Schachnovelle (Ungekürzte Fassung)

Geschrieben von Stefan Zweig

Erzählt von Christoph Maria Herbst

Auf einem Passagierdampfer, der von New York nach Buenos Aires unterwegs ist, fordert ein Millionär gegen Honorar den mit einer Art mechanischer Präzision spielenden Schachweltmeister Mirko Czentovic zu einer Partie heraus. Der mitreisende Dr. B., ein österreichischer Emigrant, greift beratend ein und erreicht so ein Remis für den Herausforderer. Er hat sich, von der Gestapo, die ihn verhaftete, in ein Hotelzimmer gesperrt und von der Außenwelt hermetisch abgeschlossen, monatelang mit dem blinden Spiel von 150 Partien beschäftigt, um sich so seine intellektuelle Widerstandskraft zu erhalten. Durch diese einseitige geistige Anstrengung ergriff ihn ein Nervenfieber, dessentwegen man ihn entließ. Jetzt spielt Dr. B. zum ersten Mal wieder gegen einen tatsächlichen, freilich roboterhaft reagierenden Gegner. Es geht ihm bei dieser Partie lediglich darum, festzustellen, ob sein Tun damals während seiner Haft noch Spiel oder bereits Wahnsinn gewesen ist. Er schlägt den Weltmeister in der ersten Partie souverän, läßt sich aber, eigentlich gegen seinen Willen, auf eine Revanche ein. Während dieser zweiten Partie ergreift ihn wieder das Nervenfieber: er bricht die Partie ab und wird nie wieder ein Schachbrett berühren.

• Sprache: Deutsch
• Herausgeber: argon
• Erscheinungsdatum: 1. Jan. 2013
• ISBN: 9783866105348

Stefan Zweig

Stefan Zweig (Viena, 1881 – Petrópolis, 1942) fue un destacado escritor, biógrafo y ensayista austríaco, célebre por su estilo psicológico y humanista, que alcanzó una inmensa popularidad en las décadas de 1920 y 1930. Hijo de una familia judía acomodada, estudió filosofía y literatura en Viena, donde publicó sus primeros poemas y se relacionó con la élite cultural de su tiempo. Viajero incansable y firme pacifista, se opuso activamente a la Primera Guerra Mundial, lo que marcó profundamente su obra. Autor prolífico en diversos géneros, escribió ficciones inolvidables como Carta de una desconocida, Amok, La piedad peligrosa y Novela de ajedrez, así como estudios históricos y biografías literarias sobre figuras como Balzac, Dickens, Dostoyevski, María Antonieta y Fouché. Su obra Momentos estelares de la humanidad es una de las más representativas de su talento narrativo y visión histórica. Tras el auge del nazismo y la censura de sus escritos, Zweig se exilió sucesivamente en Inglaterra, Estados Unidos y Brasil. A pesar de su admiración por este último país, el desencanto ante el destino de Europa lo llevó a suicidarse junto a su esposa. Su autobiografía póstuma, El mundo de ayer, es un emotivo testimonio de la cultura europea perdida. Su legado literario ha inspirado numerosas adaptaciones cinematográficas, incluida El Gran Hotel Budapest de Wes Anderson, y sigue siendo valorado por su profundidad humanista y su mirada crítica ante los totalitarismos.

Rezensionen für Schachnovelle (Ungekürzte Fassung)

[Alexis Papageorgiou · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

Die Geschichte war sehr unterhaltsam da ich auch schachfan (aber schrecklicher Spieler) bin. Je mehr man hört desto interessanter wird es.

[maxernst11 · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

Leuke, intens geschreven novelle over een ultiem schaakspel tussen de Hongaarse lichtautistische wereldkampioen, en een toevallige passant op een pakketboot, die de schaakmeester 1 keer verslaat maar dan bezwijkt onder de druk. "Onschuldig" verbonden met de Gestapopraktijken van het Naziregime. Gaat eigenlijk over obsessie.

[labrick · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

Excellent story that I found strangely relatable. The version I read had a forward by Peter Gay that I recommend being read after the text--or not at all. It only provided spoilers without adding much backward to the work. I also think chess players would enjoy this book more than non-chess players. Although the game is used mostly as a vehicle.

