The Chess Revolution

Understanding the Power of an Ancient Game in the Digital Age

By: Peter Doggers

Narrated by: George Weightman

'Chess is a staggering invention, if indeed it was invented. Maybe it just evolved. It is still evolving, now faster than ever, and Peter Doggers has traced and tracked its never-ending development with wit, vigour and insight. Nothing artificial about his intelligence' - Sir Tim Rice

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.©2024 Peter Doggers

Critic reviews

Chess is a staggering invention, if indeed it was invented. Maybe it just evolved. It is still evolving, now faster than ever, and Peter Doggers has traced and tracked its never-ending development with wit, vigour and insight. Nothing artificial about his intelligence (Sir Tim Rice)

Peter Doggers has been covering the chess world as a journalist for almost 20 years, and no one knows more about its culture and controversies than him. Now he has undertaken a fascinating and synoptic survey that looks at the game's glorious past and what he hopes could be an even more storied future. Thanks to the internet, more people are playing and following the game than ever before, Netflix's The Queen's Gambit has triggered a new wave of popular interest, and computers and AI - far from killing the game, as many anticipated - have helped to remake it. Doggers argues forcefully that chess, for so long in danger of being marginalised after the high point of the great Fischer-Spassky world championship match in 1972, is returning to the mainstream and can be a winner again (Stephen Moss, author of The Rookie: An Odyssey Through Chess (and Life))

The game of chess deserves this book (Tex de Wit, comedian, TV personality and chess player)

Doggers is an excellent guide . . . The Chess Revolution provides an entertaining and instructive overview of a game in the throes of reinvention. A decade ago it would have been quite possible to view chess as a fading sport, as its mysteries were solved by computers and its audiences tempted away by video games and other less taxing entertainments. Instead, by embracing a heady mix of technology and globalisation, it has been re-energised - providing a lesson for other human intellectual pursuits far beyond the sixty four squares (James Crabtree)