary Kasparov in chess, or AlphaGo that beat the best Go master.
Each chapter follows a similar pattern: after a brief description of the game (if necessary), the author falls into a discussion of automating the game, mainly with brute force computation that plays millions of billions of games in order to master it. In other words, what is called machine learning. Only in Bridge (where humans have partners, not just opponents) have computers failed to beat the best humans.
The author also spends considerable time explaining his involvement with each game, some more than others (such as participating in the World Series of Poker, or the national Scrabble championship). While this explains his interest in writing this book, it is more detail than necessary.
Only in the epilogue does the author mention the next phase of gaming, one taking the younger generation by storm: video gaming. By definition, it is done only via computer code, so it doesn't really match his pattern of discussing how computers have overcome humans in classic games.
The most salient point may also be in the epilogue: This ability at deep machine learning may mean the total gamification of reality, where all our endeavors are done more flawlessly by machines. If that happens, what value will humans still be able to produce? Will we be reduced to simply playing games that are 'the voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles', as the book puts it?
January 4, 2025
Great easy read. Super fascinating take on some of the games. I think the first chapter on checkers is absolutely fantastic and the epilogue with the philosophy of games gave me a lot to think about regarding the nature of games, but the middle of the book was a bit weaker. Definitely still interesting but the through line of the middle chapters was more meandering. Scrabble especially felt more like a game the author really liked and wanted to include more than one he had a lot to say about. Still fun, still a definite recommend.
November 21, 2022
Do you play games? I have to admit that if I have time, I prefer to read or watch a show than play a game (the gamification of our lives is a different thing). The only games that I’ve picked up recently are Pokemon Masters (smartphone game) and Magic: The Gathering (card game). Well, neither of these two games are in the book, which focuses on:
- Chess
- Go
- Checkers
- Backgammon
- Poker
- Scrabble
- Bridge
Given the book’s subtitle: A Human History, I expected this book to focus on the history of games. Instead, most of the book is focused on how Artificial Intelligence solve the problems posted in the games (except for Bridge, due to its unpopularity, although a piece of software is mentioned). Any history mentioned is quite brief and often focused on the recent years of the game. There’s also a strong Western focus to the game, for example, the chapter on Go doesn’t really look at how the popularity of Go in Korea or China, and Japan is really mentioned only as the opening story that frames the chapter. But how is the game faring in this country? Is there any difference in the way people in different countries view the game?
But perhaps these aren’t the questions that the Roeder wants to answer. Instead, the book is focussed on asking: what does it mean to play a game? Can we really say that AI programmes play the game? What is the effect of software on the competitive scene for each game? These are valid and interesting questions, but I wonder if they need to be repeated in almost every chapter; could the book have benefited from some variety? Perhaps a focus on AI in one chapter, a focus on cross-cultural play in another, and also a focus on how games gain popularity and die in yet another chapter.
Surprisingly, I really liked the chapter on checkers – the story of Marion Tinsley was fascinating to me. Another fun surprise was the chapter on backgammon, which I’ve never played and didn’t expect to find so interesting. I don’t think I fully understand the strategy, but I definitely realised the hidden depths of the game after reading about it. The chapter on chess was also fun, since I recognised quite a few names.
Overall, what I expected and wanted from this book was fairly different from what I got out of it. This doesn’t mean the book is bad, it just means that the subtitle led me down the wrong path. If you’re looking for a straightforward history of these seven games and how they intertwine with human history in general, you may be disappointed. On the other hand, if you’re interested in reading about how AI is affecting various games, and if you’re really interested in what AI playing games could mean, this is a book that will interest you.
This review was first posted at Eustea Reads
- Chess
- Go
- Checkers
- Backgammon
- Poker
- Scrabble
- Bridge
Given the book’s subtitle: A Human History, I expected this book to focus on the history of games. Instead, most of the book is focused on how Artificial Intelligence solve the problems posted in the games (except for Bridge, due to its unpopularity, although a piece of software is mentioned). Any history mentioned is quite brief and often focused on the recent years of the game. There’s also a strong Western focus to the game, for example, the chapter on Go doesn’t really look at how the popularity of Go in Korea or China, and Japan is really mentioned only as the opening story that frames the chapter. But how is the game faring in this country? Is there any difference in the way people in different countries view the game?
