TEHRAN – A Serbian translation of “Chess with the Doomsday Machine” (“Partija šaha s Mašinom sudnjeg dana”), Habib Ahmadzadeh’s Persian novel on the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, was offered at the 63rd Belgrade International Book Fair, which is currently underway in the Serbian capital. 

Aleksandar Dragovic is the translator of the book, which has been published by the Serbian publishing house Geopoetika under the auspices of Iran’s Islamic Culture and Relations Organization, the Iran Cultural Fairs Institute announced on Tuesday.

“Chess with the Doomsday Machine” is set in Ahmadzadeh’s native Abadan, a city located on an island near the Persian Gulf. 

Because of its strategic importance to the Iranian petroleum industry, Abadan was the target of heavy bombardments during the early stages of the conflict. The novel paints a striking tableau of a city under siege. 

The book has been translated into English by U.S. translator Paul Sprachman.

A Russian translation of “Chess with the Doomsday Machine” was also unveiled at the Biblio-Globus Book Store in Moscow in October 2015.

In addition, the Ibn Roshd Publishing House, an Egyptian publishing company, acquired the rights to the novel this year in June.

Photo: Front cover of the Serbian version of Iranian writer Habib Ahmadzadeh’s war novel “Chess with the Doomsday Machine”.

MMS/YAW