Netflix’s most watched limited series to date! The thrilling novel of one young woman’s journey through the worlds of chess and drug addiction.​ When eight-year-old Beth Harmon’s parents are killed in an automobile accident, she’s placed in an orphanage in Mount Sterling, Kentucky. Plain and shy, Beth learns to play chess from the janitor in the basement and discovers she is a prodigy. Though penniless, she is desperate to learn more—and steals a chess magazine and enough money to enter a tournament. Beth also steals some of her foster mother’s tranquilizers to which she is becoming addicted. At thirteen, Beth wins the chess tournament. By the age of sixteen she is competing in the US Open Championship and, like Fast Eddie in The Hustler, she hates to lose. By eighteen she is the US champion—and Russia awaits . . . Fast-paced and elegantly written, The Queen’s Gambit is a thriller masquerading as a chess novel—one that’s sure to keep you on the edge of your seat. “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, Man Booker Prize–winning author of The English Patient

Chess Explained books are not theoretical works in the traditional sense, but more a series of lessons from a chess expert with extensive over-the-board experience with an opening. You will gain an understanding of the opening and the middlegames to which it leads, enabling you to find the right moves and plans in your own games. It is as if you were sitting at the board with a chess coach answering your questions about the plans for both sides, the ideas behind particular moves, and what specific knowledge you need to have. The Queen's Gambit Declined is one of the most important and popular of chess openings. While an immensely solid and classical choice for Black, it has remained highly topical for more than a century. Both sides have ways to create imbalance and test their opponent's skills and knowledge in a full-blooded struggle. Most of the World Champions have taken both sides of the QGD, with Spassky and Karpov especially notable defenders of Black's cause. In addition to the traditional main lines with Bg5, White has at his disposal the Exchange Variation, and the Bf4 system, both of which can be handled in highly aggressive style if he wishes. Rizzitano covers all these lines and a plethora of other important lines, focusing on the fundamental ideas on which they are based.

Spring, 1897. London. Margaret Harkness, now in her early forties, must leave England for her health but lacks the funds. A letter arrives from her old friend Professor Bell, her old comrade in the hunt for Jack the Ripper and the real-life inspiration for Sherlock Homes. Bell invites her to join him in Germany on a mysterious mission for the German government involving the loss of state secrets to Anarchists. The resolution of this commission leads to her being stalked through the streets of London by a vengeful man armed with a powerful and nearly silent air rifle who has both Margaret and Queen Victoria in his sights. Margaret finds allies in Inspector James Ethington of Scotland Yard and his fifteen-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, who aspires to follow in Margaret's cross-dressing footsteps. The hunt is on, but who is the hunter, and who the hunted as the day approaches for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee when the aged empress will sit in her open carriage at the steps of St Paul's Cathedral? The entire British Empire holds its breath as the assassin, Margaret, and the Queen herself play for the highest of stakes with the Queen's Gambit.

"THE RULES OF WAR HAD BEEN CHANGED. QUEEN ELEANOR WANTED TO KNOW WHY."Eleanor, the young queen of Aemogen, is confronted with the greatest threat her country has ever faced: surrender Aemogen's sovereignty to the treacherous Imirillian Empire or endure a devastating and impossible war. Now she must decide if she will forfeit her people's liberty or fight. When Wil Traveler, the disenchanted Imirillian soldier, wanders into her country, Eleanor takes the gamble of asking him to train her ill-prepared men for war, despite suspecting he may be a spy. Battling questions of war and conquest, Eleanor fights to protect her people as Wil challenges her way of life, all the while keeping the secrets of his violent past a mystery.

A tale inspired by the life of Henry VIII's sixth wife follows her reluctant marriage to the egotistical and powerful king in spite of her love for Thomas Seymour, a situation that compels her to make careful choices in a treacherous court.

When the Quint Confederacy and the Kos Empire went to war—again—Queen Samara wisely kept her Rogue Coalition out of the conflict. But staying neutral in a galactic war doesn’t pay the bills, not when both sides refuse to trade with neutral sectors.. With her people on the brink of starvation, Samara hatches a daring plan to snatch the kidnapped Kos Emperor from the Quint mercenaries holding him. The Kos Empire will pay a fortune for their emperor’s return, enough to feed the Coalition’s citizens while they wait for the return to a begrudging peace. But when her plan goes sideways, Samara finds herself evading Quint mercenaries with the very man she intends to capture. And the more time she spends with Valentin Kos, the more she realizes that he’s not the coldly indifferent villain she imagined. Torn between duty and desire, Samara must decide if saving her people is worth giving up the one thing she’s always wanted.

Grandmaster Damian Lemos presents a repertoire for White in the Queen’s Gambit, one of the most famous chess openings. The Queen’s Gambit enjoys a long and illustrious past. It has been played by virtually all the strongest grandmasters in the history of chess, and today it remains a popular choice for players of all levels. White’s opening moves in the Queen’s Gambit are built on sound strategic principles, and it can lead to positions rich in both tactical and positional play. It’s a perfect opening to use in order to develop your chess understanding. It’s a perfect opening to use in order to develop your chess understanding. There are many defences that Black can employ against the Queen’s Gambit and it’s easy to become confused by the countless options for both White and Black. Lemos tackles this problem by providing a concise, easy-to-learn and practical repertoire that is suitable for players of all levels. Using illustrative games, Lemos examines the typical tactics and strategies for both sides, and highlights the key move order issues. This book tells you everything you need to know about playing the Queen’s Gambit. * A complete repertoire with 1 d4 d5 2 c4 * Over 50 games with grandmaster analysis * Written by a Queen’s Gambit expert

Engineering a living chess game consisting of members of the royal court for Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan, Leonardo da Vinci's triumph is marred by the murder of one of the chess "pieces," and he is caught up in court intrigue when he investigates t

“If Hemingway had the passion for pool that he had for bullfighting, his hero might have been Eddie Felson” (Time). The novel that inspired the classic film starring Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason, The Hustler tells the story of Fast Eddie Felson, a young pool player who hustles suckers in small towns, looking for stake money so he can reach his goal: a marathon match in Chicago against Minnesota Fats. An exploration of guts, stamina, and character, and of the difference between winners and losers, this tense, gritty tale is “a wonderful hymn to the last true era when men of substance played pool with a vengeance” (Time Out).