But perhaps these aren’t the questions that the Roeder wants to answer. Instead, the book is focussed on asking: what does it mean to play a game? Can we really say that AI programmes play the game? What is the effect of software on the competitive scene for each game? These are valid and interesting questions, but I wonder if they need to be repeated in almost every chapter; could the book have benefited from some variety? Perhaps a focus on AI in one chapter, a focus on cross-cultural play in another, and also a focus on how games gain popularity and die in yet another chapter.
Surprisingly, I really liked the chapter on checkers – the story of Marion Tinsley was fascinating to me. Another fun surprise was the chapter on backgammon, which I’ve never played and didn’t expect to find so interesting. I don’t think I fully understand the strategy, but I definitely realised the hidden depths of the game after reading about it. The chapter on chess was also fun, since I recognised quite a few names.
Overall, what I expected and wanted from this book was fairly different from what I got out of it. This doesn’t mean the book is bad, it just means that the subtitle led me down the wrong path. If you’re looking for a straightforward history of these seven games and how they intertwine with human history in general, you may be disappointed. On the other hand, if you’re interested in reading about how AI is affecting various games, and if you’re really interested in what AI playing games could mean, this is a book that will interest you.
This review was first posted at Eustea Reads
September 2, 2025
This book is centered around 7 influential games — but perhaps most unexpectedly for me was how much it was a product of our current times, with AI playing a variably large role in the narratives (and more than once served as the defining plot point of a chapter). Honestly I feel like this resembled more of a “Reckoning with AI through its impact on game-playing”book (no doubt still interesting!) than the “human history of 7 games” book I feel like it was marketed as.
With that in mind, the stories were still pretty good (and not all related to AI) and I think the book posed some interesting philosophical questions about the nature and value of games & play.
With that in mind, the stories were still pretty good (and not all related to AI) and I think the book posed some interesting philosophical questions about the nature and value of games & play.
September 27, 2023
Wow, I really want to learn Bridge now!
June 12, 2022
2022 bk 176. Did not quite finish. The book was not really what I was hoping for - although those who are really into AI and computer history will find it interesting. I was hoping for a longer view, the historical start of the game, transitions from country to country, how the positions of each type of game remain in today's society. What I got was how individuals worked on creating an AI that could beat humans at their own games, just not what I was in the mood for reading.
November 27, 2021
One of the oldest human activities, game playing dates from ancient times and retains its importance up to the present day and doubtless beyond. “Seven Games” by Oliver Roeder, an avid player himself, examines the origins of seven of the most familiar (and oldest) games - checkers, chess, Go, backgammon, poker, Scrabble and bridge. And, most importantly, he explores why we play. Roeder vividly brings to life the histories and genesis of these evergreen games, some of which date back millennia, yet are being transformed by rapidly developing artificial intelligence.
Much is made of “machine learning” and the question of whether computers can think for themselves; one recurring theme is that of computers playing like “God”) However, many of the stories in these pages are very human ones, with dedication sometimes leading to divorce, illness and heartbreak. Alan Turing and Garry Kasparov, among other gaming and scientific notables, take centre-stage in this book to provide a human core.
Well-written, often gripping and very easy to read, this excellent book is perfect both for experts and anyone interested in a deeper dive into the world’s favourite games.
Much is made of “machine learning” and the question of whether computers can think for themselves; one recurring theme is that of computers playing like “God”) However, many of the stories in these pages are very human ones, with dedication sometimes leading to divorce, illness and heartbreak. Alan Turing and Garry Kasparov, among other gaming and scientific notables, take centre-stage in this book to provide a human core.
Well-written, often gripping and very easy to read, this excellent book is perfect both for experts and anyone interested in a deeper dive into the world’s favourite games.
July 19, 2023
Amazing account of the human aspect of games AND the evolution of A.I.
I started this book thinking it would verse mainly over the history of games - and hopefully also how the history of mankind can be seen from the point of view of its intertwined connection with games. To my (happy) surprise, the book is ALSO about the evolution of computer systems and A.I. in its pursue to use games as a way to understand humans. Maybe half the content is about that aspect, which makes the book a reflection on humans, thinking, philosophy and science. The author has a deep personal connection with all these themes, and did an excellent job in research and in interviews with many key people that could help to shed some lights on the topic. Great read, lots of thoughts and insights left - and many things learned too!
