Checkmate: Genius, Lies, Ambition, and the Biggest Scandal in Chess
Mezrich is always on the lookout for the next big film adaptation. He makes this explicit in his latest book ... This may help to explain why Checkmate reads more like a screenplay than a work of nonfiction ... Though Mezrich does not consider himself a journalist, he has done some excellent reporting. This is a particularly noteworthy accomplishment when it comes to Niemann, who is clearly a difficult and irascible subject ... Mezrich often speculates when conjuring scenes, based on what the players in the drama told him, and these re-creations are often deft and insightful. Unfortunately, the subject at the heart of the story — chess — is not one that the author knows well, and in those sections of the book where he tries to explain the events of individual games, he can go wildly astray ... There are also errors in the book that have nothing to do with understanding chess ... Mezrich is good at telling a story and in Checkmate he has a good one. The characters are compelling, the events dramatic and occasionally absurd. But in trying to achieve his goal of seeing it on a big screen, he has hustled it into print too quickly.
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Capitalizes on the game’s dramatic possibilities. It includes many of the genre’s customary tropes, including intergenerational conflict, suspenseful showdowns, and self-absorbed, eccentric players for whom character may turn out to be destiny ... Mezrich...knows how to write a scene, build character and construct a zippy read. His extensive reporting for Checkmate, including the cooperation of its principals, gives the book a page-turning intimacy ... For all Mr. Mezrich’s efforts, however, his account of what he terms 'the biggest scandal in chess' remains unsatisfying. At its core is a mystery—of what exactly happened at Sinquefield—that not even this well-sourced author can solve. In part for that reason, his narrative gradually comes to seem padded and repetitive. The general unlikability of his characters—odd ducks motivated by ego, profit or both—doesn’t help ... Checkmate ends, metaphorically speaking, in a frustrating draw.
Mezrich pieces together interviews and extensive research with cinematic flair to create an enticing and entertaining story of burgeoning egos fighting for supremacy and legitimacy in a game that has fascinated players and enthusiasts for over 1,500 years.
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