On a luxury liner crossing the Atlantic, a millionaire and chess master agree to play a game, the master against the field which contains a mysterious chess expert as well. The meat of the story concerns how the characters came to acquire their talents. Zweig tells his story with a bourgeois elegance. The prose will whisk you through the tale in an hour or two and leave you with plenty to contemplate and some pity to be had. It’s hard to say more without getting into spoilers so I’ll keep it as a captivating story in a readable and pleasing style.