I started this book thinking it would verse mainly over the history of games - and hopefully also how the history of mankind can be seen from the point of view of its intertwined connection with games. To my (happy) surprise, the book is ALSO about the evolution of computer systems and A.I. in its pursue to use games as a way to understand humans. Maybe half the content is about that aspect, which makes the book a reflection on humans, thinking, philosophy and science. The author has a deep personal connection with all these themes, and did an excellent job in research and in interviews with many key people that could help to shed some lights on the topic. Great read, lots of thoughts and insights left - and many things learned too!
April 28, 2023
The bridge chapter completely lost me but otherwise I found this very engaging. There was a lot more focus on AI than I expected, but as the book progressed I understood why it was framed that way.
Audio
Audio
January 3, 2025
Got absolutely baited by the cover (misrepresents the book's focus) and the back cover description (buries the lede) because I wanted a nice survey of the histories of some classic games but instead those histories are told entirely through the lens of the AI programs created to play each game.
Written on the eve of the LLM explosion and fanatic tech guy AI futurism, the general stance on the way humanity and AI interact is (pleasantly, surprisingly) pretty measured in this book with good understanding that being adept at a game is the easiest thing an AI can do because the goals and training input is perfectly defined. But the author tells on himself in the introduction when he imagines the situation where our ancient hunter gathering ancestors could play a game of throwing rocks at a target to be better practiced for when they hunt, and this begins the need for games to provide value to us that infects the whole book.
What can games do for US? How can games be used in the REAL world? How does bettering yourself at a game teach you VALUABLE skills?
This embitters me. Games are the fruit of being alive and conscious, and if not games then play, and if not play then FUN. Life does not need to provide *value*, life is life and fun is fun and games are games and anything can relate to anything else and you can learn in any situation, just as you can learn from a game.
And Roeder actually knows this too. He writes in the epilogue:
"For Bernard Suits, games were the supreme good. He exhorted their cultivation to prepare for a future Utopia, a time when all material needs would be met by advanced technology and, therefore, a time when games would be 'perhaps our only salvation.' Once all of the instrument goods are provided, all that remains would be to nurture and enjoy the intrinsic good provided by games. It's an audacious but compelling argument - one I'm eager to accept as a lover of games, and it can't hurt to be prepared - though I am not convinced that the arrival of Utopia is impending.
Yes utopia is not here and we will not see it in our lifetimes and maybe it will never arrive for anyone ever, but a utopia is not the prerequisite for living a life where fun is fun and games are games and they don't need to be anything but.
Written on the eve of the LLM explosion and fanatic tech guy AI futurism, the general stance on the way humanity and AI interact is (pleasantly, surprisingly) pretty measured in this book with good understanding that being adept at a game is the easiest thing an AI can do because the goals and training input is perfectly defined. But the author tells on himself in the introduction when he imagines the situation where our ancient hunter gathering ancestors could play a game of throwing rocks at a target to be better practiced for when they hunt, and this begins the need for games to provide value to us that infects the whole book.
What can games do for US? How can games be used in the REAL world? How does bettering yourself at a game teach you VALUABLE skills?
This embitters me. Games are the fruit of being alive and conscious, and if not games then play, and if not play then FUN. Life does not need to provide *value*, life is life and fun is fun and games are games and anything can relate to anything else and you can learn in any situation, just as you can learn from a game.
And Roeder actually knows this too. He writes in the epilogue:
"For Bernard Suits, games were the supreme good. He exhorted their cultivation to prepare for a future Utopia, a time when all material needs would be met by advanced technology and, therefore, a time when games would be 'perhaps our only salvation.' Once all of the instrument goods are provided, all that remains would be to nurture and enjoy the intrinsic good provided by games. It's an audacious but compelling argument - one I'm eager to accept as a lover of games, and it can't hurt to be prepared - though I am not convinced that the arrival of Utopia is impending.
Yes utopia is not here and we will not see it in our lifetimes and maybe it will never arrive for anyone ever, but a utopia is not the prerequisite for living a life where fun is fun and games are games and they don't need to be anything but.
June 6, 2022
A more incomplete history of each game than I would have liked
January 26, 2022
The title and book description intrigued me. After all, I had played most of the games described (chess, checkers, backgammon, poker, and Scrabble) and knew about the others (Go, Bridge) and was curious where author Oliver Roeder would take the readers.
