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Tactics of Conquest
"You mean we're truly going to play for the fate of the Universe?" "Exactly," the Overlord said, "a forty-one game chess match to be broadcast throughout all civilized sectors of your Universe so that everyone can witness it."
"But why chess? Why me? Why this planet?"
"Because chess is ideal for such a final judgement; it is a methodical game with absolutely no element of luck, and therefore there can be no complaints by the loser. Chess is known only to your planet, and you and your opponent are the most evenly matched living players. Good against evil. No other chess players are so close in true potential abilities. There is no other reason."
"But why chess? Why me? Why this planet?"
"Because chess is ideal for such a final judgement; it is a methodical game with absolutely no element of luck, and therefore there can be no complaints by the loser. Chess is known only to your planet, and you and your opponent are the most evenly matched living players. Good against evil. No other chess players are so close in true potential abilities. There is no other reason."
172 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 1, 1974
1 person is currently reading
163 people want to read
About the author
Barry N. Malzberg
534 books131 followersBarry Nathaniel Malzberg was an American writer and editor, most often of science fiction and fantasy.
He had also published as:
Mike Barry (thriller/suspense)
K.M. O'Donnell (science fiction/fantasy)
Mel Johnson (adult)
Howard Lee (martial arts/TV tie-ins)
Lee W. Mason (adult)
Claudine Dumas (adult)
Francine di Natale (adult)
Gerrold Watkins (adult)
Eliot B. Reston
He had also published as:
Mike Barry (thriller/suspense)
K.M. O'Donnell (science fiction/fantasy)
Mel Johnson (adult)
Howard Lee (martial arts/TV tie-ins)
Lee W. Mason (adult)
Claudine Dumas (adult)
Francine di Natale (adult)
Gerrold Watkins (adult)
Eliot B. Reston
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
December 2, 2021
One of the springboards that Malzberg used to launch many of his stories was the idea of powerful aliens setting humans against one another in some type of conflict, as Fredric Brown did so successfully in Arena. Tactics of Conquest is about a chess match to be played for the fate of the universe. There have been many good science fiction stories about chess (I recommend an anthology edited by Fred Saberhagen, Pawn to Infinity, for a good sampling), but this novel is not among the best. The narrator is unreliable, perhaps crazy, and spends too much of the book thinking about sex, not chess. Or perhaps Malzberg means that one is a metaphor for the other, but it's all rather awkward and unpleasant. The story was originally a pretty good and very short one from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and he mentioned expanding it to novel length over a weekend in one of his autobiographical pieces; it's not one of his better efforts.
May 28, 2014
Let's take a look at an awkward sex scene:
Why is this this early sexual experience by a chess grandmaster so terrible? Is it because
a. Barry Malzberg frequently uses terrible metaphors
b. Barry Malzberg, age 34 at the time of this publication in 1973, had already published 70 novels, none of which can possibly have received all that much attention
c. The narrator has a lot of issues (sexual, personal)
Well, all three of the above are true statements, so it's a bit inconclusive. Through a narrator we quickly learn to be unreliable, self-agrandizing, and increasingly problematic, Malberg employs a range of awkward descriptions that may or may not be sourceable to some of this protagonist's hang-ups. He's definitely got sexual issues, he's got identity issues, he may have much bigger issues.
One of those issues, the ostensible plot of the book, is that he has to play chess against an old childhood friend for the fate of the entire universe (validating his opinion that "chess is the world" it seems). Game fifteen of a 41-game series, minutely broken down into moves and their internal commentary, provides the structure for the entire novel.
Glancing at other Malzberg titles, it seems that he's got a reputation for deconstruction, and cites Nabakov as an influence, so the deep structure and questionable narratorial voice may actually bear the analysis.
Or, well, who knows:
...
Bonus: Marry Malzberg, in his own words in The Engines of Night (1982) discussing how he expanded a short story into this novel in 4 days:
“Now you may think that you would have trouble expanding a twenty-six-hundred-word story into a fifty-five-thousand-word novel. You would be right. My oh my did I pad and overload. Sentences became pages, paragraphs became chapters. Megalomania became grandiosity with lots of examples. Whole flashback chapters were devoted to his life as a chess champion: scenes in Berne and Moscow and Philadelphia, the traveling life of the chess master. Also some sex scenes, but within good taste because this is the science fiction market."
