Publication Date: 04/11/2021 ISBN: 9781782278269 Category:

The Royal Game: A Chess Story

Stefan Zweig, Alexander Starritt

Publisher: Pushkin Press
Publication Date: 04/11/2021 ISBN: 9781782278269 Category:
Paperback / Softback

£7.99

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Description

Chess world champion Mirko Czentovic is travelling on an ocean liner to Buenos Aires. Dull-witted in all but chess, he entertains himself on board by allowing others to challenge him in the game, before beating each of them and taking their money. But there is another passenger with a passion for chess: Dr B, previously driven to insanity during Nazi imprisonment by the chess games in his imagination. But in agreeing to take on Czentovic, what price will Dr B ultimately pay?

A moving portrait of one man’s madness, The Royal Game: a chess story is a searing examination of the power of the mind and the evil it can do.

Publisher Review

'Perhaps the best chess story ever written, perhaps the best about any game. Never mind that you may have never moved a pawn to King four; the story will grip you.' - Economist 'The novella is one of Zweig's most horrifying investigations into monomania and at the same time a parable of the dangers inherent in engaging with Nazism.' - Ruth Franklin 'A Chess Story by Stefan Zweig; the games our minds play.' - Candia McWilliam

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