The Partisan by Patrick Worrall uses chess as a metaphor for politics. Two chess prodigies meet in the new debut thriller, and a deadly game ensues with the Cold War as its backdrop. Published in June this year, the book made it to The Guardian’s list of the best recent crime and thrillers.
Legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray’s passion for chess has been well documented. According to his son Sandip Ray, his father used the game while storyboarding for his film Shatranj Ke Khilari ( The Chess Players). He read up voraciously on the game to research moves before he directed the movie. Based on Munshi Premchand’s short story, the movie is set on the eve of the Indian rebellion of 1857. A restored version of the film will be screened as part of the Venice Classics section, which returns to the fold of the Venice International Film Festival this year.
