Refined and perfected throughout human history, chess has long been a touchstone for shrewd tacticians and master strategists.
But enfolded within this ancient game can be found a singularly resonant metaphor for the challenges, thrills and setbacks that fill our lives with meaning and complexity.
Jonathan Rowson's competitive success as a Grandmaster and his work as a philosopher of public policy have given him a unique perspective on why the great game is more important than ever for understanding the conflicts and uncertainties of the modern world.
In sixty-four witty and addictive vignettes, Rowson takes us on a tour of life where everything is at play - an exhilarating journey from the aesthetics of cyborgs to the psychology of gang violence, the joys of parenting to the ultimate endgame of death.
Chess emerges as a rich and endlessly evocative way of thinking about the desires that shape the world around us.
