To Compete

The joy of matching skill under equal conditions and drawing a clear line between winning and losing. Chess draws from this spring. So does go. So does Street Fighter. So does esports. Roger Caillois, in Man, Play and Games (1958), sorted play into four categories, and the four springs on this map borrow that sorting directly. What makes competitive play enjoyable is that the outcome stays uncertain until the end — a game only the strongest can ever win dies as play. Handicaps, ratings, matchmaking — all of them exist to keep this spring's water clear.