...our two bodies locked together like Pawns meeting in the center of the board in a zig-zag confrontation and I felt her Queen's Pawn beneath me beginning to flower with its own purpose, my King's Rook writhing and moving into her inexorably.
Why is this this early sexual experience by a chess grandmaster so terrible? Is it because
a. Barry Malzberg frequently uses terrible metaphors
b. Barry Malzberg, age 34 at the time of this publication in 1973, had already published 70 novels, none of which can possibly have received all that much attention
c. The narrator has a lot of issues (sexual, personal)
Well, all three of the above are true statements, so it's a bit inconclusive. Through a narrator we quickly learn to be unreliable, self-agrandizing, and increasingly problematic, Malberg employs a range of awkward descriptions that may or may not be sourceable to some of this protagonist's hang-ups. He's definitely got sexual issues, he's got identity issues, he may have much bigger issues.
One of those issues, the ostensible plot of the book, is that he has to play chess against an old childhood friend for the fate of the entire universe (validating his opinion that "chess is the world" it seems). Game fifteen of a 41-game series, minutely broken down into moves and their internal commentary, provides the structure for the entire novel.
Glancing at other Malzberg titles, it seems that he's got a reputation for deconstruction, and cites Nabakov as an influence, so the deep structure and questionable narratorial voice may actually bear the analysis.
Or, well, who knows:
...and then my next move comes dribbling out of the subconscious like a turd, easing through those rectal cavities of the mind
...
Bonus: Marry Malzberg, in his own words in The Engines of Night (1982) discussing how he expanded a short story into this novel in 4 days:
“Now you may think that you would have trouble expanding a twenty-six-hundred-word story into a fifty-five-thousand-word novel. You would be right. My oh my did I pad and overload. Sentences became pages, paragraphs became chapters. Megalomania became grandiosity with lots of examples. Whole flashback chapters were devoted to his life as a chess champion: scenes in Berne and Moscow and Philadelphia, the traveling life of the chess master. Also some sex scenes, but within good taste because this is the science fiction market."
August 20, 2021
I wish Goodreads had a feature to give negative ratings, I desparately need that rn.
This book is CRAP. I shouldn't have picked it in the first place. Lol. But the plot had so much potential.
Chess, Space, Good/Evil, Latent Homosexuality! I couldn't resist the combo.
If it appeals to you too. Allow me to change your mind.
Throughout the book for most part all I got was
A) Bizzare metaphors relating to bowels or vomit,
*Trigger Warning*(You may not be able to look at chess pieces as before)
B) Sexification of anything possible (Which was interesting but, Man! I cannot touch Rook anymore without imagining David's Dick! Ugh!).
Look at this exerpt
and divested myself of my clothing, a, shiny one-piece relaxation suit, on the spot. I stood before her, with the collaboration of the zipper, almost instantaneously nude, and what I always like to refer to as my King’s Rook stiffened and beat beneath me like a
little bird winging its way toward a nest
In glossary, David says, That Queen piece is less pleasant to fondle as phallic substance (dildo) than Bishop-which looks like uncircumcised penis and compares that piece with childhood friend turned enemy - Louis-with whom he once engaged in sodomy. And both would blame for the 'Biblical Sin' to the other.
This book is CRAP. I shouldn't have picked it in the first place. Lol. But the plot had so much potential.
Chess, Space, Good/Evil, Latent Homosexuality! I couldn't resist the combo.
If it appeals to you too. Allow me to change your mind.
Throughout the book for most part all I got was
A) Bizzare metaphors relating to bowels or vomit,
*Trigger Warning*(You may not be able to look at chess pieces as before)
B) Sexification of anything possible (Which was interesting but, Man! I cannot touch Rook anymore without imagining David's Dick! Ugh!).
Look at this exerpt
and divested myself of my clothing, a, shiny one-piece relaxation suit, on the spot. I stood before her, with the collaboration of the zipper, almost instantaneously nude, and what I always like to refer to as my King’s Rook stiffened and beat beneath me like a
little bird winging its way toward a nest
In glossary, David says, That Queen piece is less pleasant to fondle as phallic substance (dildo) than Bishop-which looks like uncircumcised penis and compares that piece with childhood friend turned enemy - Louis-with whom he once engaged in sodomy. And both would blame for the 'Biblical Sin' to the other.
