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Date: 22 Sep 2008 14:55:06
From: Chess One
Subject: Bennett's Zugzwang stifles itself
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The chess novel, Zugswang, 2007, by Ronan Bennett is not particualrly well
written as a drama, but unfortunately his protagonist, Spethmann a
Petersburg shrink is also a chess player - set in 1914 at the time of the
great tourny - the murder-drama parallels a corres chess game.
Nothing unusual here, the theme was much better evolved by Reverte's
Flander's Panel.
The trouble is that 2 diagrams in the book are woefully wrong, including the
staringly obvious one on page 192, where black has just played 44. ...Ke7,
but the diagram shows a White Queen on f6 [doh!] and the text comments on
"if I played Kf8 to attack the pawn..." but the same diagram show the King
at h6... [double doh!].
The writing is not particularly evocative of either the atmosphere of
Petersburg, 1914 nor chess. It is not even a good drama, but that can be
dispensed with as merely normal.
Why is it, in books and films, that the chess in them seems enough only to
entertain non-chess players?
Tim Hanke wrote me once that he even thought the retro-analytic theme in
Flanders Panel was flawed, but he didn't know what the flaw was. Anyone here
know?
Phil Innes
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Date: 22 Sep 2008 15:15:20
From: John Salerno
Subject: Re: Bennett's Zugzwang stifles itself
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"Chess One" <[email protected] > wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Tim Hanke wrote me once that he even thought the retro-analytic theme in
> Flanders Panel was flawed, but he didn't know what the flaw was. Anyone
> here know?
Flawed in what way? As in the reverse analysis itself was factually
incorrect? Or flawed in a more literary sense, as in not well-executed?
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Date: 23 Sep 2008 09:36:21
From: Chess One
Subject: Re: Bennett's Zugzwang stifles itself
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"John Salerno" <[email protected] > wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Chess One" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>> Tim Hanke wrote me once that he even thought the retro-analytic theme in
>> Flanders Panel was flawed, but he didn't know what the flaw was. Anyone
>> here know?
>
> Flawed in what way?
Its a retrograde problem, John. It's like a fixed and forced mate sequence -
but backwards. You start at the mate position, and then there should be only
one forced move for each side - this particular problem was quite long. Tim
Hanke suggested there was a flaw in it - which means for either white or
black there was an alternate move.
> As in the reverse analysis itself was factually incorrect? Or flawed in a
> more literary sense, as in not well-executed?
The reverse analysis was correct, and since forced was perfectly executed.
But somewhere, said Hanke, there is a flaw in it. The Author is a Spanish
journalist in Madrid [orig. Cartegena], Arturo Perez-Reverte.
Here is a review of Flanders Panel:
http://brothersjudd.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/reviews.detail/book_id/653/Flanders%20Pan.htm
Guest review from Andrew Geller:
This is an exquisite whodunit, drawing the reader into worlds only liberal
arts professors dare dream about to solve some fairly bloodless murders.
Perez-Reverte deftly interweaves the worlds of art and medieval history,
chess, and music to solve the crimes, providing the necessary background and
even pictures to aid the novice in any of these fields. If one doesn't
know art, chess, or Bach, this book will inspire deeper delving into all
three. If one knows any or all of these, the book reads even better.
GRADE: A
Orrin says:
I wholeheartedly agree. Zack just finished Perez-Reverte'sThe Club Dumas &
sent it to me & demanded The Flanders Panel in return.
The book is as erudite as anything Umberto Eco has ever done, but is much
easier to read. The mystery centers around a medieval painting (the panel)
which depicts a chess game between a duke and a knight, but the position on
the chessboard does not make sense. Moreover, there's a hidden inscription
on the painting that asks "Who killed the knight?"
--
I didn't know it before googling around, but I note a movie has been made -
Wiki says:
The British film Uncovered, starring Kate Beckinsale and John Wood, is a
cinematic adaptation of the novel.
I see I wrote in a column a picture I found of the board-position - it ain't
too clear, since it is a perspective ray trace and a diagram would have been
better.
Anyway - if you can find a URL of a diagram, post it here, and then we can
see if anyone can bust it before Christmas! :))
Cordially, Phil Innes
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Date: 23 Sep 2008 11:32:07
From: John Salerno
Subject: Re: Bennett's Zugzwang stifles itself
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"Chess One" <[email protected] > wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> The reverse analysis was correct, and since forced was perfectly executed.
> But somewhere, said Hanke, there is a flaw in it. The Author is a Spanish
> journalist in Madrid [orig. Cartegena], Arturo Perez-Reverte.
I've read the novel, actually. In fact, it's what pushed me to finally learn
about chess again, despite an interest I've had since I was a kid! As I was
reading the novel, it was sort of like a reminder..."oh yeah, that's right,
I've *always* liked this game, why not learn it better!" :)
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