Chess Story

by Stefan Zweig

As is the case with all those of a tenacious nature, he lacked any sense of the ridiculous;

it is the only game that belongs to all races and all time, and nobody may know which heavenly power gave it to the world to slay boredom, sharpen the senses and capture the soul.

They did nothing to us – they just put us into total nothingness, for it is known that there is no more element on earth that can exert such pressure on the human soul as nothingness.

the game of chess has that wonderful quality, by marshalling intellectual energy within a defined arena, of keeping the brain fresh even after the most strenuous thinking, and even sharpening the brain's agility and vigour.

setting out to play against oneself in chess represents therefore the same sort of paradox as a man jumping over his own shadow.