Book Review

The Sponsor Returns for More Chess and Mayhem

Fred Das and Jeroen Terlingen, authors of The Sponsor: Murder at the North Sea Chess Tournament, teamed up again for The Sponsor Part II: The Marostica Chess Festival Under Attack. The first Sponsor book was published in 2024 and the second was published in 2026. I hope for a third Sponsor book in 2028. More 🡢

The Chess World of Ben Mezrich

Mezrich invented a world championship match and gave a well-known arbiter a new last name. His book is not an accurate portrayal of the chess world. But it is a rollicking read which is slated to become a Hollywood motion picture. More 🡢

Overlooking Chess’s Past While Chronicling Its Present

Five of the first six chapters of INTERREGNUM: Inside the Grueling and Glamorous Battle to Become the Next King of Chess (Pegasus Books – April 21st, 2026) track players’ paths to, and results in, the 2024 Candidates Tournament in Toronto. Since author Jordan Himelfarb is a managing editor of the Toronto Star, one of North America’s largest newspapers, he is well positioned to report on that tournament. More 🡢

GM Jan Timman’s Last Book

Grandmaster Jan Timman’s final masterpiece, *Timman’s Studies*, celebrates his legacy through brilliant endgame compositions and timeless chess insight. More 🡢

Bobby Fischer’s Chess Queen: A Review

On January 14, 2026, New In Chess published Bobby Fischer’s Chess Queen: The untold story of the Indian woman who captured the American World Champion’s heart. Its author is Woman International Master Shernaz Kennedy. Her memoi.r is a quick and entertaining read More 🡢

George H. Mackenzie: One of the Old Masters

According to his biographer John S. Hilbert, George H. Mackenzie was universally loved during his lifetime but utterly forgotten after his death. “George H. Mackenzie: A Chess Biography” presents Mackenzie’s games and stories about his life and times. More 🡢

Dark Squares: How Chess Saved My Life (book review)

IM Danny Rensch’s memoir Dark Squares: How Chess Saved My Life is, as suggested by its title, dark. He suffered from hunger, parental abandonment, and lack of health care, with the last almost costing him his hearing. Playing chess as one of the top young masters in the United States gave him opportunities to travel and to see families living normal lives. More 🡢

A Paul Morphy book and the 2025 Chess Journalists of America Awards

The Real Paul Morphy: His Life and Chess Games by FIDE Master Charles Hertan relies on past Morphy scholarship, especially David Lawson’s Paul Morphy: The Pride and Sorrow of Chess. Hertan promises three innovations in his book. First, Hertan takes a fresh look at Paul Morphy’s games, thanks to Fritz 18. The Elo rating of […] More 🡢