I first learned that chess was not the child’s game I thought it was. There are plenty of strategies that go far beyond my rudimentary play that I considered to be of high quality. Mr. Roeder offers a history of the game and delves extensively into the recent contests between man and artificial intelligence (which is similar to the chapters on most of the other six games). Note that this does not turn “Seven Games” into a “man vs. machine” book. The author also details how artificial intelligence has helped to improve the human players as they are exposed to moves that previous have not been considered.
I had never played bridge as I had never had a chance as a child and was unable to decipher what seemed to be coded messages in the games sections of newspapers, and I was faintly aware of Go but had never met anyone (that I knew of) who played the game. Mr. Roeder does a great job of explaining enough of the rules of all seven games, and a beginner could potentially get started with the information provided in the individual chapters.
In short, this book reintroduced me to checkers and reenergized my enthusiasm for chess and backgammon. Poker is definitely on the horizon and the book provides books for study. Scrabble is occasionally played in the house and I may seek out bridge players if they are willing to take on a complete newbie. As for Go, I have a brand new 19x19 board (magnetic was an option that I decided was a plus) and am itching for my first game. Five stars.
My thanks to NetGalley and W.W. Norton & Company for a complimentary electronic copy of this book.
I first learned that chess was not the child’s game I thought it was. There are plenty of strategies that go far beyond my rudimentary play that I considered to be of high quality. Mr. Roeder offers a history of the game and delves extensively into the recent contests between man and artificial intelligence (which is similar to the chapters on most of the other six games). Note that this does not turn “Seven Games” into a “man vs. machine” book. The author also details how artificial intelligence has helped to improve the human players as they are exposed to moves that previous have not been considered.
I had never played bridge as I had never had a chance as a child and was unable to decipher what seemed to be coded messages in the games sections of newspapers, and I was faintly aware of Go but had never met anyone (that I knew of) who played the game. Mr. Roeder does a great job of explaining enough of the rules of all seven games, and a beginner could potentially get started with the information provided in the individual chapters.
In short, this book reintroduced me to checkers and reenergized my enthusiasm for chess and backgammon. Poker is definitely on the horizon and the book provides books for study. Scrabble is occasionally played in the house and I may seek out bridge players if they are willing to take on a complete newbie. As for Go, I have a brand new 19x19 board (magnetic was an option that I decided was a plus) and am itching for my first game. Five stars.
My thanks to NetGalley and W.W. Norton & Company for a complimentary electronic copy of this book.
December 16, 2021
Thanks to NetGalley and W.W. Norton for an ARC of this title.
I've deeply enjoyed FiveThirtyEight's coverage of puzzles and games, and this new book from Oliver Roeder (creator of their Riddler column) is exactly the kind of cultural history book I like to read. Each of the seven games covered is well researched and reported, and has a fantastic story "hook" connecting all the info and Oliver's exploration into notable names in each game's field. I found myself slowing my reading pace so I could spend just a little bit more time with each chapter of this. Well done!
I've deeply enjoyed FiveThirtyEight's coverage of puzzles and games, and this new book from Oliver Roeder (creator of their Riddler column) is exactly the kind of cultural history book I like to read. Each of the seven games covered is well researched and reported, and has a fantastic story "hook" connecting all the info and Oliver's exploration into notable names in each game's field. I found myself slowing my reading pace so I could spend just a little bit more time with each chapter of this. Well done!
April 4, 2022
"When the sucker wins, he thinks it's because he got better. When the sucker loses, he thinks it's because his opponent got lucky."
Really fun overview of these games. I was surprised at first by the focus on teaching computers to play the games, but it works very well as a structure for explaining them.
Really fun overview of these games. I was surprised at first by the focus on teaching computers to play the games, but it works very well as a structure for explaining them.
June 1, 2024
This book gave a brief history of seven common(ish) games -- checkers, chess, go, backgammon, poker, scrabble, and bridge -- but what I liked most about this book was the author's discussion of how these games were used by computer programers in the development of machine learning and artificial intelligence.
October 6, 2022
I feel that the subtitle "A Human History" is a bit off the mark because the author devotes considerable parts of each game's chapter to describing the development of AI programs for that game.
Nevertheless, I wanted to play each game (except Scrabble, which can rot) after reading this book.
