Bernard Werber was the guest of this 1 p.m. news. He came to discuss his new novel and his relationship to board chess.
Her new novel has just been released. It is called “The Diagonal of the Queens”. The story sheds light on the destinies of two women that everything opposes. From childhood, their ways of playing chess are drastically different; one plays with pawns while the other favors large pieces, such as the Queen.
“It corresponds to two concepts: do we rather play the people or do we rather play the geniuses who stand out from the people?, asks Bernard Weber live. The story of these women develops until one leads the American secret services and the other those of the Russians. “One will defend individualism and the other collectivism”he adds.
Alone or together?
“There is a phrase that says “Alone we go faster, together we go further”. I believe that there are times when it is better to be alone and others when it is better to function in a group. Me, I’m closer to the character of Monique, the one who works alone, quite simply because my job as a writer leads me to stay like a monk, hours and hours, in front of the computer”he explains.
He also confides that the crowd, especially during football matches, terrifies him: “People who are grouped together screaming together, going in and out of these spaces… It’s something that I find scary. (…) I think we have reached a time when the crowd has taken on much more importance than the individual and it is a real debate”.
He insists: “There is a position to be found: are we better off alone? Do we need others? Aren’t the others somewhere a danger?”.
“Chess is a key to understanding what is happening in Ukraine”
According to Bernard Weber, “What is currently happening in Ukraine perfectly describes what is happening in the book: a game of chess”.
He then recounts the game he played against Karpov, a former member of the KGB. A moment that marked him deeply: “He’s a guy who exudes incredible destructive energy. I know he is very good friends with Putin, who is also a chess player. I believe that chess is a key to understanding what is happening in Ukraine”.