The World Played Chess

By: Jamie Steinberg

Meet Vincent Bianco. In 1979 he was only eighteen years old and spending the Summer before college working on a construction crew. It is there he meets a Vietnam veteran named William Goodman who is suffering from PTSD. Vincent (or as William calls him “Vincenzo”) befriends William and the two spend the Summer working hard and saving each other’s lives. Robert Dugoni’s book The World Played Chess is a mix of dark and light that explores loss of innocence from two different perspectives – both past and present.

In the summer of 2015 Vincent’s own son is heading off to college and William reappears in Vincent’s life in the form of a journal he had during his time in Vietnam. Vincent is also able to locate his own journal from the time he spent that Summer with William. It is then that The World Played Chess begins alternating between entries from the Summer of 1979, the time in 1968 when William served and Vincent’s current life.

In August of 1967, William is headed off to the Vietnam War. Before leaving his mother warns him not to be a hero. “Just blend in and come home,” she advises. Dugoni does a wonderful job of immersing readers into William’s life in the bush and the darkness he faces as a young photographer/soldier forced to serve. In contrast, reading Vincent’s entries from 1979 you see the same aged kid as William was at that time in his life but without the pressures of saving lives and survival. However, Vincent is at a turning point in is young-adult life and the stories he hears from William while on the job really give him perspective on the man he will become. The two tales mesh so well when reading Vincent’s current entries as he soaks in the memories of his Summer with William while giving him insight into the man who taught him so much – thus, guiding him towards understanding the decisions he has to make when it comes to his own son’s growth.

The World Played Chess is a compelling coming-of-age story that grips readers and breaks your heart – no matter the time period. Dugoni’s writing makes you wish you could hold William’s hand and give him strength. You see the wise-beyond-his-years maturity in young Vincent yet struggle when he lets the boy in him make bad decisions. You are also hopeful for Vincent’s son Beau as he sheds off his youth and begins to form the man he’ll grow to be thanks to the guidance of his good natured and supportive family. Hand this work of fiction to your parents or to your teen on the brink of adulthood. Whomever reads it will certainly be captivated.