CHESMAYNE
Invention Inventors
link
01 The invention of chess has
been attributed to many people and cultures: Solomon, Hermes,
Xerxes, the Greeks, the Egyptians, the Irish etc.
“Truth
exists; only lies are invented”.
02 Se non e vero, e molto ben
trovato - ‘If it is not true, it is a happy invention’ (16th century
saying).
“A stand can be made against
invasion by an army; no stand can be made against invasion by an idea”.
03 ‘One of the greatest pains to
human nature is the pain of a new idea’, Walter Bagehot.
04 Humanity tugs at the skirts
of Mother Nature till, wearying, she rummages in her bag of tricks and says:
“Here is something new to play with”.
Thus, she gives us some new invention like wireless, aeroplanes,
television, chess and so
forth, in order that her children should be amused and
happy in a dim and discordant world (from: ‘The Dayspring of Youth’).
05 Michael Bentine: “We reward
the second-rate and scoff at the struggling innovators who nearly starve to
death while bringing their pioneering work to the notice of the Establishment,
which usually steals it”. “As I’ve said
before, the Establishment often ridicules the work of pioneers until it is safe
to accept it and then cashes in on such work, usually after the pioneer is
conveniently dead”.
06 Cluedo: the hunt for the inventor
of the murder mystery game Cluedo is now over.
Anthony Pratt, a solicitor’s clerk who devised the game in 1948 is
buried in Bromsgrove Cemetery,
07 Thomas Alva Edison was born
in
New
ideas
A fresh zephyr can change the whole pattern of
how something is done and the social effects can be long lasting. The cliché that ‘necessity is the mother of
invention’ is misleading and should read: ‘invention is the mother of necessity’. Necessity gives rise to improvisation while
invention stems from a discontent with things the way they are done and
provides a method of doing things in a new way which is of benefit to all. If a situation is unsatisfactory, it must be
changed, not passively tolerated. It is
a question of actually addressing the situation and then searching for a
solution experimentally in order to correct it. It is no empty cliché to say every inventor dreams of
making a better mousetrap. The
Invention
Inventions enrich our lives, but while genius
crops up all over the place, the question of what makes a great inventor
continues to defy anyone who seeks to identify a blueprint. Inventors set out to create new
products. Usually this occurs in their
field of work and then they set about putting it together. The real genius is being able to spot a need
which can be met in an innovative way, but the real achievement is coming up
with the idea in the first place.
The truly inventive among us
are demonstrating that we should never stop searching for a better way. In recent times there has been a rapid
movement away from mechanical creations into the era of
electronics and digital technology. Not
so long ago it was possible to see exactly what a new machine did. Today’s miracles of progress are very often
encapsulated in silicon and software with only a fast-moving display on a
screen as any evidence that something exceedingly clever has been
achieved.
Homo sapiens are
indoctrinated from birth. From early
childhood we are taught how to act, how to think, and how to speak. We are taught that human beings on Earth are
the only intelligent life form
in the cosmos
and that nothing can exist outside this earthly ruling. People are trained within a strict framework
of rules and regulations, by experiment and result and nothing outside this
narrow field of vision can be allowed to cloud judgment. The result is that we are schooled in an
attitude of follow the leader and not to deviate from its course.
Alongside the excitement of
success, the business of invention has always carried a great deal of
frustration. Jealousy, ambition,
commercial rivalry or, concern for the well being of a family, are just some of
the motives that lie behind the great inventions of the world. From our inventiveness has arisen the difference
between our way of life and that of other creatures. From all the millions of people who have
been born, only a few have had the creative ability to conceive of something
original and useful. Their ideas have
done more than raise our standard of life.
They altered systems. What is
the motivating factor? Intense belief,
optimism, persistence, independence and originality of approach have enabled
them to conceive of more elegant ways of expressing concepts. The solitary nature of knowledge engineers and
their imagination enables them to conceive of new ideas but, an inventor’s greatest asset
is to be free of conventional wisdom
and the traditional mode of doing things.
An inventor frees avenues of thought and leads the way and makes it
possible for others to follow the footprints they leave along the shore.
These are the people who have
the courage to challenge the established order which sometimes tries to
monopolize knowledge and comprehension - who plunge out and forward across a
vast ocean with uncharted waters where no one has gone before and in the
process break new boundaries and set standards for all to follow. They give evidence which shows how
entrenched formalism, tradition and the sheer inertia of that which has been
sanctioned by custom and usage can, on occasion, conspire to defeat the bold,
revolutionary new idea which might change the world for the better. The service which they render place them
among the world’s greatest benefactors.
The Legend
of Chess
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A
very old legend handed down by an old wise man, tells about the creation of the
Universe and the
invention of the game of Chess.
A plasma sphere of very small dimensions, containing time and space, was placed
in the center of the Chaos and it was given an order.
It started dilating fifteen thousand millions years ago and when it
shaped the established diameter, it exploded.
The sphere scattered plasma, space and time till it got to the furthermost
borders-not-borders of the Universe.
The plasma joined to the space and the time, took different shape and
dimension and thickened.
From the darkness a myriad of shining points, spheres and filaments was
emerging.
The gods, creators of the Universe, guardians of the knowledge and the
logic, decided to animate the bleakness, the loneliness and the silence.
They carved on plasma mixed with the soil, a delicate profile quickly. To give him the life they directed towards
him two tenuous bright beams. Then they
gave abundant gifts to their newborn son.
And when the sons of the gods’ son were placed to the four corners of
the earth, the gods were going to give a great gift to all mankind: just one
game, the most favourite of theirs.
A game as a source of logic and knowledge.
A big sphere was put in the center of the Universe and it was given an order.
It exploded like a second creation.
A bright whirl reached the earth and struck the ardent and noble soul
of a man. With the pieces kept jealously
and the chessboard held tightly at his heart, the predestinate man had been
travelling for a long time in every corner of the earth. He learned and transmitted his new
knowledge.
The game was being spread rapidly between men.
They grew more and more experienced and skilful.
But the gods envious of men success, of their progress and of their skill,
decided to bring their gift back.
They placed a dark sphere in the earth’s sky and it was given a precise
command.
When the sphere will be turning into red fire and will start ripping…
Today the legend tells that the gods fight against man vainly at the
attempt to take him off the very old game of Chess.
(C.
Coco)
[The tale was published on Quatermass n. 10 of 1985]
Note:
The work, must be entirely thinking as composed
by 13 different sized panels.
[30x15+30x30+30x15+60x60+30x15+50x90+30x15+60x90+30x15+90x90+30x30+30x30+30x15]
placed in horizontal line but they are seen by us for technical reasons in
vertical line. This writing+computergraphic
form has already been realized by the author for other subjects. (This is the ninth project created in this
way).
Link to: IBM Patent Server
IBM has a website where much information on US patents can be
found. Dennis Guthrie attended me on
this website, and wrote:
It has US patents in text form back to 1971 and in image form back to 1980. Since it has a search function, you can look for “chess” and get all manner of chess patents. Some are for clocks and other chess periphenalia, but most are for chess variants. By adding other search keys like “3-player” you can get more selective. Particularly the ones after 1980 are useful because the scanned images have diagrams of the special boards and pieces many of the variants require. There are also links to referenced patents and patents that in turn reference the subject patents, so chess scholars can trace possible historical linkages of the different games.
There are many
interesting patents on chess variants to be found in this site.
- http://www.patents.ibm.com/
IBM Patent Server.