Among the passengers on the steamer from New York to Buenos Aires is the world-famous chess champion Mirko Czentovic, as well as the mysterious Dr. B. When the champion is challenged to a game by some chess-enthusiast fellow travelers, a memorable duel ensues between the world champion and the enigmatic stranger. The chess novella is one of the last texts written by Stefan Zweig shortly before his tragic death in exile in Brazil. It reflects the Austrian-Jewish author's confrontation with the Gestapo terror in his homeland and the hardships of his life in exile. The text has been carefully adapted to the new spelling and supplemented with an afterword and extensive word annotations.