Chess people are odd. Ya, you heard me. You, me, and the rest of us. Odd. Now, when it comes to chess players and oddity there are rankings involved. I’m not that odd but I’m also not that good. In fact, you could easily and within your rights say “Dan, you suck at chess.” It’s true. I can live with that.
Magnus Carlsen on the other hand does not suck. In fact, he’s considered by many to be the best player ever. A prodigy. But not without his demons. What I love most about this book is that, yes, it is about one match in particular, but the books dives far out into the history and culture that is the world of chess.
Brace yourself, this game goes WAY beyond what you might think and the game has held control over a wide range of humanity. Famous, infamous and the unknown, giving up their lives and livings for the battle on the board.
The Grandmaster, by Brin-Jonathan Butler, reads like an adventure novel as it paints a picture of high-level chess and the main players who call this world home. I could not get enough.
Get it, read it.
Comments 6
Insert The Queen’s Gambit comment here…OK, I will…after being enthralled by the lush beauty (visuals, writing, main character) of TQG, and seeing that balancing act between brilliance and the demons, I’ll wholeheartedly put this on my winter to-be-read list.
Agree about TQG, and then throw in Pawn Scrifice with all the Bobby Fischer crazy. Think I’ll stick with solitaire.
Author
Chuck,
Man, a lot of folks went crazy due to chess.
Author
Mark,
LOVED Queen’s Gambit. This book is worth doing just based on the fringe characters he writes about.
Just finished this. A lot of wild stories but the one about Bloodgood beating his mother to death with a baseball bat blew my mind!
Author
Paul,
Scary stuff.