It was a re-read for me. I liked it very much when I first read it in my younger days and I was curious if I would like it today too. Yes, I did. And I felt the same kind of sadness about the outcome. Although Dr. B. wins this one game (which is a tremendous achievement, chess world champions never lose to amateurs, at least not when playing on the same conditions) he is the loser in the end. I always thought this as a reflection of Zweig's own life which led him to commit suicide soon afterwards.
For those of you who are interested in the general story - intellectual jews who had to flee from Nazi Germany - I could additionally suggest reading some books by Erich Maria Remarque. But unfortunately, I don't have any knowledge about translations and availability in English.
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