{"id":648597,"date":"2026-03-30T03:33:25","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T03:33:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/lord-dunsanys-chess-variant-is-grim-and-kind-of-brilliant"},"modified":"2026-03-30T03:33:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T03:33:25","slug":"lord-dunsanys-chess-variant-is-grim-and-kind-of-brilliant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/lord-dunsanys-chess-variant-is-grim-and-kind-of-brilliant\/","title":{"rendered":"Lord Dunsany’s chess variant is grim and kind of brilliant"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\nI first read about Lord Dunsany – I am happy to report his full name was Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett – in a collection of Arthur C. Clarke’s non-fiction. In an early essay, Clarke describes going to see Dunsany, a beloved fantasy and science fiction author, when Clarke was young and Dunsany, who was born in 1878, was already getting on a bit. There is a moment in this essay that has stuck with me.\n<\/p>\n

\nClarke is getting one of his books signed. “I took with me a copy of his fantasy The Charwoman’s Shadow…which he duly autographed with a sweeping DUNSANY running right across the page; it was the only time I ever saw anyone use a quill pen and then sprinkle the result with fine sand to dry the ink.” That is wonderful, but re-reading the piece this morning I am delighted to see that Dunsany also corrected a mistake in the text. “‘The Country Towards Moon’s Rising’ was transformed into ‘The Country Beyond Moon’s Rising.'”\n<\/p>\n

\nI tried to get into Dunsany shortly after reading that. His books were hard to come by at the time and the only printings I could find were cheap and unpleasant – if Dunsany had tried to sign these, his autograph would have bled through from the first page to the last. But also this: Dunsany is a writer of serious whimsy – more on this in a bit – and serious whimsy is something you have to be in a certain mood to enjoy. <\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I first read about Lord Dunsany – I am happy to report his full name was Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett – in a collection of Arthur C. Clarke’s non-fiction. In an early essay, Clarke describes going to see Dunsany, a beloved fantasy and science fiction author, when Clarke was young and Dunsany, who was born in 1878, was already getting on a bit. There is a moment in this essay that has stuck with me. Clarke is getting one of his books signed. “I took with me a copy of his fantasy The Charwoman’s Shadow…which he duly autographed with a sweeping DUNSANY running right across the page; it was the only time I ever saw anyone use a quill pen and then sprinkle the…<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":648598,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[230],"tags":[79,53,516],"class_list":["post-648597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-eurogamer","tag-fantasy","tag-science-fiction","tag-strategy"],"yoast_head":"\nLord Dunsany's chess variant is grim and kind of brilliant | Arcader News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I first read about Lord Dunsany - I am happy to report his full name was Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett - in a collection of Arthur C. 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