Starmasters' Gambit — C.J. Richards

He was thirty-two years old. His name was Jerg Algan. He had done little but kill time on Earth, with no purpose. Then, one day, he was forced to leave the cradle of humanity and travel to the furthest reaches of space, to a strange planet where lay vast black citadels, like gigantic chess pieces erected on the squares of an unimaginable board... And Jerg Algan embarked upon the final phase of his journey: the starmasters' gambit... Gérard Klein is a distinguished economist and one of France's best science fiction writers. He also edited the prestigious science fiction imprint, Ailleurs et Demain, for 40 years. Foreword by Robert Silverberg.