The Chess Revolution: From the Ancient World to the Digital Age

by Peter Doggers

Overview

One of the world’s top chess journalists in the world explores why, after 1,500 years of existence, chess has never been more relevant.

Chess is not just one of the greatest games ever devised. It has inspired writers, painters, and filmmakers, and was a secret mover behind technical revolutions like artificial intelligence that are transforming society. In this fascinating pop culture history of the game and its impact, Peter Doggers reveals how computers and the Internet have further strengthened the timeless magic of chess in the digital era, leading to a new peak in popularity and cultural relevance. Doggers explores chess as a cultural phenomenon from its earliest beginnings in ancient India to its biggest stars and most dramatic moments to the impact of the internet and AI.

​The book is illustrated with gorgeous photography and artworks.  

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781454959250
Publisher:	Union Square & Co.
Publication date:	10/21/2025
Pages:	416
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Peter Doggers is one of the most well-known and respected journalists in the chess world. An internationally ranked chess player, he is the director of news and events at the market leader in online chess, Chess.com. Doggers has played chess for thirty-two years and has covered it for over seventeen years. He has interviewed dozens of grandmasters, played basketball with Magnus Carlsen, and interviewed Garry Kasparov at Bobby Fischer’s grave. Doggers lives in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
 

Editorial Reviews

Chess is a staggering invention, if indeed it was invented. Maybe it just evolved. It is still evolving, now faster than ever, and Peter Doggers has traced and tracked its never-ending development with wit, vigor and insight. Nothing artificial about his intelligence.”—Sir Tim Rice

"As a chess journalist, Doggers is an excellent guide. . . . The Chess Revolution provides an entertaining and instructive overview of a game in the throes of reinvention. A decade ago it would have been quite possible to view chess as a fading sport, as its mysteries were solved by computers and its audiences tempted away by video games and other less taxing entertainments. Instead, by embracing a heady mix of technology and globalization, it has been reenergized—providing a lesson for other human intellectual pursuits far beyond the sixty four squares.”—Financial Times
 
“Peter Doggers has been covering the chess world as a journalist for almost 20 years, and no one knows more about its culture and controversies than him. Now he has undertaken a fascinating and synoptic survey that looks at the game's glorious past and what he hopes could be an even more storied future. Thanks to the internet, more people are playing and following the game than ever before, Netflix's The Queen's Gambit has triggered a new wave of popular interest, and computers and AI—far from killing the game, as many anticipated—have helped to remake it.”—Stephen Moss, author of The Rookie: A Odyssey Through Chess (and Life)

 

From the Publisher