The Rookie: An Odyssey through Chess (and Life) by Stephen Moss: book review

The Rookie: An Odyssey through Chess (and Life) (2016) is about the British author’s ‘struggle’ in his ‘middle-age’ to be a good chess player.

Stephen Moss begins at 11 years of age, and tracks his love for the game of chess, his wicked hatred of his opponents, and what it reveals about his own character, in an amusing and innovative way.

Moss’s world of chess is written in 64 chapters (the number of squares on a chessboard), alternating between black chapters (his chess experiences) and white chapters (the advice he receives from grand chess masters, as well as the history, literature, and philosophy of chess).

The author’s aim is for this book to be read equally by non chess players, but it is not a how-to-play book. It is about the essence of the game—psychological, philosophical, historical, and cultural. It is not about theory and memory—it’s about methods. It’s also about not under-estimating your opponent.

There are many interesting chapters, such as Why do we do it?, Men behaving badly, Cold comforts, Chess as human comedy, In the soup, Meltdown, and Is chess good for you?

Also interesting are the mentions of well-known chess players and grandmasters, such as Bobby Fischer, Garry Kasparov, Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian, Judit and Susan Polgar, and Jovanka Houska, among many others.

It’s an interesting book that reveals a lot about chess and more about the chess player.

MARTINA NICOLLS

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MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of: The Paris Residences of James Joyce (2020), Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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