Chess: A Novel (Penguin Modern Classics)

On A Cruiseship Bound For Buenos Aires, A Wealthy Passenger Challenges The World Chess Champion To A Match. He Accepts With A Sneer. He Will Beat Anyone, He Says. But Only If The Stakes Are High. Soon, The Chess Board Is Surrounded. At First, The Challenger Crumbles Before The Mind Of The Master. But Then, A Soft-spoken Voice From The Crowd Begins To Whisper Nervous Suggestions. Perfect Moves, Brilliant Predictions. The Speaker Has Not Played A Game For More Than Twenty Years, He Says. He Is Wholly Unknown. But Somehow, He Is Also Entirely Formidable... '... a human being, an intellectual human being who constantly bends the entire force of his mind on the ridiculous task of forcing a wooden king into the corner of a wooden board, and does it without going mad!' A group of passengers on a cruise ship challenge the world chess champion to a match. At first, they crumble, until they are helped by whispered advice from a stranger in the crowd - a man who will risk everything to win. Stefan Zweig's acclaimed novella Chess is a disturbing, intensely dramatic depiction of obsession and the price of genius. One of Kafka's most famous stories, 'Metamorphosis' explores the notions of alienation and human loneliness, demonstrating his extraordinary narrative techniques and depth of imagination. In the second story the relationship between a father and son is explored