September 29, 2022
The narrator David, and his childhood friend and now chess grandmaster rival Louis, are playing off in a 41 game series to determine the fate of the Universe in a Good v. Evil showdown. How much of this is real and how much metaphor is difficult to determine as the book is basically a much padded expansion of a short story Barry Malzberg wrote for F&SF. David is hyper egotistical, rewriting old losses as thrown matches, cheating or even psychic interference. The book, written at the height of the Cold War Chess Conflict may well be a commentary on Fischer v. Spassky and the incredibly unrealistic world that these chess geniuses inhabit. “Chess is the world!” one espouses then almost immediately “Chess is a pointless insignificant pastime”. Both positions are taken in this book. While it is readable I could deduct points for the sheer contempt Malzberg holds for his readers, as explained in an interview about this book in 1982 (but didn't - a story should be judged on its presence not its intent). David could stand in for Malzberg himself and his own fraught position within the SF establishment.
September 12, 2017
One of the most memorable books I read as a late teen. A chess grandmaster is matched against his longtime bete noir in a series of matches, played for the fate of the universe.
Long story short, it's the internal monologue and conversations of a man who loses a match in a 4-move Fool's Mate. Each move he makes is justified to us. Every opponent move is disparaged. In between moves are flashbacks to his touring life as a chess master.
And it slowly dawns upon the reader that this guy is nuts. The Prologue comes after the action, and it's a press release pumping up the action we just read. Then comes the Glossary, then the Epilogue.
Most reviewers have focussed on the bad sex metaphors, but the Glossary shows that the reviewers have missed the point. They also miss something that only becomes clear in the Venus entry of the Glossary
Not a book for the casual SF reader. There's no action at all. Just a nutso guy explaining how smart he is. If you like intense, internal, psychological stuff, I recommend it.
Long story short, it's the internal monologue and conversations of a man who loses a match in a 4-move Fool's Mate. Each move he makes is justified to us. Every opponent move is disparaged. In between moves are flashbacks to his touring life as a chess master.
And it slowly dawns upon the reader that this guy is nuts. The Prologue comes after the action, and it's a press release pumping up the action we just read. Then comes the Glossary, then the Epilogue.
Most reviewers have focussed on the bad sex metaphors, but the Glossary shows that the reviewers have missed the point. They also miss something that only becomes clear in the Venus entry of the Glossary
Not a book for the casual SF reader. There's no action at all. Just a nutso guy explaining how smart he is. If you like intense, internal, psychological stuff, I recommend it.
November 5, 2015
I honestly have no idea what I read. It had to have been one of the strangest books I've ever picked up. It seemed to have been an allegory about latent homosexuality set in a galactic universe where there are alien overlords that force other races to play chess with each other in epic battles where the losing person dies. It also may have not been about any of that. I'm totally unsure.
April 6, 2013
It was really hard for me to enjoy this book. Malzberg gets the chess so horribly wrong right from the start.
The over-the-top quotes in Nate's review are the best parts of the novel!
The over-the-top quotes in Nate's review are the best parts of the novel!
November 14, 2021
I’m not sure what to make of this one…
A chess tournament is set up by an alien species called “The Overlords”. The idea is that two grand masters will face off against each other over a series of 41 matches. At stake is the very future of the universe. See, each competitor represents the populations of half the universe and the loser’s side will be exterminated.
Ok then. Our first-person narrator is named David and constantly assures us that he is not only the best chess player of all time, but also the nicest, the most compassionate, the best looking, etc. etc. One gets the feeling early on that he is a truly unreliable narrator and that is soon evident as he makes one excuse after another for his poor play. The story takes place over the course of a single chess match but with several flashbacks as well as some intensive navel-gazing thoughts on his own prowess. I’m not sure where this was going in the end, but if it ever got there, I sure didn’t figure it out.
Barry Malzberg has been writing science fiction, among other things for a long time. Most of his science fiction books are narratives that feature the consciousness of a single obsessive character. That certainly holds true with this one. He also frequently uses an unreliable narrator. The reading style here was easy and straightforward and I feel like he was going for something deeply profound. The ending, however, just sort of petered off. I turned the page and was surprised to see I had reached the end.
