With strict admission standards and a progressive curriculum, Brooklyn's Edward R. Murrow High School has long been one of New York's public-education success stories, serving a diverse neighborhood of immigrants and minorities and ranking among the nation's best high schools. At Murrow, there are no sports teams, and the closest thing to jocks are found on the school's powerhouse chess team, which annually competes for the national championship.In "The Kings of New York" sportswriter Michael Weinreb follows the members of the Murrow chess team through an entire season, from cash games in Washington Square Park to city and state tournaments to the SuperNationals in Nashville, where this eclectic bunch competes against private schoolers and suburbanites. Along the way, Weinreb brings to life a number of colorful characters: the Yale-educated calculus teacher (and former semipro hockey player) who guides the savants while struggling to find funding for his team; an aspiring rapper and tournament hustler who plays with cutthroat instinct; the team's lone girl, a shy Ukrainian immigrant; the Puerto Rican teen from the rough neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant who plays an ingenious opening gambit named the Orangutan; and the Lithuanian immigrant and team star whose chess rating is climbing toward grandmaster status.In the bestselling tradition of such books as "Word Freak" and "Friday Night Lights, The Kings of New York" is a riveting look inside the world of competitive chess and an inspiring profile of young genius.

    Phiona has been out of school most of her life because her mother cannot afford it, so she is only now learning to read and write. Phiona Mutesi is also one of the best chess players in the world.One day in 2005, while searching for food, nine-year-old Phiona followed her brother to a dusty veranda where she met Robert Katende, who had also grown up in the Kampala slums. Katende, a war refugee turned missionary, had an improbable dream: to empower kids through chess—a game so foreign there is no word for it in their native language. Laying a chessboard in the dirt of the Katwe slum, Robert painstakingly taught the game each day. When he left at night, slum kids played on with bottlecaps on scraps of cardboard. At first they came for a free bowl of porridge, but many grew to love chess, a game that—like their daily lives—means persevering against great obstacles. Of these kids, one stood out as an immense talent: Phiona.By the age of eleven Phiona was her country’s junior champion and at fifteen, the national champion. In September 2010, she traveled to Siberia, a rare journey out of Katwe, to compete in the Chess Olympiad, the world’s most prestigious team-chess event. Phiona’s dream is to one day become a Grandmaster, the most elite title in chess. But to reach that goal, she must grapple with everyday life in one of the world’s most unstable countries, a place where girls are taught to be mothers, not dreamers, and the threats of AIDS, kidnapping, and starvation loom over the people.Like Katherine Boo’s Behind the Beautiful Forevers and Gayle Tzemach Lemmon’s The Dressmaker of Khair Khana, The Queen of Katwe is an intimate and heartrending portrait of human life on the poor fringes of the twenty-first century.

    For reasons still debated by scholars, the first chapter of Dracula was cut from the book just weeks before publication. Here, it becomes the central clue in a spine-tingling original interactive mystery.   Dracula’s Heir begins 10 years after the horrific events described in the original novel. Jonathan and Mina Harker are happily married and enjoying life in Bixby, England. Meanwhile, their friend Dr. John Seward is tracking a string of crimes that seems eerily familiar: A 14-year-old girl sleepwalks out of her parents’ house and disappears into the night. Two “accident victims” are found drained of their blood, yet there is no crime scene evidence to explain its loss.    When Seward shares his discoveries with the famous vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing, all the evidence points to Jonathan Harker. After all, Harker spent weeks imprisoned in Castle Dracula as a guest of the Count—was he infected without anyone realizing it? Has the mild-mannered English solicitor spent the last decade lurking in the shadows as a nosferatu? Or is someone (or something) else getting away with murder?   This chilling mystery novella features 8 removable clues, including a newspaper, a death certificate, Renfield’s private journal, and the original first chapter of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. When you think you’ve solved the crime, you can open the final signature (sealed at the printer) to test your powers of deduction.

    The vampires of this bygone age ride the dark as lords, play their games with the crowned heads of Europe, and travel to the mysterious lands of the East as they wage their ages-old war.The diablerie of saulot, the waking of Mithras, the destruction of Michael the patriarch, the return of the Dracon -- it all means the time of reflection is over. The Inquisition stirs and the time to act is now. Across Europe, monarchs of the night set princes and barons at each other's undying throats. Young vampires take to the field ready to claim their domain and become powerful lords in their own right. Blood calls to blood.Clanbooks contain vital character information for players and Storytellers.

    Acclaimed by Capablanca, Keres, and other greats.

    Microsoft has used games to painlessly and cost-effectively quadruple voluntary employee participation in important tasks. Medical schools have used game-like simulators to train surgeons, reducing their error rate in practice by a factor of six. A recruiting game developed by the U.S. Army, for just 0.25% of the Army’s total advertising budget, has had more impact on new recruits than all other forms of Army advertising combined. And Google is using video games to turn its visitors into a giant, voluntary labor force—encouraging them to manually label the millions of images found on the Web that Google’s computers cannot identify on their own.Changing the Game reveals how leading-edge organizations are using video games to reach new customers more cost-effectively; to build brands; to recruit, develop, and retain great employees; to drive more effective experimentation and innovation; to supercharge productivity…in short, to make it fun to do business. This book is packed with case studies, best practices, and pitfalls to avoid. It is essential reading for any forward-thinking executive, marketer, strategist, and entrepreneur, as well as anyone interested in video games in general. In-game advertising, advergames, adverworlds, and beyondChoose your best marketing opportunities—and avoid the pitfalls Use gaming to recruit and develop better employeesLearn practical lessons from America’s Army and other innovative case studies Channel the passion of your user communitiesHelp your customers improve your products and services—and have fun doing it What gamers do better than computers, scientists, or governmentsUse games to solve problems that can’t be solved any other way

    Their showdown in Reykjavik, Iceland, held the world spellbound for two months with reports of psychological warfare, ultimatums, political intrigue, cliffhangers, and farce to rival a Marx Brothers film.Thirty years later, David Edmonds and John Eidinow have set out to reexamine the story we recollect as the quintessential cold war clash between a lone American star and the Soviet chess machine - a machine that had delivered the world title to the Kremlin for decades. Drawing upon unpublished Soviet and U.S. records, the authors reconstruct the full and incredible saga, one far more poignant and layered than hitherto believed.The authors chronicle how Fischer, a manipulative, dysfunctional genius, risked all to seize control of the contest as the organizers maneuvered frantically to save it - under the eyes of the world's press. They can now tell the inside story of Moscow's response, and the bitter tensions within the Soviet camp as the anxious and frustrated apparatchiks strove to prop up Boris Spassky, the most un-Soviet of their champions - fun-loving, sensitive, and a free spirit. Edmonds and Eidinow follow this careering, behind-the-scenes confrontation to its climax: a clash that displayed the cultural differences between the dynamic, media-savvy representatives of the West and the baffled, impotent Soviets. Try as they might, even the KGB couldn't help.

    For one thousand years, the Empire of Rokugan has stood as a bastion of nobility, honor, and virtue. These lands are ruled by the samurai, powerful heroes who carry the katana and wakizashi as their badge of rank. Eight Great Clans vie with one another for supremacy over these lands, all under the eye of the mighty Emperor. And to the south, the Shadowlands, the eternal enemy of Rokugan, waits for the next opportunity to disrupt all that these foolish mortals have built. It is a land of intrigue, wonder, and adventure. Welcome to the third iteration of the Legend of the Five Rings Role-Playing Game. This player's guide will provide players and GM's with all of the setting, culture, and rules needed to create characters in the Legend of the Five Rings world and stage ongoing campaigns in Rokugan. While this book contains an updated version of the familiar rules, conversion rules will be included so that none of the many previous volumes set in this world will ever be obsolete. The best Asian style fantasy setting roleplaying game of this generation returns to its roots with its release this summer. Legend of the Five Rings 3rd Edition returns focus to the Roll and Keep(R&K) system originally released in 1996. Conveying a deeper sense of realism, the R&K system best simulates the tension, reality, and lethality of Samurai drama. Look for it more information in the coming weeks here at L5R.com. * Thrilling fantasy setting based on the myths and culture of Japan, China, and other Asian nations * A new generation of the beloved Legend of the Five Rings roll and keep system.* Streamlines existing rules without making previous products obsolete.* Excellent sourcebook for Rokugani culture and history

    Bloodborne: Official Artworks collects the hair-raising artwork behind this modern action role-playing classic. Included are character concepts, creature designs, location illustrations, weapons, items, and more!

    From the bestselling authors of Marketing Warfare comes another winner that turns conventional views of marketing upside-down, presenting a step-by-step approach to turn an effective tactic into an overall business strategy.

    There he finds fragments of the original Book of Nod in a language that has been dead for thousands of years. Who has led him to this place? What has he uncovered? And why has he been chosen to transcribe the words of one who could be Caine himself?Who Found it and Why?Written by noted science-fiction novelist C.S. Friedman, The Erciyes Fragments is a version of the Book of Nod that has never been seen before by mortal eyes. The most sage of vampiric scholars provide their commentary for your enlightenment. Revealed now for the first time are the prophecies of Nod and of Gehenna!

    Elders' blood, passed from one childe to the next for generations, no longer holds the potency it once had. Too many childer have been Embraced in the Final Nights - and reckoning must come for these illegitimate vampires. If it does not, the world may end.Gehenna will soon be upon youThe Time of Thin Blood allows players to portray the hunted childer of high-generation vampires. In addition, the Final Nights are upon us, and this book offers Storytellers a glimpse at one of the first events in the unfolding Gehenna. Rich in story and character content, The Time of Thin Blood is he first step toward the world's ultimate demise ... or salvation.The Time of This Blood includes:* Rules for creating 14th- and 15th-generation vampires - and their children* A wealth ofsetting material that allows Storytellers to bring the Final Nights into play

    At all costs.Coral joined the immersive MMORPG Travail Online because her waitressing job, like so many other jobs, was automated by a growing robot workforce. She starts the role-playing video game as a Seamstress, hoping to craft useful clothing in-game to sell for real life cash. The game, however, has other ideas. What starts off as job replacement quickly launches an adventure of epic proportions through a virtual reality world filled with magic, intrigue, and betrayal.Daniel has played for longer, but the game changes him to a new class that doesn’t actually seem to exist. How can he maximize his skills when his class is completely uncharted? How can he avoid dying at the hands of a madman and losing all of his inventory and gold? Can he, Coral, and their friends stop the murderous NPC before Travail comes crashing down, taking the world economy with it?TRAVAIL ONLINE is a new LitRPG series that follows players and non-player characters through the virtual reality world of Travail Online — complete with elves, magic, and mobs galore. Welcome to Travail, where hard play makes fun work.

    A young, vibrant clan, the Ravnos adapt, making the most of a hostile world and turning it to their advantage as best they can. To that end, was their near-total annihilation a Biblical punishment or a rebirth from the ashes of the impending Gehenna?Blasphemies and DebasementAs the next entry in the revised lineup of clanbooks, Ravnos takes one of the classic Vampire sourcebooks and brings it into a modern context. All-new information accompanies revised material, inviting you to add as much depth to your character as you like. The sheer volume of information contained in the new clanbooks (each with 32 more pages than the first-edition books) permits Storytellers to round out their chronicles.

    It will help you achieve casual or monogamous relationships while safeguarding you from sexual harassment and rape accusations that have increased due to the spread of social justice and hashtag activism. Game was written after the author's 17-year obsessive journey into the art of seducing women.The book begins with...-The 8 beliefs you must internalize to attract women without conscious effort -How to maximize your physical appearance so that most of a seduction is complete before you even begin talking -The hygiene and body flaws that turn women off without you realizing it -8 attraction triggers that cause a woman to be deeply drawn into a man -3 destroyers of attraction that turn off just about all women in their physical primeThe biggest chapter is on approaching. Even if you don't have a large social circle, or any friends at all, Game teaches you how to have pleasant face-to-face interactions with women. You'll learn...-How to walk out your front door and casually meet women during the day in a way that won't make you anxious -How to meet girls at night in bars, clubs, or on the street -Dozens of word-for-word examples of how to approach women and converse with them -The best way to know that a girl likes you and will show up on a first date -The number one sign that a girl is ready to be kissed so that you never have to worry about being physically "rejected" -How to move things to the bedroom on the same day or night you meet a girlIf you're not a fan of casual hook-ups, the book has you covered with a traditional dating program. You'll learn...-How to contact a girl using a text messaging script that gets right to the point of scheduling a date -6 fun date questions to ask that help reveal if she's worth a long-term relationship -6 conversational guidelines that prevent you from running out of things to say -How to "qualify" and tease a girl so that she always sees you as a high-value man -The smoothest way to move things to a private home when she's ready for intimacy -A safe progression to having consensual sex that won't get you in trouble with the lawOnce you start dating a girl you like, you'll enjoy the chapter on relationships. You'll learn...-How to lovingly mold a girl into your ideal partner while resisting her efforts to train you into a beta male slave -The most important standards you must uphold to maintain the integrity of the relationship -How to regain attraction after your girlfriend becomes distant -6 warning signs that tell you a girl is not worth marriage -How to know if your girlfriend is cheating on youYou'll also find two large appendices. They share...-The best way to enter social circles where women will see you as the apex male -How to get intimate with a girl in your social circle so that things don't get weird or awkward -An easy trick to identify which foreign cities contain women that will be most receptive to your look and personality -How to plan for trips that maximize the chance you'll get lucky with foreign womenThe above only scratches the surface of what Game contains. It is seminal work of a hyper-sexualized man who dedicated tens of thousands of hours into understanding women and attracting them while fending off defamatory attacks from mainstream feminists and fake news journalists who want to criminalize healthy masculinity. Whether your goal is to have fun in a big city with lots of women or fall in love with only one before getting married, Game will help you accomplish your goals in a way that keeps you safe from degrading cultural winds that continue to divide men and wom