Description
Book SynopsisInspired by both Daniel Defoe's 'A Journal of the Plague Year' (1722) and 'The King', an anthology of the witty and provocative chess columns of the Dutch Grandmaster, Jan Hein Donner, Ray Keene here collects his thoughts and writings on the year 2020 - both in chess and the wider world. His reflections include the impact of Covid-19 on the popularity of chess, the remarkable influence of the Netflix series 'The Queen's Gambit', the growing army of teenage Grandmasters, the online pivot of chess competition and the emergence of chess entrepreneurs, such as World Champion Magnus Carlsen and Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura.. Like Donner, Ray uses chess as a metaphor for observations on art, culture and civilisation.
Trade ReviewProvocative, challenging, colourful, spicy, here is a menu of delights … It even looks as good as it tastes, with elegant chess diagrams a most pleasing feature. You will not necessarily like or agree with everything, but you will leave the book with your mind buzzing … David Taylor, British Chess Magazine, October 2021.