Just didn’t work for me.
A chess tournament is set up by an alien species called “The Overlords”. The idea is that two grand masters will face off against each other over a series of 41 matches. At stake is the very future of the universe. See, each competitor represents the populations of half the universe and the loser’s side will be exterminated.
Ok then. Our first-person narrator is named David and constantly assures us that he is not only the best chess player of all time, but also the nicest, the most compassionate, the best looking, etc. etc. One gets the feeling early on that he is a truly unreliable narrator and that is soon evident as he makes one excuse after another for his poor play. The story takes place over the course of a single chess match but with several flashbacks as well as some intensive navel-gazing thoughts on his own prowess. I’m not sure where this was going in the end, but if it ever got there, I sure didn’t figure it out.
Barry Malzberg has been writing science fiction, among other things for a long time. Most of his science fiction books are narratives that feature the consciousness of a single obsessive character. That certainly holds true with this one. He also frequently uses an unreliable narrator. The reading style here was easy and straightforward and I feel like he was going for something deeply profound. The ending, however, just sort of petered off. I turned the page and was surprised to see I had reached the end.
Just didn’t work for me.
December 7, 2025
On the surface, this book is about a game of chess to decide the fate of the universe. But it is in fact a sharp and witty satire of chess players. It's very well written, a sort of lyrical cynicism that is unique to this author. However it does lack in structure and I was not satisfied with the ending.
Malzberg seems to be an excellent writer that felt he was so good that he didn't have to try that hard. He was indeed a brilliant writer but somewhat sloppy and it shows that he did not put much effort into this book.
Malzberg seems to be an excellent writer that felt he was so good that he didn't have to try that hard. He was indeed a brilliant writer but somewhat sloppy and it shows that he did not put much effort into this book.
June 24, 2022
Even for Malzberg, this book is bizarre. Anal sex, tentacled "Overlords," neurosis, and chess -- despite the extraterrestrial premise it is hardly a science fiction novel. This can be said of many of the works of Malzberg. He was something entirely different.
January 16, 2025
I like unlikeable characters, so I enjoyed this quite a bit.
February 28, 2025
Malzberg is so good. When he is talking about chess, he is not talking about chess. If you think that he is getting everything about chess wrong, you are missing the point. This book is amazing.
July 19, 2025
Had to go with Malzberg for my 100th book of the year and I’m very glad this was the one. As brilliant a deployment of the unreliable narrator as I’ve ever read (well, other than Beyond Apollo).
October 9, 2025
A dark delight. This book reminded me of a lot of Thomas Bernhard’s The Loser. The crumbling psyche of an ersatz or almost-genius. Malzberg foretells the incel.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 2, 2025
Score: 7-9/10
I've been putting off this review for a minute because I honestly don't know what I can say about this book.
For a good chunk of the read, I was confident I was going to give this a 3/10 at best, but somehow Malzberg managed to flip the switch at the 11th hour.
I dont think it was amazing when I finished it, but somehow, I can not stop thinking about it. It's easily one of the best uses of an unreliable narrartor I've ever seen. And the subject matter sounds so interesting, but the book is not at all what it says it is.
A chess match for the fate of the universe? Sign me up. But then you read this book and realize it is not about that at all, and it's extremely disappointing and annoying. Yet somehow, it morphs into something completely different, and I'm okay with it?
This book has me spiraling. I can tell Malzberg is a fantastic writer and am excited to read more from him.
I've been putting off this review for a minute because I honestly don't know what I can say about this book.
For a good chunk of the read, I was confident I was going to give this a 3/10 at best, but somehow Malzberg managed to flip the switch at the 11th hour.
I dont think it was amazing when I finished it, but somehow, I can not stop thinking about it. It's easily one of the best uses of an unreliable narrartor I've ever seen. And the subject matter sounds so interesting, but the book is not at all what it says it is.
A chess match for the fate of the universe? Sign me up. But then you read this book and realize it is not about that at all, and it's extremely disappointing and annoying. Yet somehow, it morphs into something completely different, and I'm okay with it?
This book has me spiraling. I can tell Malzberg is a fantastic writer and am excited to read more from him.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews