Fiction_L Archives Chess Game Dates: 1/22/04,10:36 PM  through  1/25/04,3:24 PM  (3 postings) Search for: Select one or more indexes to search: 2011-current     2009-2010     2004-2008    1995-2003    (Matches from each index will be displayed separately in the results page.) Return to January 2004 thread menu   |   Fiction_L Archives Menu

FROM: a librarian <[removed]@yahoo.com>
REC'D: 1/22/04, 10:36 PM

A patron is looking for a book he read as a young boy
in the late 1950s. He said it might have been an
older book even then. The reader was led to believe
that the book was about a battle among knights, but at
the end it was revealed that it was really describing
a chess game. That's all the patron can remember
about it. Does anyone know this book?

Carolyn
Oswego (IL) Public Library

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FROM: Dennis Lien <[removed]@tc.umn.edu>
REC'D: 1/23/04, 9:21 AM

At 08:31 PM 1/22/04 -0800, you wrote:
>A patron is looking for a book he read as a young boy
>in the late 1950s. He said it might have been an
>older book even then. The reader was led to believe
>that the book was about a battle among knights, but at
>the end it was revealed that it was really describing
>a chess game. That's all the patron can remember
>about it. Does anyone know this book?
>
>Carolyn
>Oswego (IL) Public Library

A *short story* that matches this description exactly is "The Immortal
Game" by Poul Anderson. There have been a lot of chess-oriented
fantasy stories of one sort or another, but I think that the "kicker"
described would be difficult to pull off in a full-length novel.

Vague memory says that Dahlov Ipcar's THE WARLOCK OF NIGHT might have
tried, though, and this description seems to agree, but it's a 1969 book:

http://www.frugalfamilybooks.com/pi/104.html

If it's not that, I'll dig around a bit more and see if I can
find a better candidate.

Dennis Lien / U of Minnesota Libraries // [removed]@tc.umn.edu

FROM: a librarian <[removed]@yahoo.com>
REC'D: 1/25/04, 3:24 PM

Thanks so much, Dennis. We're getting a copy of "The
Immortal Game" from another library to see if that's
the right one. Appreciate your help!

Carolyn

--- Dennis Lien <[removed]@tc.umn.edu> wrote:
> At 08:31 PM 1/22/04 -0800, you wrote:
> >A patron is looking for a book he read as a young
> boy
> >in the late 1950s. He said it might have been an
> >older book even then. The reader was led to
> believe
> >that the book was about a battle among knights, but
> at
> >the end it was revealed that it was really
> describing
> >a chess game. That's all the patron can remember
> >about it. Does anyone know this book?
> >
> >Carolyn
> >Oswego (IL) Public Library
>
> A *short story* that matches this description
> exactly is "The Immortal
> Game" by Poul Anderson. There have been a lot of
> chess-oriented
> fantasy stories of one sort or another, but I think
> that the "kicker"
> described would be difficult to pull off in a
> full-length novel.
>
> Vague memory says that Dahlov Ipcar's THE WARLOCK OF
> NIGHT might have
> tried, though, and this description seems to agree,
> but it's a 1969 book:
>
> http://www.frugalfamilybooks.com/pi/104.html
>
> If it's not that, I'll dig around a bit more and see
> if I can
> find a better candidate.
>
> Dennis Lien / U of Minnesota Libraries //
> [removed]@tc.umn.edu
>
>
......................................................................
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