Nevertheless, I wanted to play each game (except Scrabble, which can rot) after reading this book.
April 24, 2022
enjoyable overview of some history, along with the author's deep dives into as a participant, of seven classic games (checkers, chess, go, backgammon, poker, scrabble, bridge). lots of emphasis on development of AI/machine learning programs to master the games -- i wasn't aware that bridge (alone among these 7) still hadn't really been conquered in this sense, i.e., the best computer programs still cannot beat best human players.
Funny firsthand observations of tournaments, top players, etc. Apparently I've not been taking checkers quite as seriously as some -- he quotes a top player who never married as saying "It is a very rare woman who can be married to a real student of checkers" (p. 25).
some interesting commentary on whether pouring resources into AI for mastering these games is actually helpful for solving other problems vs. just fun and informative in its own right. I know vanishingly little about this area, but to extent i could understand it, one fault line seemed to be whether you try to teach the machine to be really efficient at playing like a human (taking advantage of accumulated wisdom we have gained from playing the games, in most cases for a very long time) vs. sort of start from scratch and let it figure it out. Latter strategy seemed in most cases to be working better.
anyway, didn't prompt me to want to jump on any of the sites that allow game players to consult "what the computer says is optimal here" to practice game play, but for an amateur who enjoys several of these games it was fun to read.
Funny firsthand observations of tournaments, top players, etc. Apparently I've not been taking checkers quite as seriously as some -- he quotes a top player who never married as saying "It is a very rare woman who can be married to a real student of checkers" (p. 25).
some interesting commentary on whether pouring resources into AI for mastering these games is actually helpful for solving other problems vs. just fun and informative in its own right. I know vanishingly little about this area, but to extent i could understand it, one fault line seemed to be whether you try to teach the machine to be really efficient at playing like a human (taking advantage of accumulated wisdom we have gained from playing the games, in most cases for a very long time) vs. sort of start from scratch and let it figure it out. Latter strategy seemed in most cases to be working better.
anyway, didn't prompt me to want to jump on any of the sites that allow game players to consult "what the computer says is optimal here" to practice game play, but for an amateur who enjoys several of these games it was fun to read.
June 11, 2023
A history of games, yes, but also a surprisingly insightful look at the way humans grapple with the intrusion of artificial intelligence into their worlds.
January 7, 2023
Very interesting account of various "basic" games in society and how computers have been programmed to play them and overcome humans. The AI elements of this book were fascinating, basically discussing how computers learn various skills as each games requires different types of programming.
Would highly recommend this to anyone interested in the subject. I struggled quite a bit since it's not a topic of particular interest to me. Computer programming mostly goes over my head and I think Roeder was writing to an audience a little more knowledgeable than me. This was a gift, probably not something I'd ever pick out for myself. But I'm very glad to have read it and did learn a lot.
Would highly recommend this to anyone interested in the subject. I struggled quite a bit since it's not a topic of particular interest to me. Computer programming mostly goes over my head and I think Roeder was writing to an audience a little more knowledgeable than me. This was a gift, probably not something I'd ever pick out for myself. But I'm very glad to have read it and did learn a lot.
November 17, 2025
Interesting look at these games. But there was more focus on how computers have changed these games than it being "A Human History"
December 30, 2021
Interesting book, would recommend to lovers of games and AI - or just anyone really, I am not huge on neither of those subjects and quite enjoyed it!
Got admit it was a little different then what I was expecting - not so much focus on the history of the game but instead on the AI developments to optimize them and the story of its developers. It also goes in the author's own experience on tournaments, sometimes - scrabble one is coming to mind here - in a bit too much detail. But overall the writing is quite pleasant and I feel like I learned a lot about these subjects, which I have very little knowledge about (unless you count watching the Queen's Gambit lol)
I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review
Got admit it was a little different then what I was expecting - not so much focus on the history of the game but instead on the AI developments to optimize them and the story of its developers. It also goes in the author's own experience on tournaments, sometimes - scrabble one is coming to mind here - in a bit too much detail. But overall the writing is quite pleasant and I feel like I learned a lot about these subjects, which I have very little knowledge about (unless you count watching the Queen's Gambit lol)
I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review
March 21, 2022
An interesting study and personal journey into seven different games, including chess, backgammon, and bridge. The human history of the title seems almost a misnomer because the book does examine how artificial intelligence has developed to the point where it can beat the best humans. Well-written and avoids personal digressions in order to keep the focus on the games.
