REVIEW: The Immortal Game: A History of Chess by David Shenk
It is an introduction to an abstract game that is closely tied to human history.
When I started this book, I didn’t know anything about chess, really. Like many others, my dad had tried to teach me when I was a kid, but I lost interest after learning how the pieces moved. I had recently watched Queen’s Gambit, and started using an app to learn how to play the game. But aside from vaguely knowing who Bobby Fischer was, I didn’t know anything about the culture and history of chess. I knew that there seemed to be a steep learning curve, I found that intimidating. That was basically the extent of it.
This is definitely a history of chess book, but it is not dry. Shenk is our everyman through the world of chess. He too, is returning to chess after initially learning as a child. He found that as he relearned to play, he became more interested in the vast history of chess rather than being a good player.
He takes us on the journey from the beginnings of chess in the 7th century India where the game was first created, and how it moves across continents and time. The game of chess evolves from a war game, often played by military and royalty, to eventually became standardized and popular among all classes of people. In our contemporary world, he talks about chess and AI, and how often chess was a baseline test subject to see how far our collective programming skills were into the 20th century. Chess has evolved with much of human history. It’s a game that seems to be collectively a part of us as a species.
One of my favorite anecdotes in the book is about Napoleon. When he was exiled to the island of Saint Helena in 1815, he played a lot of chess. In exile, he received a gift of an ivory chess set. The soldier who was supposed to deliver the set personally died en route, and there was no one to tell him that inside one of the pieces was an escape plan. He spent the rest of his life playing on that board, no idea it was there.
Running through the history of chess is the story of the Immortal Game — a game played by Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky in 1851. It’s called Immortal Game because it’s considered one of the most famous games of all time. Shenk does a great job explaining both why it’s so important and made the reader feel like you were there in the café in France in the 19th century.
I didn’t realize it, but I ended up picking a really great first chess book for me, just getting into chess. Shenk does a great job at making more complex content easier to understand, especially with some of the initial hurdle of chess jargon. It’s a good chess book for non-chess people, and Shenk even says that it was one of his goals, to make chess easier to understand for everyone. Everyone I met in reading this book has come to life on the page, and there’s a couple of books and people I’m already planning to read more about because I need to learn more.
By the time I finished the book, I felt like by understanding the history of chess, it helped me better contextualize an abstract game. It also helped cement a love for the game by seeing how it has affected humanity. A board with 64 squares with so much history! This book is essential to understanding the popular, though misunderstood game as an outsider.
I recommend this book to anyone who’s interested in chess but may be intimidated by the prospect of learning. I think by the time you’re done reading it, Shenk will help you get a clearer idea of how to approach the game.
