On a cruiseship bound for Buenos Aires, a wealthy passenger challenges the world chess champion to a match. He accepts with a sneer. He will beat anyone, he says. But only if the stakes are high. Soon, the chess board is surrounded. At first, the challenger crumbles before the mind of the master. But then, a soft-spoken voice from the crowd begins to whisper nervous suggestions. Perfect moves, brilliant predictions. The speaker has not played a game for more than twenty years, he says. He is wholly unknown. But somehow, he is also entirely formidable...
Chess (Penguin Mini Modern Classics)
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About the Author
Stefan Zweig was born in 1881 in Vienna to a wealthy Austrian-Jewish family. Recognition as a writer came early for Zweig; by the age of forty, he had already won literary fame. In 1934, with Nazism entrenched, Zweig left Austria for England, and became a British citizen in 1940. In 1941 he and his second wife went to Brazil, where they committed suicide. Zweig's best-known works of fiction are Beware of Pity (1939) and The Royal Game (1944), but his most outstanding accomplishments were his many biographies, which were based on psychological interpretation.
Anthea Bell translated E. T. A. Hoffman's The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr for Penguin Classics and has received a number of translation awards.
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First Sentence
The usual last-minute bustle of activity reigned on board the large passenger steamer that was to leave New York for Buenos Aires at midnight. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
The usual last-minute bustle of activity reigned on board the large passenger steamer that was to leave New York for Buenos Aires at midnight. Read the first page
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
29 of 30 people found the following review helpful
By H. Eaton
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
This is a little gem of a book. I was intrigued the moment I read the blurb and I wasn't disappointed. This is a compelling story told by a master storyteller. The book was written in 1942 while the author was in exile in Brazil. It was completed just days before he committed suicide.
The story centres around an eccentric character who, despite lack of any discernible intellectual prowess, turns out to be a master chess player. On board a ship to Buenos Aires he is challenged to a game by some of the passengers who are curious about his character. All opponents are duly overcome until a mysterious man steps forward to prompt one of the players and it becomes clear that his grasp of the game is enough to defeat the grandmaster. We are then taken into the back story of this character and the secret behind his abilities at the chess board. To say that this is a page turner is a serious understatement. I challenge anyone not to finish it in one go.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By Parvati P.
Format:Paperback
Few novellas impress me, but this is a masterpiece of psychological drama. From the outset I was hooked.I wanted to know more about this mysterious chess player, who he is and why he is going to Buenos Aires, but I was also thoroughly gripped by his back story, his predicament, his arrogance, his strategies, his decisions, his slow descent into madness and the reactions of those around him. This is also a mystery story and one that is powerfully told. So much is packed into just 75 pages. I don't think I have ever read anything like it for sheer impact.
This is a classic of German literature but there is nothing that matches it in English either. Unforgettable.
This is a classic of German literature but there is nothing that matches it in English either. Unforgettable.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By Eileen Shaw
TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
A cracking little tale in the form of a novella, this takes as its subject obsession - with chess. Passengers embark on a passenger steamer leaving New York for Buenos Aires. Aboard is the world chess champion Czentovic, a man of little culture whose talent for the game is the only one he has. When he is persuaded by money to take on a game with other passengers one among them proves more than equal to the task. But why, and how, has this pale distracted individual learned the game to the point where he is unbeatable?
The story behind his amazing facility is a dark fable of foul deeds. This very short novella (76 pp), is startling in its revelations and is a wicked tale very well-told.
The story behind his amazing facility is a dark fable of foul deeds. This very short novella (76 pp), is startling in its revelations and is a wicked tale very well-told.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By Oracle
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
You don't have to be a fan of chess to enjoy this addictive little novella. Zweig's tale of the passengers of a cruise ship who challenge a chess grand master to a match is about much more than just a board game. It's a powerful exploration of genius and of the workings of the human mind. Zweig expertly builds tension and I was compelled to read on to find out the outcome of the match.
This edition was published as part of the Mini Modern Classics series celebrating Penguin Modern Classics' 50th anniversary and after this I'm keen to read more both of this and the other shorts in Penguin's collection. This is a great introduction to Zweig for those, like me, who had previously not read this twentieth century master.
This edition was published as part of the Mini Modern Classics series celebrating Penguin Modern Classics' 50th anniversary and after this I'm keen to read more both of this and the other shorts in Penguin's collection. This is a great introduction to Zweig for those, like me, who had previously not read this twentieth century master.
