More than a game

Cars, computers and cadavers: taking them apart is normally reserved for experts and the pathologically curious. In his new book, The Moves that Matter, Jonathan Rowson takes a scalpel to the game of chess itself, and finds abundant meaning in its cultural, psychological and metaphorical aspects. Or as he puts it: ‘Chess is just a game in the way that the heart is just a muscle.’ It’s ambitious stuff, but we’re in good hands. Dr Rowson is a three-time British champion (2004-2006), writer, philosopher and co-founder of Perspectiva, a research institute that examines the relationship between complex global challenges and the inner lives of human beings.

The Moves that Matter is unusual in that Rowson has written a chess book with a general audience in mind. There are no diagrams and precious few chess moves; rather, what matters (and what fascinates) are the motives, personal and social, that guide our play. Rowson breathes life into these abstract ideas — I too have experienced the ‘cracking twig’ that warns of imminent danger at the board. ‘Every game is a place and time, and we share it with a figurative flatmate we have to live with for hours that can feel like years: someone who wants to damage your furniture, steal your precious objects and occupy your bedroom, before killing you.’ This rings true, as does Rowson’s subtle analysis of the discipline and nature of concentration, along with the profound freedom which goes with it. Valuable insights like those vastly outnumber my occasional protest that, in Freud’s words, ‘sometimes a cigar is just a cigar’.

The prismatic quality of chess is reflected in the book’s unusual structure, with 64 vignettes along eight thematic axes. Diverse themes like ‘Thinking and Feeling’ and ‘Truth and Beauty’ are interwoven with autobiography and an affectionate depiction of the game’s subculture.