Exciting Chess Fiction: Even Dead Men Play Chess and The Grandmaster's King by Michael Weitz
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2014
Hello everyone,
Most chess players have trouble finding 'exciting' activities off the chess board or away from it. So, how about some cool chess fiction?
Michael Weitz is an award-winning writer of television commercials, documentaries and various video projects along with his novels and short stories. He is an avid chess player and student of the game, and has an eclectic mix of other hobbies and interests including bicycling, photography, pool and astronomy. Michael Weitz has taken his chess love one step further and penned two exciting chess novels. Here's a summary:
Even Dead Men Play Chess – Ray Gordon is a chess teacher with students ranging from homeless kids at a youth center (which he volunteers for) to local players who just want to post a few wins at the club. When one of his older students dies in a gruesome woodworking accident, Ray believes there’s more to the story. What follows is a strange set of circumstances including a kidnapping, a neighbor who’s strangely happy about the death and clues leading Ray to wonder if the victim was involved in a meth lab.
Some chess highlights: The story includes the famous Evergreen Game, discusses correspondence chess, has some chess history and even a dog named Morphy!
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The Grandmaster’s King – The US Chess Championship is underway in Seattle, WA and the leading contender, Charlie Roggenbuck, is an old friend of Ray’s. When Ray discovers Charlie’s body in a hotel room, it sets off a chain of events that sets the chess world on edge. The police have no leads so it’s up to Ray to track down the killer. With few clues to go on Ray enters the professional world of chess and finds he’s in over his head in more ways than one. Is the killer one of the chess players? And is he or she after him?
Some chess highlights: Portions of games by Fischer and Purdy are featured (full games are listed at the end,) Ray uses the abandoned chess game at the scene of the crime to help deduce clues.
No, you won't need a chess board to enjoy the chess in the novels. These books are for you if you love a good 'ol adrenalin pumpin' whodunit, have outgrown the murder mysteries of Agatha Christie, but are hungry for more... and, of course, love chess.
The books are a great gift for someone who's just been introduced to chess, or someone whom you would like to talk about a game that's now no longer for the nerds alone. If you're a chess pro, travelling to your next tournament and don't have a companion for the train journey... check out Michael Weitz's books on Amazon!
Labels: chess fiction, even dead men play chess, michael weitz, the grandmaster's king
Cool Chess Novel: Author Jennifer DuBois Interview in Chess Life
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Here is an interesting article from Chess Life - the excellent chess publication by the US Chess Federation. Dr. Tim Redman spoke to Jennifer DuBois who has written her first novel "A Partial History of Lost Causes".
Q: Your novel shows considerable knowledge of the chess world. Do you play chess? Have you ever been a U.S. Chess Federation member? How did you come to know us so well?
A: I play chess sporadically and badly, but I've always been fascinated by the game and the world. While I did a lot of general background research for A Partial History of Lost Causes, the really fun and challenging part was in figuring out how to write specific, serious games into the book. I would never have been able to invent their choreographies myself, so I found the moves of particular games--Kasparov vs. Karpov, for example, and Kasparov vs. Deep Blue--to use as models.
I studied the games on my own chessboard to get a sense of what they looked like, and then I tried to narrate them in a way that would be convincing for readers who played and compelling for readers who did not. I hope that the pivotal chess moments in the book--like my character Aleksandr Bezetov's fatal mistake while playing the computer program--resonate intellectually for chess players while resonating emotionally for everyone.
Q: Your novel also demonstrates a detailed knowledge of the Soviet Union. Have you spent much time in Russia? How much and when? Do you speak and/or read Russian? How did you acquire that background?
A: I speak and write Russian about as well as I play chess, and I've been to Russia only twice--in 2010, just after I'd finished writing A Partial History of Lost Causes, and in 1990, when I was six. That first trip seems to have sparked my lifelong fascination in Eastern Europe generally and in Russia specifically--I'm a committed international politics nerd, so I'm particularly interested in Russian political culture and development. When you're writing your first novel, I think you're really just writing for yourself most of the time--it's hard to believe anyone else will ever read your book, and in any case, nobody's ever going to read the thing as many times as you are. So in choosing to write about Russia, I was probably just trying to lure myself to my desk with a subject I loved and was truly interested in (which was lucky, since the amount of research involved would have been absolutely terrifying otherwise).
Q: Although the copyright page contains the usual disclaimer about resemblance to actual people, the book is clearly based on the chess and political career of Garry Kasparov. Why the disclaimer?
A: I think that disclaimer is pretty standard when there's any small element of fiction in a book, and in this case, there's really only a small element that is grounded in reality. Though some of the general progression of Aleksandr Bezetov's career is indeed based on Kasparov's--as are some specific moments, such as when Bezetov loses to a computer program and when he's bludgeoned with a chessboard by an irate former fan--most of it is invented!
