From the Bookshelf of On Paths Unknown…

Chess Story

Stefan Zweig

Start date: December 7, 2021

Discussion: LET'S KEEP IT SHORT

Why we're reading this: This story contains ripe fodder for discussion, and would be a good Austrian addition to our around-the-w…more
[close] This story contains ripe fodder for discussion, and would be a good Austrian addition to our around-the-world list.

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LET'S KEEP IT SHORT

Stefan Zweig's Chess Story
By Traveller · 43 posts · 59 views

last updated Feb 02, 2023 08:22AM

H.Murakami, "Cream", "With the Beatles" , " The Yakult Swallows Poetry Collection "
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last updated Dec 29, 2021 06:57PM

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Dec 13, 2014 Andrew Smith rated it it was amazing

I can't remember who taught me to play chess, but I learnt quite young. I use the word ‘play’ in the loosest sense; I knew the rules and enjoyed playing, but at no stage did I ever absorb the subtleties of the game. When I played, there was no recognisable opening, no middle game strategy, and the end game was usually a wild chase around the board, with both players holding just a few pieces.

Sixty-four squares on an eight by eight grid, sixteen pieces for each player, and the possibility of a wi I can't remember who taught me to play chess, but I learnt quite young. I use the word ‘play’ in the loosest sense; I knew the rules and enjoyed playing, but at no stage did I ever absorb the subtleties of the game. When I played, there was no recognisable opening, no middle game strategy, and the end game was usually a wild chase around the board, with both players holding just a few pieces.

Sixty-four squares on an eight by eight grid, sixteen pieces for each player, and the possibility of a win, lose, or draw outcome (though I don’t recall ever drawing a game). I’m told the number of game variations is incalculable, and I can believe that; so it's not such a simple game, but one that got a hold on me. I was fascinated, in my teenage years, by news stories of world championship matches featuring stern faced Russians - Spassky and Karpov – and the arrival of the new kid on the block, the young American, Bobby Fischer. There was something mysterious and vaguely sinister about the whole chess world, or at least that’s how it felt to me.

I stopped playing chess in my late teens and can’t recall the last time I moved a Pawn to King 4, but I have retained a sentimental attachment to the game. I enjoyed The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis and I was delighted when someone recommended this novella to me.

Set on a steamer travelling to Buenos Aires, it tells the tale of the rude and brutish World Champion, Czentovic, being persuaded to pitch his skills against a fellow traveller. After a few routine losses, a mysterious spectator, Mr B, helps out the hapless loser. As the story plays out, we witness a showdown game, and we learn much more about Mr B.

The author, Zweig, was exiled by the Nazi’s in the 1930’s and wrote this book (the last before his suicide) in 1941. It’s a tight, brilliantly written piece that held my attention fully for the short time it took me to complete it. Of course, given the timing of its release, it’s quite likely that Zweig was using Czentovic as a representation of Hitler, and the whole chess set piece was an analogy for the Second World War. Whether this be the case or not, it’s an entertaining read, and the depiction of mental torment painted within the pages does brilliantly illustrate both the capacity and frailty of the human mind.

Highly recommended. ...more

60 likes · Like · see review

Sep 19, 2018 Jibran rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: german

To make sense, it might be better to read this story as a parable of the human mind than a psychological sketch grounded in realism, though I suspect this is not what Zweig had intended.

As with the rest of his novels, the narration is superb and eminently readable, especially when he expounds on the tragedy of one Dr. B and his capture that eventually led him into creating a mental defence mechanism to survive the nothingness of solitary confinement. Chess, the king of games, or the game of kin ...more

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May 25, 2012 Brian rated it it was amazing

Coming to Zweig by way of chums Proustitute and Jacob (thank you!) is one of the so many reasons why I love Goodreads. It's possible that I would have come across Zweig at some point in the future, but it's so much better to read him now. Delayed gratification in the world of the written word is a premise I prefer to leave unexplored.

Knowing that this novella was written during the last years of Zweig's life only make the austere, humanistic style of writing more profound. In 1942, Zweig and his ...more

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Jun 15, 2010 Kamakana rated it it was amazing

Shelves: aaa-favoritefiction, aaa-top-translation, translation, aa-europelit, aa-austrialit, all-five-star, read-twice-or-more, nyrb, xshort-less-200, literature

if you like this review, i now have website: www.michaelkamakana.com

030119: i really love zweig. i must confess i only ever first read him because he was at the end of the fiction shelves at waimea town library, as this was some years before nyrb and everyone literary revived his work. and of his work i most appreciate this very short work. i like concision. i have no idea if the translation is very good or he just writes fluid, engaging, perceptive sentences. it probably helps that i do not kno ...more

7 likes · Like · see review