I am enjoying the book Chessays by Howard Burton who had played at the Hart House chess club.There is a book on Kindle in the U.S. but it is not available in Canada for some reason. I was able to buy it on Kobo at a lower cost and that is where I am reading it. He seems to me to be quite a good writer with a healthy touch of cynicism which in the first chapter is directed at chess historians trying to establish the origins of chess.

I learned of the book from the following email that was sent to the CFC by the mysterious Irena who has a dedication to her in the book. Wife, love of his life, or business partner? Perhaps all of the above.

Good morning

I am one of the drivers of Ideas Roadshow, an award-winning, Canadian multimedia initiative. I'd like to let you know about our 4-part film series, Through the Mirror of Chess: A Cultural Exploration, which examines the remarkable impact of chess on culture, art, science, and sport. The viewer will be taken on a captivating journey across a wide range of times and places touching on cultural history, the nature of competitiveness, AI, psychology, chess variants, art, literature, gender issues, education, social empowerment, prison reform, and much more to comprehensively address the question of what makes the game so unique.

An accompanying book of "Chessays" by physicist-turned-filmmaker Howard Burton has been published. Howard was the Founding Executive Director of Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, ON.

Here is the films page on our website: https://ideasroadshow.com/chess/.

I read on your website that you are dedicated to having chess recognized as a sport in Canada. In his book, Chessays: Travels Through the World of Chess, Howard argues extensively that chess should indeed be considered a sport so that might be helpful to support this.

I'd like to explore opportunities to spread the word among your members to make them aware of this exciting Canadian chess project.

Finally, here is a review of the films by Chief Film Critic Chris Knight at National Post which was just published: https://nationalpost.com/entertainment/movies/hollywood-chess-documentary-drama-genius.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Best,
Irena