The Chess Revolution: Understanding the Power of an Ancient Game in the Digital Age

by Peter Doggers

Despite being 1,500 years old, chess has never been more relevant than it is today. But how did it become the most prominent game in Western culture?

Chess is arguably the greatest game ever devised. Since ancient times it has inspired writers, painters, mathematicians and scientists alike, and played an instrumental role in technological developments that have transformed society, such as artificial intelligence and the internet.

In The Chess Revolution, the acclaimed Chess.com journalist Peter Doggers explores chess as a cultural phenomenon from its influence on popular culture, the arts and science to its biggest stars and most dramatic moments, culminating in its meteoric rise in the digital age and a new peak in popularity.

Discover how the 'game of kings' became the king of games.

Genres: Chess, Nonfiction, Games

418 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2024

Reviews

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty interesting read, but it really plays up Chess.com way too much. The author says he has worked for them for ten years. When I finished the book on Kindle, I searched for "Chess.com" and got 215 hits. Quite a bit for a 360 page book.

[Agustin Whittaker · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one gave me mixed feelings; first, the book is good, but not great. Half of it repeats most of the information in "The Immortal Game," which I just read, and it's a MUCH better read. The other half put so much attention into a theme that is not my favorite related to chess: the use of technology as a tool to develop your game. It was one of those books that I was at 70%, and it made me feel bad about dropping it. The narration of the audiobook is pretty bad, too. I was so happy to finish it because I couldn't wait to be done and move on.

[Jule · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter Doggers’ Buch bietet eine spannende Reise durch die Geschichte und die neue Popularität des Schachspiels. Der Autor beleuchtet, wie Schach vom „Nerd-Spiel“ zum Mainstream-Phänomen wurde, von Online-Turnieren bis zum Netflix-Hit "The Queen's Gambit". Doggers erzählt lebhaft und schafft es, auch Schachlaien anzusprechen, was das Buch ideal für Interessierte macht – selbst, wenn sie noch nie gespielt haben. Vielleicht hilft ein bisschen "Nerdtum" auf einer anderen Ebene für Faszination für das Buch.

Interessant ist die wissenschaftliche Perspektive: Doggers beschreibt, wie das Spiel die KI-Forschung maßgeblich vorangetrieben hat und wagt einen Ausblick und die dunklen Seiten des Betrugs im Spiel. Seine kritischen Einblicke in Geschlechterfragen und Diversität verleihen dem Buch zudem Tiefe.

Als absoulter Anfänger sind die Beschreibungen von großen Partien und entscheidenden Spielzügen für Anfänger teils schwerer nachzuvollziehen. Für erfahrene Schachliebhaber wird dies aber vermutlich kein Problem sein. Insgesamt überzeugt Doggers’ Werk mit fundierten historischen Einblicken und aktuellen Bezügen – ein empfehlenswertes Buch für Schachfans und alle, die mehr über dieses faszinierende Spiel erfahren möchten.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first few chapters weren't really for me, but I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the book. It's a well researched and well written history of chess with a lot of color and stories I had never heard from the past few decades. Highly recommend for anyone interested in how chess became the cultural touchstone it is today, and especially for people interested in the current scene and its personalities

[Buckakles · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book is a really good double feature with David Shenk's the Immortal Game. Shenk covered the history of chess up until Kasparov v Deep Blue, this book continues on from Deep Blue all the way to the current streaming era of Chess. That being said, I feel like the book could have gotten a bit more in depth with some of the topics, plus some of the earlier topics were covered in more detail and in Shenk's book.

