Robert Löhr was born in Berlin and grew up there, as well as Bremen and Santa Barbara, California. He trained as a journalist at the Berlin School of Journalism, then worked for Sat. 1 News and for the Berlin daily papers Der Tagesspiegel, Berliner Zeitung and Taz. He then trained as a screenwriter at the German Film and Television Academy and after many years writing screenplays and plays, Robert Löhr decided to try his hand at a novel. The Secrets of the Chess Machine is his first.