Chess Story

Notes

This was a very short read. Less than 100 pages.

I once again read this book, didn't take any notes, and returned it to the library, so I can't refer to it anymore. My review is going to be vague again, sorry. I'll be better for March's book.

I probably played chess a total of three times in my entire life. Not my thing. I was worried that I would hate this book and have to trudge through it, but I surprisingly liked it. There are not many technical descriptions of the game/board/pieces, but when there were I couldn't visualize it at all. The story is more about the psychology and mental calculations needed to play the game well, which I could comprehend.

There's a story inside the story as Dr. B narrates his experiences of being held in an empty room by Nazis, maintaining his sanity only by reading through a stolen book of famous chess games and playing mental chess against himself. Reading his descent into madness was tense.

I felt like one of the casual cruise passengers, with a surface-level knowledge of chess, watching two seemingly supernatural chess players battle it out. My interest was less on the game itself and more on witnessing disaster as Dr. B played a game he vowed to never touch again. An addict returning to his vice just one more time, one last time.