The Queen's Gambit

Eight year-old orphan Beth Harmon is quiet, sullen, and by all appearances unremarkable. That is until she plays her first game of chess. Her senses grow sharper, her thinking clearer, and for the first time in her life she feels herself fully in control. By the age of sixteen, shes competing for the U.S. Open championship. But as she hones her skills on the professional circuit, the stakes get higher, her isolation grows more frightening, and the thought of escape becomes all the more tempting. Engaging and fast-paced, The Queens Gambit speeds to a conclusion as elegant and satisfying as a mate in four.

"Ultimately, this is not really a novel about chess....It can be read with intense enjoyment by those who know nothing about the game, as long as they are interested in what it means to be human at the deepest levels." The Washington Post

"It's advisable to tape your fingers before opening The Queen's Gambit. Otherwise, the suspense may bring on nail-chewing right to the elbow." Houston Chronicle

"Tevis traps us in the breathless drama of the moment and makes us feel the same intense involvement his characters feel." The Cleveland Plain Dealer

"There's more excitement in Beth than in the collected works of Robert Ludlum." Forth Worth Star-Telegram

"One of the most satisfying novels of the year." St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"Compelling....A magnificent obsession." The Los Angeles Times

"The Queen's Gambit is sheer entertainment. It is a book I reread every few years — for the pure pleasure and skill of it." Michael Ondaatje, author of The English Patient and Anil's Ghost

Walter Tevis was an English literature professor at the University of Ohio. He is the author of seven books, including three that were the basis of major motion pictures: The Man Who Fell to Earth, The Hustler, and The Color of Money. His other books include Mockingbird, Far From Home, and The Steps of the Sun. He died in 1984.