[Peter Pruitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned to play chess when I was very young. I won two small tournaments while in school, some evenings in college consisted of a few friends coming over and everyone playing the game until it was time for Saturday Night Live. And I still play at least a game weekly on one of the two online chess websites.
This non-fiction book is about the effect of the game of chess today, and it is substantial.
The book begins with a chapter on the history of the game, which is very interesting and informative. Then, it delves into two areas where chess has had a major impact: Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet.
Taking the last first, chess websites used to abound and there are still quite a few, but many have given way to the better and more reputable sites. Still, once in place, chess enthusiasts flocked to the sites. Today, chess sites rank among those with the highest number of followers and subscribers. The plethora of sites were a significant factor in the growth and expansion of the Internet. The book goes into great detail to cover this.
Even more so, AI owes much to the game. In order to be able to play chess against a computer, the machine had to be able to "think" about moves, strategy, well-known openings & defenses, etc. This created a big problem for developers. At the same time, AI developers were having issues trying to get a computer to learn from repetitive (and sometimes non-repetitive) programs. Bringing these two groups together may well have been the biggest and best moves to where we are with AI today.
To show that AI is not always a good thing (a significant topic these days), the book also looks at how AI and the Internet have brought about a substantial increase in cheating. A sad but very readable chapter.
Still, the best book overall about chess is THE IMMORTAL GAME, which if you have not read, do so before THE CHESS REVOLUTION. And the best fiction book about chess is Walter Tevis' THE QUEEN'S GAMBIT, the basis for the wonderful Netflix series.

[Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a mixed bag or, to use a different metaphor, a tasty sandwich on stale bread. The early section - an exercise in name dropping and atrocious memes (Humphey Bogart played chess. Chess is life..) came close to provoking me to toss the book out the window, while the history of the rise of the Chess.com website (the author is their head of marketing) at the end - while not uninteresting - went on far longer than anyone would wish. In between we learn interesting things, for instance, that the available data on play strength has become - because of its unique scale- a de facto standard for cognitive scientists interested in studying how performance develops.

Overall not a bad read, which manages to cover just about everything chess related in a lively, entertaining fashion.

[Lx33 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t finish the book

[Abel Romkes]

Leuk voor wie meer over schaakgeschiedenis en schaken als cultureel fenomeen wil weten. Geschreven door een clubgenoot!

[Ceodaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ein Buch voller Schach-Leidenschaft!

Das Cover von Schach-Euphorie ist ein echter Hingucker: Die in die Buchstaben integrierten und fühlbar hervorgehobenen Schachfiguren verleihen dem Buch eine besondere Optik und Haptik. Gut gefallen haben mir auch die Kapitelanfänge, die jeweils mit einem passenden Zitat eingeleitet werden und die Inhalte des bevostehenden Kapitels auf spannende Weise unterstützen.

Das erste Kapitel war für mich das Highlight. Die Darstellung der Allgegenwärtigkeit des Schachspiels, das seine Einflüsse in Kunst, Literatur, Film, Musik und Sport findet, machte das Buch auch für Nicht-Schachspieler wie mich interessant und zugänglich. Nach und nach taucht der Autor tiefer in die faszinierende Welt des Schachs ein. Dabei schreibt er sehr respektvoll über berühmte Schachspieler und zeigt besondere Anerkennung für die Meister dieses Spiels. Im zweiten Kapitel des Buches wird dann deutlich, wie der Computer das Spiel im Laufe der Zeit und Entwicklung verändert hat, wobei der Autor auch auf die Schattenseiten eingeht, was seinen allumfassenden Blick auf das Schachspiel unterstreicht. Generell ist an dieser Stelle anzumerken, dass die Recherchen von Peter Doggers wirklich fundiert niedergeschrieben sind und er die wiedergegebenen Informationen mit Quellen belegt, die das Buch zusätzlich bereichern. Im dritten Kapitel beschäftigt sich der Autor mit Schach und Internet. Er erklärt unter anderem, wie seine bekannte Website Chess.com zu solcher Popularität gekommen ist.

Beeindruckend ist, wie Peter Doggers seine persönliche Leidenschaft für das Schachspiel in diesem Buch zum Ausdruck bringt - seine Begeisterung ist in jeder Zeile spürbar. Insgesamt vergebe ich dem Buch vier Sterne. Das Thema hat mich persönlich nicht ganz mitgerissen, aber für Schachliebhaber und Kenner ist dieses Buch sicher eine Bereicherung.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doggers is a pretty strong writer who keeps his book moving at a brisk pace. Sometimes too brisk! The early history of chess gets glanced at a little too quickly for my taste. That said, I think the book's structure is strong, and his knowledge of the game is excellent. He obviously knows chess, its history, and its players.