Labels: a partial history of lost causes, chess fiction, jennifer dubois, tim redman
Cool Chess Short Story for the Weekend!
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
An interesting chess short story comes from Siobhan Gallagher. What would you say? Philosophical, eccentric, stream of consciousness, chess dream... or, something else? Enjoy the story that ends with a twist.
The Invitation
IT’S THE WAITING GAME THAT HAUNTS ME. Half-past midnight under a lone street lamp and, nothing. Empty streets and sleeping buildings. So unlike the roaring noise of day, with cars honking and engines starting, people yakking in voices louder than they need be on their phones. All headache inducing. It’s why I’ve escaped into the night, a personal pain reliever, and in my hand an invitation.
The invitation appeared earlier today, beside my coffee in a diner. A slick piece of film with golden letters that came and went as they please. And I just knew it was for me. I didn’t even think that perhaps someone had left it behind.
It said to wait at this specific spot, and I don’t know what to expect. I should be in bed; I have work tomorrow. Oh yes, work. Whatever love I once had for it has vanished under piles of paper, my patience consumed by dragged out board meetings. Now I stare at figures on a computer screen, wondering when my eyes will fall out.
Since I’ve obtained this invitation I haven’t released it, my fingers gently stroking it like a lover, hoping it will provide me a clue, a little hint of its origins. I need to sate this curiosity of mine, to understand why I have been summoned — and by whom.
If I don’t, I might just go mad.
Dry words ride on a chilled wind, wrapping itself around me tighter than my own jacket. The words tell me of a spire-topped building in the middle of the city.
My steps are swift, yet soundless. The wind trails behind me like an eager familiar, occasionally nipping at my heels. It isn’t long before I arrive at the great ebony tower, so massive it appears to stir the clouds; its surface reflects back the moon’s glow, as though undesiring to be showered in silvery light. In my mind’s eye I can see it as an obelisk rising up from Egyptian sands — and it’s no wonder it wants to hide; return to the deserts from which it commanded. I wonder what could be housed in such magnificence.
I take a moment, breathing deeply. The cold sinks to the bottom of my lungs, and each fresh intake of air becomes a pain in my side, sapping at my courage. What lies beyond those dark doors? Read further at the link.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com
Labels: chess fiction, chess short story
Cool Chess Fiction Based on Byrne-Fischer Queen Sac Chess Game!
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Chess Magazine Black and White has sent us an interesting chess fiction review by Zainab Raza Undulusi. Fierce loyalty, treachery, love and palace intrigue woven into 10th Century Welsh history with a chess thread make 'Queen Sacrifice' the hot new chess fiction of the season.
Tony Riches is a full-time author and chess player from Pembrokeshire, one of the most unspoilt areas of the United Kingdom. Best known for his non-fiction books, Tony told Chess Magazine B&W that he was exploring the early history of Wales. Suddenly he realised how the battles between rival kings reminded him of chess. There were bishops and early knights supporting both sides with ‘bondsmen’ as the pawns in their civil wars.
Indian readers would be quick to draw parallels with the epic Mahabharata. But Riches has gone way further for chess lovers by faithfully following every single move in the 1956 Queen sac chess game between Donald Byrne and the then 13-year-old Bobby Fischer.
Instead of saving his Queen on b6
Fischer had played the audacious 17. ...Be6
Fischer had just won the US Junior Championship and was playing in his first major tournament. Byrne was already a well-known chess player among the top-10 in the world. Fischer's moves had 'shocked' the chess world as they watched in fascination. You can replay the full Byrne-Fischer game with Chess King at the following link:
Incredible creative twist: Byrne-Fischer chess game moves
Tony told Chess Magazine B&W that one of the problems with using a chess game as a narrative meant was that he had 30 male characters - and only two women! After a bit of thought he gave each of the queens a female companion and added a few wives and housekeepers. He balanced the ‘cast’ a little to allow the plot to develop. He deliberately worked just a few moves in hand as not knowing the fate of any of the characters made it exciting to write.
He used the Welsh language (still used by about 10% of the population in Wales ) as inspiration for the names for the two opposing sides: ‘Du’ is Welsh for black and ‘Gwyn’ for white, choosing authentic Welsh names for all the characters.
Most of us use books as a drug to stay zoned out in another time and in other skins even as we live out our daily life on the planet. 'Queen Sacrifice' works great on that requirement. It's a huge canvas. You can look through your boss with a glassy gaze while you figure out how the next Byrne-Fischer move relates to the chapter you are reading.
