Chess. Step by Step

A grand novel with a candid love story about the aging continent - Europe, barbaric tourism, the search for Caravaggio's masterpiece, and writing.
Having parted ways with his beloved woman, writer Ilya Leonard Pfeiffer arrives at the legendary grand hotel 'Europe', which has always allowed guests to immerse themselves in the atmosphere of the old continent. He wants to recreate a novel about lost love. But something is going wrong. The new owner of the hotel - an enterprising Chinese man - is literally changing 'Europe' before his eyes.
The writer looks with disgust at the crowds of tourists surrounding him. Impolite and ignorant, they travel kilometers along fashionable routes for another selfie, without understanding art and history at all.
Pfeiffer's chosen one, Clio, is the complete opposite. An art historian who has dedicated many years to Caravaggio's work, she is intelligent, temperamental, and desired. Not long ago, they came up with a difficult 'game' and set off in search of the artist's last painting. But unfortunately, their relationship ended, and now thousands of kilometers separate them.
Now Europe lives in the past. Pfeiffer sarcastically notices all the new changes in it, refusing to admit that he himself has not strayed far from its typical representatives, and cautiously contemplating the future.
Who is this book for
For readers of novels in which a significant role is given to reflections on history, generational change, and values.
For readers of late Thomas Mann, including novels in which writers are the main characters ('Death in Venice').
For those who want to travel through Italy following the main character, observing how the old continent is filled with crowds of tourists.