Recently, I have read a book named “Chess” by the author Stefan Zweig. This is a novel that Stefan Zweig completed right before his death. It is a really good psychological novel, which is a masterpiece I think.
The main setting of the book is the anger, grudge, competition and ambition that two people who are masters of chess feel towards each other. On a cruise, the anonymous narrator meets someone who plays chess and he offers him to play. After the chess they become friends eventually. But then they have noticed that there was a chess champion named Mirko Czentovic. The friend of the narrator offers a game with Czentovic. When McConnar got in the game all of the people in the cruise gather around and face Czentovic all together. During the move to be played, someone from behind shouts at people not to make that move. When people look behind, they saw an old man in front of them and they decide to trust this man because it seems that the man has some knowledge about chess. When the time passes the game ends with draw.
After the game narrator meets with this old guy named Dr.B. Dr.B was a lawyer in the past and he does something against the government at his time. So the federals catch Dr.B was locked in a barred cell. During an interrogation, he finds a chess book and starts reading this book. Then, during the time he spends there, he reads the book many times and begins to memorize the chess games and play them in his head. Dr. B, who later became a schizophrenic patient, was discharged after a while, but after his situation, he decided not to play chess again. But when he sees chess being played on the ship, he can’t help himself and plays another game with Czentovic next day.
Dr. B character and the plot in this book impressed me very much. The fact that Dr. B was still able to improve himself and hold on to life within his restricted freedom was conveyed very well. Stefan Zweig, the author of the book, touched upon more than one subject in this book, which he wrote based on his psychological analysis ability and power. I had imagined the end of the book differently, but Zweig ended it in a much simpler way. He could have ended it better. But I still think it is a book that everyone should read and I strongly recommend it.
