The World Played Chess

The World Played Chess by Robert Dugoni was published in 2021 by Lake Union Publishing. Robert Dugoni is a New York Times best-selling author of 23 novels, including the popular mystery-thriller Sloane series and the Tracy Crosswhite series.

The World Played Chess is a coming-of-age novel told through two perspectives: William Goodman’s journal from 1968 and Vincent Bianco’s experiences in 1979 and as an adult and father. These perspectives explore the psychology and history of masculinity.

Content Warning: The source text includes depictions of drug and alcohol misuse, post-traumatic stress disorder, and wartime atrocities.

Plot Summary

During the summer of 1979, after he graduates from high school, Vincent Bianco takes on a construction job to help pay for college. That summer he also develops a friendship with William Goodman, a 30-year-old Vietnam War veteran who shares his story with Vincent and teaches Vincent how to think about his responsibilities as a man.

Decades later, Vincent receives an unexpected parcel in the mail. William has sent Vincent the diary William kept in 1968, the year he served in Vietnam. Vincent reads the diary to revisit his own memories of the summer of 1979, to find new perspective on his life, and to think of ways to help his son Beau, a senior in high school whose best friend dies in a drunk-driving accident.

William’s journal entries, Vincent’s current adult life, and Vincent’s memories of 1979 intertwine in a three-tiered narrative.

In 1968, William is 18 years old; he joins the military and is quickly sent to Vietnam. Before he leaves, his mother gives him a gold crucifix chain and tells him not to be a hero. William passes his military tests with flying colors and is given his choice of jobs. He’s always been interested in photography and journalism, so he signs on to be a photographer for the Marines. When he arrives in Vietnam, he discovers that being a photojournalist in the Vietnam War still necessitates holding and using a gun. William is immediately put into action, and on his very first night, the young soldier on guard duty with him is killed. Over the next few months, William is oppressed by the heat, repeatedly traumatized by watching his fellow soldiers die horribly violent deaths, and becomes disillusioned by the US narrative of its role in Vietnam. He does his job as asked, and he does it well. He quickly learns that in order to survive, he must sacrifice his prewar values and moral codes and be prepared to kill with impunity. While in Vietnam, he keeps a journal about all the atrocities he witnesses and is a part of.

In 1979, Vincent graduates from high school and needs a summer job to help pay for college. His sister’s boyfriend helps arrange a job for him on a construction site, where there happens to be working, along with Todd, another veteran of the Vietnam War. Vincent works hard to prove himself as capable of the difficult construction work as they are. He wants to be seen as a man and not as a boy. As he and William work together, they become closer. William, who has been home from the Vietnam War for nearly 10 years tells Vincent about the horrific experiences he endured in the war. Awed by these stories, Vincent learns about mortality, tragedy, the opportunity of youth, the value of life, and what it means to be a man.

In 2015, Vincent is an adult lawyer, married, with teenage children. He receives a package from William, whom he hasn’t seen since 1979. The package contains William’s Vietnam War journal. Vincent starts reading it, slowly, as the contents of the journal are difficult to process. Meanwhile, Vincent’s son, Beau, is a senior in high school and is experiencing some of the growing pains of adolescence that Vincent recalls having experienced himself. When Beau’s best friend, Chris, dies in a drunk-driving accident, Vincent relies on William’s stories and life lessons to help Beau through his grief. He also supports Beau as Beau starts the journey into adulthood by making his own decisions about what his future will be like.

Though full of tragedy, William’s journal does not contain an important story he had recounted to Vincent in 1979. Just before William left Vietnam, his best friend in the war, a man named Cruz, died valiantly saving other American soldiers. At the time of the telling, Vincent believed that William’s recent weight loss, reliance on alcohol and drugs, proclivity for violence, and moroseness stemmed from guilt that he survived the war and Cruz did not.

In 2017, Vincent decides to look up William. He finds his address in Seattle and travels there to pay him a surprise visit. In the years since 1979, the Veteran’s Association helped William get sober and address his post-traumatic stress disorder. William eventually became a drug counselor for the VA, got married, and lived a happy life until his wife died. He recently sold their house and started a solo RV trip around the country. Thus, when Vincent arrives, William has already gone, but he has left a package with his realtor to send to Vincent, and when Vincent runs into her by chance, she gives him the package, which contains his Vietnam War journal and a letter. In the letter, William tells Vincent that he wants to be honest, and he goes on to explain that after Cruz’s death, he murdered a Vietnamese child as the child was going about his normal day. This is the real reason why William was so haunted by his time in the Vietnam War. Though he still thinks of that little boy, time and therapy have helped him cope with his guilt and his grief.

Vincent is happy that William found happiness in life. Returning from the war had not been easy—not for William and not for many other veterans who served in the Vietnam War. Vincent is grateful for the life lessons William passed down to him, as they have made Vincent a better man and a better father.