A Chess Story by Stefan Zweig

A Chess Story by Stefan Zweig

At the beginning of the pandemic, whilst people were trying to make their sourdoughs whilst knitting a sweater and trying to find space in the cupboard for their excess toilet paper, Frederik Cilius Jørgensen encouraged people to play chess. To motivate them to dive into the game that has been unchanged for literally centuries, he promoted the 1943 novel by Austrian author Stefan Zweig. Jørgensen’s message was that reading about the intense chess matches in the novel would motivate the reader to try and learn the myriad of strategies that can be applied in the game. However, what the novel offers, especially during corona, is much more than kindling an interest in chess. 

The novels protagonist is, much like Stefan Zweig was, an Austrian Jew fleeing the Nazi regime. However, unlike Zweig, the reader learns that Dr. B was captured in the early years of the war. His status as the guardian of the wealth of Austrian nobility, means that rather than place Dr. B in a concentration camp, he is placed in a hotel room in Vienna where he is to stay until he shares the whereabouts of the wealth with the Nazi regime. In the room, Dr. B is left with no distractions and the reader starts to see his mind slowly unravels as the moths go on. As he is on the brink of collapse, he manages to steal a small book from one of the guards, containing the moves from the 150 greatest games of chess. With this book, he has some way to keep his mind preoccupied, first by reading it, then by playing each game and all the moves against himself, through splitting his psyche into black and white. We learn the immense value of a distraction, the value of having something to do. This is why I feel the novel is especially hard hitting during this pandemic.

As we are locked down, asked not to see anyone and with poor visibility to the future of regulations, we have to wonder how people are able to mentally cope. The truth is a lot of people cannot. A lot of people find themselves struggling so much mentally that it will have repercussions on their mental health for the remainder of their lives. This is what Chess Story can give some insight into. Even as Dr. B is finally helped by a physician that lies and declares him insane, so that he can be released from captivity, we see how he struggles to handle himself in the real world. Even with all the sought distractions - the sourdough that has been made; all the sweaters that have been knitted - this lock down will indubitably leave scars on our society for years to come. In that, and with the irony that the novel itself will act as a distraction, the novel will feel hard hitting and unbelievably relevant. This helps prove how timeless the incredible writing from Zweig is. You will be left wanting to read all his novels, that were published to help distract from Second World War, as you try to distract yourself from what feels like a never-ending pandemic.  

Reviewed by Gus

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