Twelve stories, two minutes each.

Story 1 · 2 minute read Raja yang tak sanggup membayar Hadiah yang begitu kecil sampai raja tertawa — dan begitu besar sampai kerajaannya tak sanggup membayarnya. India, legenda yang sangat tua Story 2 · 2 minute read Empat pasukan dalam bala tentara Sebelum menjadi catur, namanya chaturanga — dan pasukan di papan itu adalah pasukan sungguhan. India Utara, sekitar 1,500 tahun lalu Story 3 · 2 minute read Puisi yang ternyata seekor kuda Seorang penyair menyembunyikan perjalanan kuda di dalam sebait puisi — dan itulah yang tertua yang kita ketahui. Kashmir, sekitar 1,100 tahun lalu Story 4 · 2 minute read Penasihat yang menjadi ratu Selama delapan ratus tahun, buah di samping raja adalah yang terlemah di papan. Lalu seseorang mengubah satu aturan. Spanyol dan Italia, sekitar tahun 1475 Story 5 · 3 minute read The champion who trusted his eyes He could not read the chess books. He beat the people who wrote them. Punjab and London, 1929 to 1933 Story 6 · 2 minute read The machine with a man inside It beat emperors at chess. It also had a secret. Vienna, 1770 Story 7 · 2 minute read The machine that counted Two hundred years after the fake, a real machine sat down against the world champion. New York, 1997 Story 8 · 2 minute read Ninety-two ways A question in a chess magazine that mathematicians could not leave alone. Germany, 1848 Story 9 · 2 minute read The first queen of chess She won the first women’s world championship — and then went looking for harder games. London, 1927 Story 10 · 3 minute read Three sisters and an experiment A teacher believed that champions are made, not born. He decided to prove it at home. Budapest, the 1970s and 1980s Story 11 · 2 minute read The clock with two faces Once, a player could think for as long as he liked. Then somebody lost patience. London, 1883 Story 12 · 2 minute read The boy who would not wait At eighteen he became the youngest world chess champion there has ever been. Chennai and Singapore, 2024