October 12, 2025
Two categories of non-fiction I gravitate towards: one where the subject matter is something I know nothing of, and might not even care about, where I'm putting my trust in the author and their craft to educate and entertain. It's a fun dice roll; you find yourself becoming a devoted student of things like beavers, parking lots, the '90s Knicks. The joy comes from the author's passion infecting you. Shutting the book and thinking "fuck I'm really into barnacles now."
Then there's its inverse: non-fiction that covers a topic I am deeply invested in, and where the author would have to try extremely hard to write an unenjoyable read for me. These are topics like the Philadelphia Eagles, Joni Mitchell, and this book's subject matter.
But Seven Games actually manages to straddle both categories. Roeder writes so masterfully, it feels impossible for me to imagine someone who reads this and doesn't take away a kind of spiritual deference to the role of play in our lives. It's beautiful! Humanity has created these games—and the computers to solve them—and we don't really understand either of them. It's the left-brain's analog to mystery of the creative process. We've defined a set of rules that can be mathematically represented, and yet we're still learning the best way to use the rules that we ourselves defined.
Then there's its inverse: non-fiction that covers a topic I am deeply invested in, and where the author would have to try extremely hard to write an unenjoyable read for me. These are topics like the Philadelphia Eagles, Joni Mitchell, and this book's subject matter.
But Seven Games actually manages to straddle both categories. Roeder writes so masterfully, it feels impossible for me to imagine someone who reads this and doesn't take away a kind of spiritual deference to the role of play in our lives. It's beautiful! Humanity has created these games—and the computers to solve them—and we don't really understand either of them. It's the left-brain's analog to mystery of the creative process. We've defined a set of rules that can be mathematically represented, and yet we're still learning the best way to use the rules that we ourselves defined.
May 26, 2024
Also posting to Goodreads (I’m on StoryGraph primarily now) because I’m in mild disbelief as to how this book, which might as well have been written for me and me alone, so terribly missed the mark
The summarizing blurb missells this book. It’s not until the final paragraph that it says, “Throughout, Roeder tells the compelling story of how humans […] have invented AI programs better than any human player…” That story actually comprises about half the ‘meat’ of this book. It felt like half, at least. Checkers, chess, go, backgammon, and poker all get lengthy write ups on how AI changed these games. The Scrabble and bridge chapters also discuss it, but less so.
That’s one of the least interesting angles this book could have taken in my opinion. The thesis becomes, as made clear in the epilogue, “Here’s why games still matter despite those super powered computer programs.” I already believed games matter. I love games for their own sake and have seen them as art since high school. This story, which became increasingly repetitive as the book wore on (how many times can you write “And then this guy wrote some code, tested it, then wrote some more”?), did nothing for me.
This focus took away valuable space from what I actually wanted from this book: the history of these games, the cultural influence of them, the value and beauty in them, the philosophy behind why we play them. Those ideas get sidelined outside of the prologue and epilogue. Read those, skip the rest unless you really want to know how a computer solved checkers (answer: it computed it)
The summarizing blurb missells this book. It’s not until the final paragraph that it says, “Throughout, Roeder tells the compelling story of how humans […] have invented AI programs better than any human player…” That story actually comprises about half the ‘meat’ of this book. It felt like half, at least. Checkers, chess, go, backgammon, and poker all get lengthy write ups on how AI changed these games. The Scrabble and bridge chapters also discuss it, but less so.
That’s one of the least interesting angles this book could have taken in my opinion. The thesis becomes, as made clear in the epilogue, “Here’s why games still matter despite those super powered computer programs.” I already believed games matter. I love games for their own sake and have seen them as art since high school. This story, which became increasingly repetitive as the book wore on (how many times can you write “And then this guy wrote some code, tested it, then wrote some more”?), did nothing for me.
