Rating: 
Summary: enjoyable but tough for non-chess players
Review: A great mystery by a great Spanish writer...The tough part: the chess moves....I actually dropped the book until I taught myself to play chess...then it was much better to follow... just a warning...But, you'll get hooked on this author...
Rating: 
Summary: Club Dumas is much better
Review: I was a bit disappointed with this book. It started off promisingly enough, with the "mystery in the painting theme", but once the focus moved to the "chess game", it lost steam fast. Some reviewers have complained about the chess emphasis, on the grounds they really didn't have enough background to follow it. Coming from the other side, i.e. I do play chess, I found much of the chess aspects to be at best annoying, and at worst, ridiculous. The game itself is almost an impossible position, and the "moves" are ludicrous. All the chess "experts" in the book have no clue on how to play chess whatsover and would constantly make laughable judgements about chess in general, and the game in particular. Now granted, the emphasis of the book is not to be an accurate representation of chess, but rather a mystery. But can you imagine writing a book where baseball is the central theme, and basically not knowing much about it, but then pontificating in your writing to the point of annoying anyone who understands or has played the game? I guess I got to the point where I was so annoyed about the chess aspect, I just wanted the book to be over, and didn't care who the murderer was. And given the fact that I was thoroughly enjoying the first few chapters, that is a sorry way to end things...
Rating: 
Summary: Not the best, but still a good read
Review: After having read the "Club Dumas" without having been able to put it down, I compulsively reached for the Flanders Panel. It is also a very well written, enjoyable book to read. Perez-Reverte's style is not presumptuous, and at the same time, filled with rich details woven into a great plot line and real characters. However, the detailed representations of the chess game may make it a difficult read for some. If you don't enjoy the game analysis (for the author actually employs diagrams and move lists), I suggest you skip those sections. The story will still make sense, although a lot of the symbolism will be lost. If you enjoy the game, by all means, read this book. I had not played in a long time, but the book made me dust off my chess set. Perez-Reverte succeeds in bringing the game, and a murder plot symbolized in the chess pieces, to life like the "Flanders Panel" brought the depicted scene to life with its realism.
Rating:
Summary: An uninspired effort from the Author of "Club Dumas"
Review: I read "Club Dumas" after randomly picking it up from a shelf in a bookstore, and have been reading other Arturo Perez-Reverte's books hoping for a repeat. This definitely was not it. In general, this is not a bad effort, but when the mystery of the painting is revealed well before the end, the story gets less and less interesting. I was very disappointed with the ending and characters were not at all inspiring or particularly engaging, with the exception of the Chess Player, perhaps. There also seemed to be some confusion in author's head between Flemish and Dutch painting styles of the period as well as other art history inaccuracies. Those certainly detracted from the credibility of characters in the book as well as the author's. I found this to be an O.K. way to spend a few hours, but not in the same league as either Mr. Perez' own "Club Dumas" nor "Headlong" by Michael Frayn.
Rating:
Summary: The Finale Falls Flat
Review: Endings matter. Whether it's a novel, a love affair, or a game of chess, the whole tends to be colored by the denouement. Bungle the finale and you have to question the value of the entire enterprise. The end of "The Flanders Panel" is forced, shabby, and crude, which is a real shame because it's such a good novel otherwise. It has sympathetic, fully realized characters in a skillfully developed plot. Fascinating details of art history are embedded in the story, and the use of chess as the key to one of the crucial plot elements was an inspired move. So, if you can stomach a sloppy finish, then by all means read this book. You might even enjoy it enough to forget the ending.
Rating: 
Summary: If you like chess and suspense ...
Review: ... then this book is for you. I used it much to my advantage a few years back as some of you may know. BTW, there is no problem with the chess "puzzle" as claimed by other reviewers (who seem to be parroting something they heard elsewhere). Just a great book!
Rating:
Summary: A good weekend read
Review: The ending of this novel left a little to be desired, and at times the plot seemed contrived. This would make a good summer or vaction read for any mystery novel fan who enjoys chess and logic.
Rating:
Summary: What A FUN Read!
Review: What a great read. Mr. Perez-Reverte is great writer. His discriptions of the printing are so vivid that I had to remind myself that I had never seen The Game of Chess. The author applies this discriptive manner to the whole book, so that you feel as if you are the forth "wall" in the story. A real feeling that you are there watching everthing. I would highly recommend this book. I was a little shy about reading a book that has been traslated from its original langauage. Don't let this put you off, Ms. Costa has done a wonderful job. I am Now sorry that I didn't start reading Mr. Perez-Reverte sooner. I can't wait to read his other books. I sure that they are a treat too. No one this good can do only one good book. You don't have to be a history buff to enjoy this book. It is a great telling of a very fun story.
Rating: 
Summary: Thin plot, shallow research
Review: A centuries-old murder mystery in which the only clues are offered by an enigmatic chess game in a Dutch painting -- a promising premise, but the execution is sadly lacking. The course of the mystery is unsatisfying and inconsistent, so that it does not pay to read this book for the suspense. In addition, the characters are entirely flat and predictable, except when some supreme act of irrationality is required in order to move the plot along, so you also need not buy this book for the sake of the drama. Finally, while I cannot comment on the author's grasp of art history, anyone who has ever read a chess book can tell that Mr. Perez-Reverte has not, and therefore I cannot recommend this book as a source of edification. However, I must admit that this novel serves quite admirably as a doorstop.
Rating:
Summary: Mystery within mystery
Review: I am a great fan of Arturo Perez-Reverte, and this book does not disappoint. The main characters - the frustrated art restorer who lives on caffeine and nicotine, the middle-aged gay friend who still maintains an aura of intellectuality and manages to seduce the young boys, the female art dealer of a certain age who keep male comany with her American Express card, the lonly chess player who is shy but ultimately the most intelligent individual - they are all drawn in loving detail. Like the fifteenth century flemish painting that starts the action in this book, Arturo manages to paint all the details so they sparkle in the light from the main story. The story is a wonderful convoluted mystery-within-a-mystery narrative of the type that Arturo does so well. I could not help but to be drawn in to the mystery: I was guessing and deducing along with all the charaters in the book. Some of the auxiliary charaters are sketched with less care. They appear stereotyped and for this I have deducted one star in the rating. However, it is like a great painting with a poor frame: of course it detracts from the overall experience, but the painting is still a masterpiece.
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