One of Tony Dyce's friends is viciously maimed by a gang of international crooks in the first move by them to obtain the second half of an antique Chinese chess set, which when complete gives the location of one of the hoards of Nazi gold. After years spent trying to decipher the clues from their half set, without success, the pieces have for maximum security been spread around among the ex-SAS soldiers. Their peaceful civilian equilibrium is destroyed and their lives are at stake, along with the chess pieces, as the crooks go to extreme lengths to achieve their aim.