He also explains how the isolation made him such as master at chess. B tells his life story, which started in Austria, being occupied by the Nazis, leading to his isolation. The narrator sits down and in a deep chat, that actually constitutes most of the book, he gets alot of answers. B? The big question - who is the mysterious man Dr. Also the narrator gets to know the answer to the big question(s) everyone on the boat is asking - who is Dr. B who eventually sits down and tells him his life story. Thus, he brilliantly arranges a chess game to lure Czentovic out from his compartment on the steam boat. The narrator is a man fascinated with people who focus their life on one thing in isolation - people becoming true masters at their art. The narrator of the book is not one of the two authors.

The narrator of the book studying masters in their art B is on the other hand an explosive player, with complete ability to imagine the board in front of him, visualizing strategies and plays far ahead in a dynamic, almost mental, manner. His extra-ordinary chess skills are randomly displayed on the boat when he spontaneously jumps into an ongoing chess game with Czentovic. In the rest of the novel, the majority, we get to follow the mysterious steam boat passenger Dr. Czentovic is a calm and collected player, who calculates his every move, but requires a board in front of him at all times. Also we initially get to meet the world champion of chess - Czentovic, who was orphaned young and took to chess and nothing else.

The storyline takes place on a steam boat from New York to Buenos Aires, with look-backs to Austria during the World War II and Nazi invasion. BĪ short, captivating and metaphorical storyline around chess

Zweig’s own chaotic inner self projected onto the main character - Dr.

The big question - who is the mysterious man Dr.

The narrator of the book studying masters in their art.

A short, captivating and metaphorical storyline around chess.

Chess story by stefan zweig