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Chess Story by Stefan Zweig - 5* - My Review

This is a brilliant novella written in 1942 by Stefan Zweig, an Austrian Jewish writer, while living in exile in Brazil, just before his death. The story opens on a passenger ship en route from New York to South America, when the narrator (possibly a stand-in for the author) encounters two chess experts. Master Champion Mirko Czentovic, has deep knowledge learned over time by practice. His only area of deficiency is that he has never been able to “play blind” (without looking at the chess board). The second chess expert, only called Doctor B, is not acclaimed in chess circles for reasons to be revealed in the narrative. He has the instinctive ability to “play blind” and is self-taught. As world champion, Czentovic refuses on-ship matches unless he is paid. A group of amateurs, with a wealthy member, decides to challenge the master, and during their match, Doctor B shows up and whispers moves to them. This is the initial setup for a clash of opposites.

The narrator sets up his interest in the conflict: “All my life I have been passionately interested in monomaniacs of any kind, people carried away by a single idea. The more one limits oneself, the closer one is to the infinite; these people, as unworldly as they seem, burrow like termites into their own particular material to construct, in miniature, a strange and utterly individual image of the world. Thus I made no secret of my intention to subject this odd specimen of a one-track mind to a closer examination during the twelve-day voyage to Rio.”

It is a story of obsession and the impact of isolation. The two end up locked in a psychological battle in addition to the game. I found this novella absolutely riveting, particularly the climactic game. I was tempted to re-read it immediately upon finishing. The reader does not need to be interested in chess to appreciate it. It is masterful work.

Note: This is a novella of 104 pages.