Chess, in all its glorious forms, has intrigued and challenged the human mind for nearly 2,000 years. But let’s face it, the literature on the game is often as dense as a stack of arcane telephone directories, or to put it bluntly, like trying to decode Martian Attack Code. It’s not exactly caviar, as Shakespeare’s Hamlet might say, but anathema to the general, leaving most people scratching their heads in bewilderment. This book, however, is different. It’s not about getting lost in a maze of abstract strategies; it’s about celebrating the romance of the game, its personalities, its controversies, and the sheer human drama that chess has inspired through the ages. Whether you’re here to explore the greats like Bobby Fischer, Viktor Korchnoi, or Garry Kasparov, you’ll find something in these pages. So, what life is there but chess? It’s a life filled with stories of triumph, defeat, creativity, and obsession. In this book, two experienced chess commentators, Grandmaster Ray Keene OBE and artist Barry Martin, respectively columnists of TheArticle and EyeOnLondon , range with their thoughts across the entire landscape of contemporary chess. In so doing the authors pay homage to that original Surrealist of the game, Lewis Carroll and his mirror image masterpiece, Alice through the Looking Glass. A special feature is a series of 24 art photographs by Barry, capturing images of the world’s greats, including Garry Kasparov, Anatoly Karpov, Magnus Carlsen, Viktor Korchnoi, Nigel Short, Michael Adams and Jan Timman. These were taken primarily at the traditional home of chess, Simpson's-in-the-Strand in London, and at the prestigious tournament of Bilbao, Spain, 2008, which numbered Viswanathan Anand, Lev Aronian, Susan Polgar and chess super journalist, Leontxo Garcia amongst its illustrious denizens. Ray Keene OBE , London’s first chess Grandmaster, isn’t just a player, he’s a phenomenon. With a career that includes titles like British Champion and a world record for authoring 208 chess books, Ray has not only organised three World Chess Championships but also faced down the Soviet titans, Botvinnik and Tal, and won. He’s even taken on 107 opponents simultaneously, losing just one game, and has played 19 blindfolded games at once without a single loss. Barry Martin is one of the world’s most distinguished chess-playing artists. His role as vice chair of the Chelsea Arts Club and as an art consultant for multiple World Chess Championships underscores his profound influence in the art community and the high regard in which he is held by fellow artists. He once designed the 80th birthday celebration for the avant-garde composer John Cage, featuring a cake modelled after Duchamp’s infamous upside-down urinal, Fountain . His works have graced the Tate, the V&A, and the National Portrait Gallery, and his notorious Potato Chess Set, a fixture at Somerset House until it began to sprout, shows just how far he’s willing to push the boundaries of both art and chess.