The Chess Players

Paul Morphy was the scion of two outstanding Creole families. His paternal grandfather, Diego Morphy, had been Spanish Consul, first in Charleston and then in New Orleans; his maternal grandfather, Joseph Le Carpentier, commonly called the "double-tongued," was a successful French auctioneer. On the condition that Le Carpentier would build a house suitable for a superb bridal residence and that his daughter, the beautiful Telcide, should be provided with a fantastic dowry, Don Diego gave his consent to an alliance between her and his son Alonzo, a promising young lawyer destined to become a justice in the supreme court of Louisiana. It was a step down, socially, for the Morphys, but Don Diego felt there were compensations, especially as he and Joseph Le Carpentier had long had a common bond in their love of chess: closer ties would facilitate more and more frequent games.

Genre
historical fiction
Audience
adult
Length
long · 542 pages

Click a tag to see books like this one that share it.

Read it? Sign in to help tag it.

Liked The Chess Players? Here’s where I’d start.

These suit anyone who liked The Chess Players. Sign in and mark a few books for picks shaped around your own taste.

  1. My 60 Memorable Games Shares chess
  2. Practical Chess Exercises: 600 Lessons from Tactics to Strategy Shares chess
  3. Silman's Complete Endgame Course: From Beginner to Master Shares chess
  4. Chess Tactics for Champions: A step-by-step guide to using tactics and combinations the Polgar way Shares chess

“If you want more of the same (historical fiction), start with these.”

  1. Darcy's Denial: A Pride and Prejudice Variation
  2. A Pledge of Better Times
  3. Win, Lose, or Darcy
  4. The Secret Life of James Cook

“If it was the chess that hooked you, try one of these.”

  1. The Amateur's Mind: Turning Chess Misconceptions Into Chess Mastery
  2. Chess Praxis
  3. Understanding Chess Tactics
  4. Modern Chess Strategy

“These start from a similar idea, even if they go somewhere else with it.”

  1. Grandfather Counts (A Reading Rainbow Book)
  2. A Venetian Affair: A True Tale of Forbidden Love in the 18th Century
  3. The Rake's Proposal
  4. I Have an Olive Tree