Rebel Queen: The Cold War, Misogyny, and the Making of a Grandmaster

Decorated chess player Polgar offers a granular, behind-the-scenes look at her path to success in this illuminating if somewhat narrowly focused memoir. Polgar was born in Hungary in 1969. Her father, László, harbored a longstanding obsession with genius, and he decided to home-school Polgar in a single subject in an attempt to make her one. She rapidly developed into a chess expert, claiming the title of top-ranked woman in the world by age 15. Still, she faced prejudice: though Polgar qualified, in 1986, for the Men’s World Championship, she was barred from participating, and the International Chess Federation allotted extra points to “every female player on the planet” except her, due to her alleged advantage from having played against so many men. Still, Polgar became the first-ever woman to earn the grandmaster title, and the only player of any gender to win the chess triple crown. Though Polgar sticks mostly to her chess career, she also touches on motherhood, her two marriages, and her establishment of chess schools in the United States. Chess lovers will be inspired. Agent: David Vigliano, Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary. (Mar.)