Samuel Beckett and chess
Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2020 2:36 am
I recently found some references in a biography of Samuel Beckett on how he was a very keen chess player, with some interesting snippets here and there, including encounters with some well-known chess players. While looking for more on this, I found this excellent article on Duchamp and Beckett and chess:
https://www.toutfait.com/opposition-and ... l-beckett/
'Opposition and Sister Squares: Marcel Duchamp and Samuel Beckett'
by Andrew Hugill, Bath Spa University (2013, updated 2016)
Well worth a read!
In a similar vein:
https://journals.openedition.org/caliban/152
'Beckett, Duchamp and Chess: A Crossroads at Arcachon in the Summer of 1940' by Harry Vandervlist (2013).
And another article from an academic journal:
https://doi.org/10.1111/criq.12018
'Playing on: chess and its metaphors in the life and work of Samuel Beckett' by Derek Alsop (2013)
And (a bit less literary) a bit here on the chess books that Beckett had in his library:
https://www.kingpinchess.net/2019/04/sa ... s-library/
What I found most interesting is that Beckett spent lots of time playing games against himself. Maybe only a certain type of person/chess player does that, though to be fair it is also described as playing through instructive games by others:
https://www.toutfait.com/opposition-and ... l-beckett/
'Opposition and Sister Squares: Marcel Duchamp and Samuel Beckett'
by Andrew Hugill, Bath Spa University (2013, updated 2016)
Well worth a read!
In a similar vein:
https://journals.openedition.org/caliban/152
'Beckett, Duchamp and Chess: A Crossroads at Arcachon in the Summer of 1940' by Harry Vandervlist (2013).
And another article from an academic journal:
https://doi.org/10.1111/criq.12018
'Playing on: chess and its metaphors in the life and work of Samuel Beckett' by Derek Alsop (2013)
And (a bit less literary) a bit here on the chess books that Beckett had in his library:
https://www.kingpinchess.net/2019/04/sa ... s-library/
What I found most interesting is that Beckett spent lots of time playing games against himself. Maybe only a certain type of person/chess player does that, though to be fair it is also described as playing through instructive games by others:
He also studied the chess columns regularly in Le Monde and spent hours playing chess against himself, re-enacting some of the famous games described in the Best Games of [...]