[Samira Langhammer · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

unterhaltsam aber recht Scherenschnitt-artig. Kann man sich anhören, muss man aber nicht

[Joanna Disch · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

Ein unvergesslicher Klassiker, ungemein gut gelesen von Christoph Maria Herbst.

[eadieb-1 · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

This fascinating book is about a business man who was arrested by the Gestapo for a period of one year. While imprisoned, he taught himself chess which serves him well when he comes up against a bona fide grand master. The final twist, upon reflection, digs quite deep into the characters' psyche. I highly recommend this last book by Stefan Zweig before he and his wife committed suicide.

[booksfordinner · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

A wonderful novella, a commentary on the Nazi occupation of Austria and a discussion on how there is no one way to achieve a goal, which of course is a commentary on Nazism itself, no? And chess, of course. The chess is well done, which it often isn't in novels. Great characters. .

[jgcorrea-1 · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

A game of chess turns the world a universal loser! This was the last work that Stefan Zweig finished, and naturally it was unpublished at his death in February 1942. It explores the ultimate mental capacities of man under extreme duress constantly going too far, here by the means of the psychological torture of the Nazis going as far as murdering his best friend in front of his eyes, just to obtain some formal information by downright extortion and reckless blackmail; while the man survives to reach his freedom but at the cost of his sanity, as he loses all sense of reality and time in the outrageous process of going through massive ordeals, being transported like a modern Ulysses from the highest social position (the emperor of China) to internment in the hell of inhuman isolation. Everything in this tale is just perfect, it is a psychological thriller, and although action is minimised and the dialog is sparse, the suspense is consistently strung to a breaking point. Realism is always present. Objections could be raised against the ending, but many of Zweig's stories had similar almost disappointing endings. This is a top masterpiece.

[kristelh_15 · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

Reason read: in memoriam for Anita F. This is also a 1001 book which was available and a quick read. Novella in length it tells the story narrated by an unnamed narrator and passengers on a ship going from the US to Buenes Aries. It was written in the forties during WWII by Austrian author Stephen Zweig. The characters are a chess savant, Mirko Czentovic, who only knows how to play and win chest. He can't even remember plays: McConnor, a business man who paysCzentovic to play chess with them, and Dr. B, a man who has memorized the game first to save his sanity only later to almost be driven crazy by the game. You do not need to know or like Chess to enjoy this story. There is a lot to ponder.

[markm2315 · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

A long short story. Pretty good. Hope to read more by this guy. In the NYRB series.

[arubabookwoman · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

"Anyone who has suffered from a mania remains at risk forever, and with chess sickness (even if cured) it would be better not to go near a chess board."

World chess champion Mirko Czentovic has "the vacant look of a sheep at pasture," but as a monomaniac with no peer at chess, he considers himself the most important person in the world. After all, "isn't it damn easy to think you're a great man if you aren't troubled by the slightest notion that a Rembrandt, Beethoven, Dante, or Napoleon ever existed?"

Czentovic is embarking on a voyage from New York to Buenos Aires to engage in some chess games. One of his fellow passengers is McConnor, a wealthy Scottish engineer, a "self-obsessed big wheel." When McConnor learns that a chess champion is on board, he wants to play, and Czentovic agrees to play McConnor for $250 per game. Our narrator knows that "regardless of the stakes, this fanatically proud man would go on playing Czentovic until he won at least once, even if it cost him his entire fortune."

During the game a third man we know only as Dr. B appears, pale and strange, and very knowledgeable about chess. The heart of the book relates the story of the circumstances under which Dr. B became such an expert in chess.

I'm not a chess player, but there was nothing too technical about chess in this book. Nevertheless, despite the excellent quality of the writing, it was not a book that grabbed me and compelled me to keep reading, which was disappointing since I so loved The Post Office Girl. This is the only book by Zweig in which he directly confronts Nazism (in response to which he and his wife committed suicide in 1942).

3 stars

First line: "On the great passenger liner due to depart New York for Buenos Aires at midnight, there was the usual last minute bustle and commotion."

Last line: "For an amateur, this gentleman is really extraordinarily talented."

[deltaqueen50 · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

The novella Chess Story was Stefan Zweig’s last piece of work, written in Brazil and sent to his publisher only days before he and his wife committed suicide in 1942. This is the only story in which Zweig looks at Nazism.