The third section feels somewhat problematic for me.

Doggers is transparent enough to admit that, yes, he has worked for Chess.com for many years. That's good, because the last section often reads like website advertising copy. While I like Chess.com and use it regularly, he mostly just briefly mentions other sites to boost Chess.com. Not that he takes swipes directly at them, but it always feels like he's comparing them just to show how his employer is doing a better job.

A company man, certainly. A good writer, definitely. But his obvious fanboyism does detract a little from the overall impact of this third section. That said, it doesn't destroy the credibility of the book in general and, for the most part, I found it an enjoyable read.

As others have said, paired with "The Immortal Game," it works best.

[David N. · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this fine, readable book describes the revolution in chess over the past 30-40 years brought on by the digital age, it also delves into the history and culture of the game. Doggers, a noted chess journalist and chief marketing officer of the online giant Chess.com, avoids the danger of the book becoming one long advertisement for his company, and gives what I believe is a fair and informative treatment of the broad development of computer chess and the incredibly popular online chess that is currently experiencing such enormous growth, driven by the pandemic, Netflix's "The Queen's Gambit," and superstars like Carlsen and Nakamura. I particularly enjoyed the discussion of the intimate relationship between the growth of AI and the development of chess engines. There are numerous references to important chess games, which are annotated in the back of the book, as well as an excellent bibliography. Bravo, very well done.

[maarten mellegers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goed boek over de schaakrevolutie.
In een mooi geschreven legt Doggers de geschiedenis en het ontstaan van het schaken uit.
Ook kijkt hij naar de toekomst.
deel 1 behandelt schaken als cultureel fenomeen van de populaire cultuur tot aan schaken en wetenschap,.
In deel 2 komt de impact van kunstmatige intelligentie aan bod.
Van deep blue de schaakcomputer die Kasparov versloeg tot aan valsspelen.
Deel 3 gaat over de online revolutie.
Hoe Chess.com kwam zag en overwon.
De streamingsrevolutie gaat in op de toekomst van de het schaken.
Hoe verschillende internetgrootheden behoorlijk rijk zijn geworden van het schaken/
Zo komt Rozman en Nakamura onder andere aan bod.
Bijzonder boek met een mooie geschiedenis en toekomst.

[Nico Van Straalen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Het boek begint met een serie anekdotes over de geschiedenis van het schaakspel, beroemde partijen, met aandacht voor de emoties en ruzies onder beroemde schakers en gaat gaandeweg over in ICT-jargon en de business-aspecten van het moderne on-line schaken. Ik vond het eerste te weinig uitgediept en het tweede te langdradig. Maar daar tussendoor vertelt Doggers interessante verhalen over hoe schaken de ontwikkeling van intelligente computerprogramma's en kunstmatige intelligentie heeft gestimuleerd. Schaken als maatschappelijk proces en schaken als drijvende kracht achter maatschappelijk veranderingen, het is een interessante analyse die dit boek de moeite waard maakt.

[stakahashi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to find interesting books about chess that aren’t mainly instructive or about analyzing games.  Glanced at this book in the bookstore, bought it and knocked it out with ease.  Having lived through the technological changes with chess over many years, it was interesting to read about the details behind those changes and also the general history going back further.  The significant historical figures and events and then the beginning of computer chess, eventually leading to, basically, chess.com and lichess.  The author didn’t take a heavy, technical approach, which was good - instead he discussed the most interesting points of various topics and events.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun book that covers everything from chess history (Kasparov vs. Fischer) to cheating in chess, from the early days of online chess to the juggernaut that is chess.com.

Towards the end, the author reveals some of the annual earnings of top chess players and personalities. The numbers surprised me.

