Reader, I am a terrible chess player. My father taught me the rudimentary rules, pieces and movements when I was a child, but honestIy I expect a cat could beat me with little trouble. So you can accept my view that I didn’t enjoy the show because of the chess. I enjoyed it because of its depictions of ambition, advantage, and self-sabotage and of its reminder of the most incredible thing about chess: that, for a time, a 64 square board was the epicentre of the Cold War struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union. While the vast majority of books about and featuring the game are written by men who have gained extensive opportunities, women’s voices are emerging and players of colour are increasingly winning opportunities to play in big leagues and small. I hope that in the near future, more players of colour, more women and more trans players, will be able to tell stories of their own. If you liked The Queen’s Gambit, you might like these books—whether you know your knight from your rook won’t matter.
Books Like The Queen’s Gambit
