: Re: Describing a chess game in a novel I have a scene in a upcoming novel where two people play a game of chess, and I realized how difficult it was to describe it. The problem is due to the

@Hamaas631

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You either have to be precise, and include diagrams, or be "vaguely dramatic". There is no "middle ground" here.
Literature has many examples of chess matches and chess players. Other answers have already mentioned a number of them. What I think is common between them is that they are capturing the drama of the game, but not the game itself, not in enough detail that the reader is able to recreate it. You can mention the opening, and some individual moves, but the focus is on dramatic effect, not the moves themselves.
I know of only one example of "precise" chess fiction. Classic Russian Sci-Fi author Alexander Kazantsev had a book "Caissa's gift", in which fictional stories were revolving around chess games, complete with diagrams and move-by-move descriptions. I don't think this book was ever translated into English. The book, imho, was very interesting for both chess players and casual readers because one could either put the pieces on board and follow the story move by move, or ignore the exact moves and just follow the plot as it's written. It needs to be mentioned that Kazantsev was a master chess study composer.
Trying to provide some, but not all exact moves, and no diagrams I think would be a mistake. For a non-player, that would be simply a distraction. For a reader who is a chess player and would want to recreate the exact position, but that would prove to be very taxing, if possible at all.

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