Worth a read if you enjoy playing chess and would like to learn more about the culture of chess.

[Jay Weigall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I personally love chess history, so this book was a treat. That said, the second half (which focusses prinarily on AI) was slightly less enjoyable for me personlly just because of my interest in the subject. Regardless, it was very well written, broken up into short segments, and written with passion.

[Darin · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first started it, I was worried that it was going to be very superficial and poorly researched, but at the end it was a really interesting angle on not just history but streaming, controversy, and the internet and its effect on the more recent explosions of chess in the past five years. It might be repetitive for those who are Very Online, but I enjoyed it a lot.

[Rena Duyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a gift a read it to understand why espacially men are such huge fans of chess play and why they can never stop.
Now I understand it. It’s an amazing book with lots of details also funny anecdotes.

[Theodore Kinni · Rating 3 out of 5]

It did get me playing again, so 3-stars for that. Quit reading at 38%.

[Rincle Tinkle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Superb, a whirlwind through the history - past and recent - and the now of the game of kings… and juicers.

[Petol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fijne geschiedenis van onze mooie sport.

[James M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent introduction to the rise of the streaming chess phenomime. And the growth of YouTube chess programing.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic book. Written in layman's terms, goes through old and new information on chess, and was exactly the type of book I wanted to read. Highly recommend.

[Louis dM · Rating 4 out of 5]

interessant! M'a ouvert sur de nombreux aspects des echecs que j'ignorais.

[Dani Draaisma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned a lot about chess!

My grandfather recommended this book and it has really inspired me to play. I really liked the chapters that talk about the games between humans and computers.

All that is left to say is... e4

[Vera Hoogstad · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5*

[Jan Keijsper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aardig boek, zeker ook voor niet-schakers. Wel erg lang laatste deel over het online gebeuren.

[rebecca_booklover · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inside Schach - informativ und unterhaltsam

Mit "Schach-Euphorie" von Peter Doggers taucht man, sowohl online als auch vor Ort, tief in die faszinierende Welt des Schachs ein und ergründet dabei genauer den Reiz, der vom Schachspiel, damals wie heute, ausgeht.

Selbst ziemlich unerfahrene Leserinnen und Leser in Bezug auf das Schachspiel und seine Community sowie Wettkampfszene, werden an dem lebendig geschriebenen Sachbuch Freude finden, denn dem Autor gelingt es anschaulich und gut verständlich die verschiedenen Themenfelder darzustellen. Auch wenn der Autor auf die technischen Entwicklungen in der Schachwelt eingeht, wie z.B. durch die Verwendung von KI, immer leistungsfähigeren Schachcomputern als ernstzunehmende Gegner für den Mensch sowie die Entwicklung der Online-Schachcommunities, verliert man nie den Überblick und das Interesse.

Es ist spannend zu lesen, wie sich das Schachspiel entwickelt und verändert hat, mehr über das Leben bekannter Schachprofis zu erfahren sowie einfach einen Einblick in die globale Schachwelt zu bekommen.

Dass das Schachspiel schon immer eine gewisse Faszination ausgeübt hat und sicherlich auch noch üben wird, zeigen die ganzen Online-Schachplattformen auf denen Schachspiele gespielt, kommentiert und gestreamt werden. Auch der Ausflug in die Historie des Schachspiels und in die Literatur sowie die Kultur zeigen die Bedeutung, die Schach schon immer in der Gesellschaft gespielt hat, auf.

Inhaltlich und logisch gut strukturell aufgearbeitet, präsentiert sich "Schach-Euphorie" und ist so für Schachfans und einem schachfremden Publikum gleichermaßen interessant und lesenswert!

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know how many times I've read the same book about the history of chess and it's cultural importance etc. This has a nice extra angle of Doggers being an adequate player, but more part of the chess.com popularisation, that occurred during COVID.

The cameos of the greatest living players of the game are done with good taste.

Overall an excellent book, but hard to recommend to people who aren't big chess fans.