The Chess Revolution
Understanding the Power of an Ancient Game in the Digital Age
Published on 23. October 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
416 pages
978-1-4721-4931-2 (ISBN)
Description
'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
'An entertaining and instructive overview of a game in the throes of reinvention.' - Financial Times
How the game of kings became the king of games
Throughout history, chess has inspired writers, painters, filmmakers, musicians, mathematicians and scientists. Yet, despite being 1,500 years old, chess has never been more popular than it is today. How did it become the most prominent game in Western culture?
In this fascinating book, acclaimed Chess.com journalist Peter Doggers explores chess as a cultural phenomenon from its earliest beginnings in ancient India to its influence on pop culture, the arts and science. He examines its biggest stars and most dramatic moments, the impact of AI, cheating scandals, esports and the online revolution, culminating in the game's meteoric rise in the digital age leading to a new peak in popularity.
Complete with photographs and illustrations, as well as an appendix in the back with moves from key games, The Chess Revolution is a seminal volume that will captivate every chess fan, from novices to grandmasters.
'An entertaining and instructive overview of a game in the throes of reinvention.' - Financial Times
How the game of kings became the king of games
Throughout history, chess has inspired writers, painters, filmmakers, musicians, mathematicians and scientists. Yet, despite being 1,500 years old, chess has never been more popular than it is today. How did it become the most prominent game in Western culture?
In this fascinating book, acclaimed Chess.com journalist Peter Doggers explores chess as a cultural phenomenon from its earliest beginnings in ancient India to its influence on pop culture, the arts and science. He examines its biggest stars and most dramatic moments, the impact of AI, cheating scandals, esports and the online revolution, culminating in the game's meteoric rise in the digital age leading to a new peak in popularity.
Complete with photographs and illustrations, as well as an appendix in the back with moves from key games, The Chess Revolution is a seminal volume that will captivate every chess fan, from novices to grandmasters.
Reviews / Votes
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 * Financial Times *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Little, Brown Book Group
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 195 mm
Width: 126 mm
Thickness: 31 mm
Weight
44 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4721-4931-2 (9781472149312)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
10/2024
Robinson
€3.99
Available for download
Person
Peter Doggers is one of the most well-known and respected journalists in the chess world. An internationally ranked chess player, he is the director of news and events at the market leader in online chess, Chess.com. Doggers has played chess for more than thirty-five years and has covered it for nearly twenty. He has interviewed dozens of grandmasters, played basketball with Magnus Carlsen and interviewed Garry Kasparov at Bobby Fischer's grave. Doggers lives in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.