The Russian world chess champion Alexander Alekhine was found dead in a hotel room in Estoril, Portugal in 1946. The post-mortem report claimed that he choked on a piece of meat while eating dinner in the room. But is this the truth? Alekhine was a wanted man. He was on Soviet hit lists after the war due to his collaboration with the Germans. He played in well-paid chess tournaments in Germany from 1940–43 and allowed himself to be used in Nazi propaganda. The suspicion that he was killed and that the post-mortem report was falsified has intensified as the years have passed.

In this novel, we meet Alekhine in another town that could be Estoril but could also be the mid-sized city of Drammen half an hour south of Oslo. Over the course of the day or so in which the action takes place, we encounter him penniless and intoxicated in a cheap hostel room and walking around as he recollects various events from his life and career. He decides to eat one last meal and commit suicide.

But an encounter with a Norwegian chess player will change everything.