Travellers on a ship from New York to Buenos Aires find that a fellow passenger is the world champion of chess. He is an arrogant and unfriendly man. The passengers band together to try their chess skills against him and are soundly beaten. Then a mysterious passenger steps forward to advise them and the tables are turned. He reveals how he came into his chess knowledge to the narrator and it turns out he was held prisoner in total isolation by the Nazis but did manage to steal a book about chess and he memorized 150 master chess games. Unfortunately the isolation and the chess drove him mad so he could not manage more than one game against the chess master.

In 1938 the Nazis had taken over Austria, Zweig’s home country forcing him into exile and by using chess as a metaphor for political oppression, Zweig expresses his opinion of fascism and the war on freedom that was currently raging in Europe. It is also obvious from the story that Zweig wasn’t confident of the outcome and although the connection is rather oblique, his true feelings of despair were more openly expressed by his and his wife’s suicides.

[iffland · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

Nice - short - beautiful as everything from Stefan Zweig. Spend an afternoon and just read it before you spend to much time reading about it!

[breic-1 · Bewertung: 2 von 5 Sternen]

Very simplistic, in characters and themes. Readable but not insightful.

[lethalmauve · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

Isolation is such a dangerous thing. The mere thought of being enclosed in four walls with nothing but a bed, a wash bin, a table, and a chair is in itself psychological torture. Zweig's classic short story Chess tells of a stranger's haunting past during the Nazi regime. A monomania sprung from one's desperate need to find a coping mechanism against the taxing and consuming instruments of torture; a fixation depleting one's muddled grasp on self-control and reality.

Zweig knew the depths of the human mind really well and in Chess he has created the allusions of trauma and obsession and their everlasting aftermath. On another note, this reminded me of Pixar's fantastic short film Geri's Game.

[georgee53-1 · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

Obsession is a requirement for genius to flower but sometimes it flowers into madness. Chess has had its obsessives and not many have gone mad. Enough have, to provide material for this magnificent, compact work.

[deusxmachina-1 · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

This little novella is a lot of things - a study of torture and PTSD, a confrontation between very different characters with a shared interest, a masterpiece of prose. Two masters of chess meet each other, and although one of them - the Austrian Dr. B who achieved his mastery by studying famous matches in order to deal with his solitary confinement - gets much more page time, these characters have some striking similarities in the way they're damaged and are unable to function well in society. How obsessed does one have to be to achieve that kind of mastery, what is lost during the process, and how aware can one be of this loss? Not much is happening in this story, and still it's an amazing read.

[suesbooks · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

Well written story about man obsessed with chess. Previously saw a play based on this book, and that made the story more vivid for me.

[ameise1 · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

The psychological game between the inhuman chess automaton Czentovic and the fragile Dr. B., who was imprisoned by the Gestapo for months in solitary confinement and still feels the psychological effects of torture and suffers from it, makes it clear how important human consciousness is for our lives and what dangers it poses is. The main themes of the chess novella are: "Chess as a war", "Hitler and the Nazi period", "Dr. B.'s fate "," Dr. B. against Czentovic "," The Psychological Game "and" Isolation and Chess Poisoning ".
Even though the book does not have many pages, there is a linguistic variety of sentence structure and vocabulary in which one can not find his own again so quickly. [[Stefan Zweig]] was a virtuoso in terms of language.
This is a must-read for me.

[gbill_7 · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

Beware ‘chess poisoning’! :)

This is a strong novella which starts with those on a cruise ship to Buenos Aires recognizing that the world chess champion is on board, and the narrator so curious to talk to him that he lures him into a game of chess. Zweig does a great job of painting an interesting portrait of this champion, who is not all that bright in other aspects of life, but is somehow a prodigy in chess. He then completely surprised me with the background of another person on board who begins playing him, but I won’t say anything more. There is a mania to the story, the mania perhaps necessary to excel in such a cerebral game. Aside from an interesting little story, it probes what genius is made of, and how it can be flawed. It’s interesting that it was written the year before Zweig committed suicide, after he had fled Hitler, and it seems to underscore his own mental torture, and ultimate resignation.

[stef7sa-1 · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

Well told entertaining story with some interesting information on pre-war nazist methods and torture technique.