This focus took away valuable space from what I actually wanted from this book: the history of these games, the cultural influence of them, the value and beauty in them, the philosophy behind why we play them. Those ideas get sidelined outside of the prologue and epilogue. Read those, skip the rest unless you really want to know how a computer solved checkers (answer: it computed it)
June 13, 2023
Stopped after Checkers and Chess. The cover and information on the book is very misleading. It mainly focuses on AI in games but takes so much time telling the same story of the AI being developed and beating the top players like a wiki article. The best parts were the rare moments when major game events are described, actual game history, stories behind the people(Ex: checkers), and more advanced rules/techniques are shown. The author is described as a “puzzle master” which caught my eye since he probably has more unique perspective (But what qualifies you as a puzzle master now that I think of it haha). Well this “puzzle master” rarely gives his opinion and when he does it’s very basic. Each chapter I read felt like a 10min YouTube video with a title like “how AI solved checkers” that you forgot you watched after a week. I think many people will like this book I just feel lied too and while reading I’m constantly getting distracted because I don’t want to keep going so I not for me.
December 12, 2022
I went in expecting a description of the development of seven classic games, and this was definitely not that.
I thought the shift was more interesting, though, and I came out with a greater understanding of AI's triumph in many situations.
I thought the shift was more interesting, though, and I came out with a greater understanding of AI's triumph in many situations.
April 19, 2022
Seven Games (2022) by Oliver Roeder. Yet another book on the history and nature of a group of like items and how they impact humanity. Usually I have paged through these, generally liberally peppered with photographs of the things in question, and appreciated the beauty and nature of the items. It was also how they linked together to form something more than the separate parts that fascinated me. Things that made New York unique, or the Civil War top 100 items, or whatever. But this is different as it celebrates not the physical aspect of the games portrayed but the ideas and thoughts surrounding these seven games.
There are paragraphs detailing the history of each, giving some dates and locations of origin and famous players and some of the top games. Mr Roeder also provides illumination onto his involvement with them and why they fascinate him. Be it Chess or Checkers, Go, Poker, Backgammon, Scrabble or Bridge, the details of the history fascinate. But the gist of the book is how AI and the world of the computer has changed everything for the players of these games. There is a world of professional players out there and they have seen their dominance of a set game fall to the glory of the computer, be it Watson or any of the various game specific programs. Some players have fallen away from their games but a majority have embraced the new technology to better their understanding, and hence their play, of their beloved game.
It is pointed out early on that games are not just mere toys or diversions in their ability to transfix us. They are now and always have been safe training methods for individuals to hone their abilities for the real world. Generally it is the brain that gets the training. These are tables games and as such require little or no physical strength or ability. But to be a good player you have to devise strategies and ploys to win. Ask any good poker player and they will explain the game is far more than the hands you are dealt.
Each of the seven chapters has unique strategies involved; therefor there are different methods of thought that cohabitates with the game. I have played Chess and Checkers most of my life, not a big fan of Poker, love Scrabble (but I am a bit of a showoff), discovered Backgammon while in the military or all places, had my mind blown by Go, and never played Bridge, so as a consequence I found the book fascinating. It has been several months since I received this book through Goodreads, and I used the time to get reacquainted with my past and revel in the details Mr. Reorder had provided of his own Game quest.
There are paragraphs detailing the history of each, giving some dates and locations of origin and famous players and some of the top games. Mr Roeder also provides illumination onto his involvement with them and why they fascinate him. Be it Chess or Checkers, Go, Poker, Backgammon, Scrabble or Bridge, the details of the history fascinate. But the gist of the book is how AI and the world of the computer has changed everything for the players of these games. There is a world of professional players out there and they have seen their dominance of a set game fall to the glory of the computer, be it Watson or any of the various game specific programs. Some players have fallen away from their games but a majority have embraced the new technology to better their understanding, and hence their play, of their beloved game.
It is pointed out early on that games are not just mere toys or diversions in their ability to transfix us. They are now and always have been safe training methods for individuals to hone their abilities for the real world. Generally it is the brain that gets the training. These are tables games and as such require little or no physical strength or ability. But to be a good player you have to devise strategies and ploys to win. Ask any good poker player and they will explain the game is far more than the hands you are dealt.
Each of the seven chapters has unique strategies involved; therefor there are different methods of thought that cohabitates with the game. I have played Chess and Checkers most of my life, not a big fan of Poker, love Scrabble (but I am a bit of a showoff), discovered Backgammon while in the military or all places, had my mind blown by Go, and never played Bridge, so as a consequence I found the book fascinating. It has been several months since I received this book through Goodreads, and I used the time to get reacquainted with my past and revel in the details Mr. Reorder had provided of his own Game quest.
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