rl@ucsfcgl.UUCP (Robert Langridge%CGL) (02/03/85)
<------- I am delighted to see a discussion of books return to net.books. After all the porn postings, my "n" key had so worn that I considered unsubscribing altogether. To celebrate, herewith a review. "QUEEN'S GAMBIT" Walter Tevis Hardback: Random House 1983, $13.95 Paperback: Dell 1984, $3.95 A child brought up in an orphanage is taught to play chess by the janitor at that institution. Despite official discouragement and brushes with drugs, the youngster goes on to become US chess champion, to defeat the World Champion (a Russian) in Moscow, and at books end, to contemplate the possibility of becoming World Champion herself. That's right, HERself. The protagonist is female, and this gives a special atmosphere to a book that is already very well written and plotted. The heroine's realisation of her talent and her drive to excel is superbly drawn. You don't have to be a chess expert (I'm not) to enjoy writing like this: __________________________________________________________________________ [Beth is eight years old, and has only recently learned to play chess. She is playing the janitor [Mr Shaibel] and a schoolteacher [Mr Ganz] in the janitor's basement room one Sunday morning. Her first simultaneous.] About midway into the games she was staring out the window at a bush with pink blooms when she heard Mr Ganz's voice saying, "Beth, I've moved my bishop to bishop five" and she replied dreamily, "Knight to K-5." The bush seemed to glow in the spring sunlight. "Bishop to knight four," Mr Ganz said. "Queen to queen four," Beth replied, still not looking. "Knight to queen's bishop three," Mr Shaibel said gruffly. "Bishop to knight five," Beth said, her eyes on the pink blossoms. "Pawn to knight three." Mr Ganz had a strange softness in his voice. "Queen to rook four check," Beth said. She heard Mr. Ganz inhale sharply. After a second he said, "King to bishop one." "That's mate in three," Beth said without turning. "First check is with the knight. The king has the two dark squares, and the bishop checks it. Then the knight mates." Mr Ganz let his breath out slowly. "Jesus Christ!" he said. ______________________________________________________________________________ I'd be interested to hear opinions from ladies and/or chess experts on the net. I enjoyed it, so did the NY Times reviewer. Bob Langridge (UUCP: [...]!ucbvax!ucsfcgl!rl) Computer Graphics Laboratory (ARPA: rl@ucbvax 926 Medical Sciences or University of California langridge@sumex-aim) San Francisco CA 94143 (Phone: +1 415 666 2630)