The Chess Game
“The Royal Game”, by Stefan Zweig
“Chess is not only a game, it is a science and an art.” -Stefan Zweig
A year before his death by suicide, the author Stefan Zweig wrote a love-letter to his favorite game, chess.
“The Royal Game” is a 1941 novella about a fictional chess match that takes place on an ocean cruiser traveling from New York to Buenos Aires.
The narrator hears that a chess master by the name of Mirko Czentovic is on board, and that he is passing the time by playing anyone who will challenge him. A man appears who is unusually skilled. His name is Dr. B.
In a lengthy flashback, we discover that Dr. B was imprisoned for many years in complete isolation. One day he manages to sneak a chess guide into his cell, and learns to play three dimensional chess in his mind, looking up at the ceiling and envisioning the Board. He becomes so obsessed with playing against himself that he develops a split personality, and can no longer distinguish between himself and his imaginary opponent.
One day he is released from prison and vows to never play chess again. But he accepts Czentovic’s challenge and agrees to play chess one last time to prove himself against the world champion. He winds the first round, and accepts the offer of a rematch. But halfway through the game he begins muttering to himself and calling out nonsensical moves.
The narrator realizes that Dr. B is in a schizophrenic state and is playing multiple games in his head. He’s unleashed his “other”, the one he used to play against in the darkness in his cell. Confused, the man starts thrashing and speaking gibberish. He jumps up and leaves the game. Later, the chess master admits that he was about to lose, and that Dr. B was the best man he’d ever played against.
The beauty of chess is that it’s both an intellectual and a psychological game. And Stefan Zweig deftly captures the way in which chess can push people to the very limits of human reason. As Aristotle wrote: ”There is no genius without a touch of madness.”
The painting is “The Chess Players” by Thomas Eakins (1876)
This is a romantic idea. Chess is now a days a game of science. Brute calculation win over irrational moves.