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I first read Chess: A Novel, in High School and I have loved it ever since. It is extremely difficult to put it down as it delves so much into the human psyche and the power to survive, the need to focus on something, anything, to still find a purpose in life. What makes this book even more interesting is that, if my memories are right, this book was written before the end of the second world war, but also that Stefan Zweig committed suicide not long after writing this book. It is quite small and quickly read, so if you fancy an excellent quick read which will really make you think, don't look any further.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This novella is Stefan Zweig at his very best. It is short but powerful and I doubt if anyone could fail to read it through in one sitting.
The story is simple yet compelling: two characters locked in a fierce battle, perfectly matched but entirely opposite in all respects and neither willing to yield in conflict. The short back story to each character brings them both to the table but only one can be victorious.
Clearly, more can be read into this novella than a mere chess match.
A great introduction to Stefan Zweig's genius.
The story is simple yet compelling: two characters locked in a fierce battle, perfectly matched but entirely opposite in all respects and neither willing to yield in conflict. The short back story to each character brings them both to the table but only one can be victorious.
Clearly, more can be read into this novella than a mere chess match.
A great introduction to Stefan Zweig's genius.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A most gripping story written in a spellbinding fashion. I just couldn't put the book down and had to consume it in one go! Fascinating to a lover of chess ( I don't know how it would seem to someone who knows nothing about chess, though), and very poignant in its depiction of the power of chess, both in its positive and negative potential.
Unfortunately, there's a basic (but huge) mistake, (on page 48) when the narrator describes the moment he came to understand the notation of the chessboard, saying that the letters "a, b, c" stand for "horizontal" rows of squares, where as the numbers, "1, 2, 3" stand for the vertical rows: the truth is the exact OPPOSITE! Just one look at any chessboard would verify that! I don't know if the mistake is Zweig's, or that of the translator (with the editor not caring to revise properly?)! It would be very surprising if it were Zweig's since the whole story suggests a very intimate knowledge of chess, not just in the technical sense, but also in the profound understanding of its emotional impact and power. (I guess the only way to know whose mistake it was would be to read it in the original German!)
That blunder aside, the story manages to combine emotional truth, darkness, and humor, and would leave you feeling like you've been on a roller coaster ride into the depths and heights of what the Royal Game is capable of invoking in its truest devotees.
Unfortunately, there's a basic (but huge) mistake, (on page 48) when the narrator describes the moment he came to understand the notation of the chessboard, saying that the letters "a, b, c" stand for "horizontal" rows of squares, where as the numbers, "1, 2, 3" stand for the vertical rows: the truth is the exact OPPOSITE! Just one look at any chessboard would verify that! I don't know if the mistake is Zweig's, or that of the translator (with the editor not caring to revise properly?)! It would be very surprising if it were Zweig's since the whole story suggests a very intimate knowledge of chess, not just in the technical sense, but also in the profound understanding of its emotional impact and power. (I guess the only way to know whose mistake it was would be to read it in the original German!)
That blunder aside, the story manages to combine emotional truth, darkness, and humor, and would leave you feeling like you've been on a roller coaster ride into the depths and heights of what the Royal Game is capable of invoking in its truest devotees.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
a gripping novel about chess?
Stefan Zweig here manages something most would perhaps think impossible - to write an interesting nee compulsively readable novella around chess. Read more
Published 4 days ago by Mr. Robert Marsland
4.0 out of 5 stars
very engaging read
very interesting insight into the nature of a person trying not to give into madness and the struggle to retain ones personality
Published 1 month ago by S D Worrall
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not a short story fan? This author may change your mind.
Very good. Powerful and intense. A good length for a novella, scope for some story, which itself is well-written, sad and all too believable. Read more
Published 2 months ago by K. J. Noyes
5.0 out of 5 stars
thought-provoking novella
Made me think a great deal about the cost of genius. A good evening's read followed by an even better argument in the pub.
Published 7 months ago by Big Fish
5.0 out of 5 stars
Check it out mate!
I cannot recommend this enough. It is well known in Germany but not so well known here. An iterest in chess is not needed to enjoy this very readable 'middle-length' story that has... Read more
Published 11 months ago by SFBooks
4.0 out of 5 stars
Obsession laid bare
This is more of a short story rather than a novella, 80 or so small pages. It is best read and easily read in one sitting. It is a story of oppression and obsession. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Noel
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