Other questions to play with while blanking out your spouse, colleagues and obsessive chess opponents could be:
- Did Queen Elvina get caught during her secret tryst with her lover?
- Did her maid use blackmail?
- What happened to Queen Rhiannon...?
- Or, maybe, it was all true because the myth of Rhiannon found its way into the medieval Welsh manuscripts that became the heroic stories of the Mabinogion!All in all, a fast-paced read for those who love history and chess... more so if you want to remember the Byrne-Fischer chess game with new hooks for every move and some subtle lovemaking (in the book! A book description available at this link.)
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com
Labels: chess fiction, Queen sacrifice, tony riches
Fantastic new chess novel on the horizon - Los Voraces 2019
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011Hi everyone,
What makes a beautiful chess morning? Surely, some chess news from the literary world. This nice article in the Boston Globe set us for a chess mood this Monday. Harold Dondis and Patrick Wolff have written a nice review. Here it is:
Agatha Christie awake and return! You have a rival in the chess world, one Andrew Soltis, a premier columnist for Chess Life for many years, a NY Post chess columnist and author of many chess texts, and an accomplished tournament player. He has written a book, “Los Voraces 2019’’ (McFarland) or shall we say a chess satire wrapped in an engaging mystery that competes with the very best of whodunits.
“Los Voraces’’ concerns a tournament heavily endowed in the will of a deceased wealthy businessman that provides abundant and irresistible appearance fees and prizes for the greatest Grandmasters, who then play in the 2800 rated range. Los Voraces is a tiny town somewhere in New Mexico virtually cut off from civilization. The tycoon’s will provides funding that will attract the world’s greatest Grandmasters. The tournament must be private. It is held annually to host a collection of dedicated, in some cases narcissistic and omnipotent, achievers, including the world champion Grushevsky. They come from various nations and engulf this small town. The narrator receives excellent pay as arbiter of the tournament, and apparently as caretaker of the sometimes childish, venomous, and unmannered group of geniuses.
The arbiter manages pretty well until, prior to the commencement of the tourney, the Grandmaster Attila Gabor from Hungary falls to the floor with a fatal heart attack. The unpopular Gabor was not going to be missed by his contemporaries, and his death swelled the prize fund. No problem there, except the narrator seemed to find that odd pills had been substituted for Gabor’s heart medicine. The atmosphere turns acrid, as a groupie finds a coral snake in her purse and goes on to heaven. Then a Dutch Grandmaster expires as he seals a move for adjournment. The arbiter, nevertheless, keeps control of his flock, who are given to such eccentricities as agreeing to a draw the night before and then shaking hands at the tournament without making a move - a no-move draw.
The narrator not only reports on the progress of the tournament but also includes the chess games, including a draw in which eight queens appear on the board. It is best for the reader to postpone review of the games until finished with the narration, or else the mystery will take longer to read than “War and Peace.’’ Soltis’s descriptions of the players, their habits, their machinations, and the chess world are salted with wry prose, anecdotes, proverbs, and excellent quotes that make this a remarkable satire. He cites former world champion Tigran Petrosian as stating that every chess position has a weakness, even if it is imperceptible. Who can quarrel with that?
As for who killed these innocent people - no, we will not tell.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com
Labels: andrew soltis, chess fiction, chess literature, chess news, chess novel
Chess fiction for the weekend
 Hello Everyone,
The writer, Burt Hochberg (1933–May 13, 2006) authored and edited several books on chess, and served as editor of both Chess Life (from December 1966 until October 1979 inclusive), and GAMES magazine. Hochberg has been the longest-serving editor in the history of Chess Life magazine.
Hochberg was the main publishing and advisory force behind the RHM Publishing chess project in the 1970s, which produced many high-quality titles from several of the world's top players.
This anthology includes 44 pieces grouped together in several sections covering poetry, prose, fantasy, allegory to journalism and more.
The first section includes 'Chess Itself' - an essay by Charles Krauthammer. The 'Only a Pawn' in section 3 includes Lewis Carroll's Red Queen match! Then, there is A. L. Taylor's essay 'The White Knight'. You can also enjoy the flavour of Borges' poetic analogy of dreamers and Ian Fleming's 'From Russia With Love' chess motif. There is also the Poul Anderson's story of the 'The Immortal Game' of 1851 played by robot simulators! Part Four introduces 'Players Real & Imagined'. Elias Canetti - as Hochberg writes - "astounding coincidence" of a fictional player named Fischer - in his 1935 novel 'Auto-da-Fé'. There's also a whodunit, murder mystery and romance packed into the book as well. We found a very nice detailed review of the book here. From Alexandra Kosteniuk's Also see her personal blog at Labels: chess fiction
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