Some chess forums have interesting comments on this book. For instance, it seems that Zweig actually had a book of grandmaster games of the type described in
Chess and he frequently played and studied these games. It is quite possible that it is from that volume that he obtained the famous game between Alexander Alekhine vs Efim Bogoljubov in 1922. If you wish you can replay the entire game here: {It's quite exciting and there are some interesting comments on it}.
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1006949
This caused me to reflect on the fact that Alekhine was the reigning world champion at the time the book takes place. So, I'll first fill in a bit of background information about him.
After his sensational and unexpected win against Capablanca in 1927 {to whom he never gave a rematch} he only played two players for the title. One was Bogoljubov, mentioned above--who was a poor match player {though good in tournaments} whom he played twice in 1929 and 1934--winning easily both times--and Euwe the Dutch Grandmaster in 1935 and 1937 losing the first match and regaining the title with the second. During that time he avoided a group of new young players such as Reshevsky, Botvinnik, Keres. Flohr, and Fine. At that point the title holder, in effect, "owned" the title and defended it when and against whom he pleased. {This changed after Alekhine's death when the FIDE took over.}
World War 2 brought an end to most international Chess meetings. Alekhine took a rabid anti-Semitic position while living in Portugal. He wrote six articles in 1941 claiming that Jews played cowardly, inferior chess. After the war Alekhine was put into coventry by the rest of the chess world. However, finally, in 1946, Botvinnik challenged him to a Championship Match (which he certainly would have won} in London. Alekhine died before the match could take place.
There are those who claim that Alekhine feigned his anti-Semitism to protect his wife--that it was a pragmatic decision forced on him and this remains a possibility.
Here you will find a summary of the main facts in the case.
http://www.geocities.com/siliconvall.../7378/nazi.htm
Now, was Zweig aware of these articles or of Alekhine's alleged anti-Semitism? Czentovic certainly doesn't physically resemble Alekhine nor does he sound as if he plays in the dynamic tactical style of the latter. Further, Alekhine was evidently quite pleasant and charming on a personal level. But if the then-current world champion had been in Zweig's thoughts, then the conflict at the chessboard takes on a deeper significance and the conflict gains a political as well as a psychological dimension.