Hazelwood, Ali. Check & Mate. G. P. Putnam, 11/2023. 368pp. Fiction. PLB $22.99. 978-0-593-69844-0. Paper $14.00. 978-0-593-61991-9. GRADES 10–12. OUTSTANDING.
STEMinist romcom author Hazelwood successfully shifts into YA territory with this appealing romance set in the world of international chess. At fourteen, Mallory Greenleaf was a chess prodigy, but when her father left, she felt responsible and abandoned chess to look after her sick mother and two younger sisters. Four years later, Mallory is working as an auto mechanic but fate intervenes to bring her back to chess and she beats world champion, and broad-shouldered hottie, Nolan Sawyer, in a tournament. Driven by both her love of winning and her self-imposed obligations, Mallory continues to compete, and finds herself increasingly attracted to Nolan. Though Mallory is both bisexual and sex positive, her father’s departure has left her unprepared for a committed relationship. The author does a terrific job of explaining chess and chess tournaments as well as showing how sexist that world can be. While Mallory falls into the trope of teen-girl-blaming-herself-for-everything, she is a strong, thoughtful, and well-developed character (all characters present as white). A smart, witty, and youthful update of Walter Tevis’s The Queen’s Gambit (Random House, 1983).
Hayley Beale—SF University High School