[janerawoof · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

Powerful psychological novella about a man, Dr. B. and the nature of obsession or mania. The action takes place on board a ship heading for Buenos Aires. Dr. B. plays two games against a savant, a world chess champion, Mirko Czentovic. Dr. B. hasn't played chess for 20-25 years. Aires, Dr. B. tells his story to the unnamed narrator when the narrator has cornered him on deck. The tension was exquisite and this novella was a masterpiece of short fiction. I am no chess player [or a very bad one] but I feel anyone can enjoy this story.

[japaul22 · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

This is a short novella about two chess masters who meet on a boat and play each other. One is the world champion of chess and has come from an obscure upbringing. It was discovered in his teenage years that though he had seemingly no other talents or intellectual capacity, he was a master at chess. The other player learned chess in a cell where he was being held and interrogated by the Nazis. He is unknown to the chess world.

The comparison between these two men and their road to chess is interesting and thoughtfully written. I read this book in an hour and want to read more. There were many layers to the story and writing that keep it very interesting and make you keep pondering the story after finishing. I'm intrigued by Stefan Zweig.

[bayardus-1 · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

I read this and Kawabata's The Master of Go back-to-back, and was very happy that I did. Both deal with the psychological effects of obsessing over complex boardgames, and explore a central character whose life has been consumed by such obsession. Despite the fact that Chess Story takes a fictional approach, while Kawabata's book is based on an actual person, there were many parallels between the two works, and each highlighted aspects of the other that otherwise I might have missed. While both books on their own are probably only worth three stars, the resonance created by reading them one after the other magnified my enjoyment so much that I'm giving both four stars.

[nosajeel · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

The entire action of this brief, taut novella takes place over the course of a few days a cruise ship from New York to Buenos Aires. Ultimately, it portrays the battle of two very different types of character and genius facing off against each other in a game of chess.

The first to be introduced is a wily Slavonian peasant who was discovered as an instant and natural chess genius when he completed a game left by a priest despite never having been taught anything. He is mostly focused on playing chess for money and, secondarily, glory and despite being defeating all of the world's champions cannot play blind chess--he needs to see the actual pieces.

At first he is playing against a collections of passengers from the ship, when a mysterious man comes along who helps them fight to a draw. The mystery is deepened when the man states that he has not played chess for twenty years and even then was a mediocre player. Eventually his story comes out, but suffice it to say that it entails becoming increasingly focused on visualizing chess games without the help of a board or pieces--a deeply cerebral approach that is the opposite of the more crude and natural style of the Slavonian player.

Eventually the two of them meet for a solo match and the book depicts a fascinating and respectful clash between these two titans.

An underappreciated modern classic.

[berthirsch · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

a fast moving novella about a chess match between 2 unlikely masters.

One is an idiot savant who has an inate ability to learn chess while being almost illiterate about all else. He becomes the world champion and soon develops an air of supremacy and conceit.

All is good for him until he takes a fateful ship cruise on its way to Buenos Aires. Aboard the ship is another chess master who learned the game while imprisoned in solitary confinement and all he had to maintain his sanity was a chess manual he memorized and the games within played out in his mind with no chess board nor peices.

the ensuing match betwenn these two is compelling, narrated quickly with good pace and characterization. this is the 1st Zweig piece i have read and i am sure to look at his other stories.

[nerdfighters-1 · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

This book is intended for adults but would be suitable for teens to read. The novella deals with literary tropes and ideas that would be discussed in any high school English class.

[msarki_3 · Bewertung: 4 von 5 Sternen]

A quick read and one that is riveting from the get-go. Zweig can certainly relate a good story. His tone, always for me, is one as if a very close and trusted friend is sitting in a chair in front of me and letting me into something important I may not have known or heard of lately. Quite a talent. I read a different translation than this book, a collection of his shorter works, and titled The Royal Game.

[freelancer_frank · Bewertung: 5 von 5 Sternen]

This is a book about totalitarianism, strategy and the control of the mind. The story is plotted like a game of chess, with moves and counter moves, resolving into a formal check mate. It is a tale of high melodrama on the high seas. The idea of chess itself does not fare well in the story - it is portrayed as a somewhat pointless source of madness and escape that even the most dull human being can grasp.The book is full of sharp, incisive ideas.

[hadriantheblind · Bewertung: 3 von 5 Sternen]

A little piece of brain candy. There's some shadowy allegory of fascism and totalitarianism in here, although the mental drama and the battlefields of chess are exciting reads.