Checkmate (Noughts and Crosses, 3)

Product Information

His movements, when he touches the pieces, are precise, economical, strong. I hate myself for noticing that.’ I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, it’s so hard to review books in a series. I’m not one for spoilers, so I try to really make it obvious if there’s going to be a spoiler. The trouble with this series is that it’s so damn good I want to speak about it, but I would HATE to spoil it for others. So, as per usual with this series, I’m going to be wonderfully vague. (I apologise!) ughh the souls of these main characters are cosmically intertwined and are forever bound to be with one another in any universe‼️ When the king moves close to the rook, it must move to the other side of the king, as far away as possible.

Notice how pawns are not on the list. Because they can be promoted into any other piece, they are not considered in the insufficient mating material equation. he leans forward, obviously charmed by this young man who's built like an athlete, thinks like a theoretical physicist, and has the net worth of a silicon valley entrepreneur. an unusual, handsome prodigy who won't admit to being special. Some of the patterns are common but are somehow not covered in most of the other articles, books, or learning resources. I’ve added them here and named them too

Select a format:

why not add in more than science? sprinkle some computor coders, they deserve a love story because coding is hard, add some teachnology, people discovering ai, mathematics is always fun (said no one but me ever) that would always be so fun to look at. When I’m with you, Mallory, everything is different. When I’m with you, I want to play more than I want to win.” Modern Chess Strategy, written by Ludek Pachman is one of the top books in chess. Books For Players Below 800 Well, yea, so this book does a complete gender role reversal with that concept and I kind of love it for that.

Despite loving the initial dynamic between these two, I do have to say that I would have loved to see more depth and development in their relationship. I thought it was very endearing that Sawyer fell in love with Mallory’s chess game first, but I did want to see why his feelings changed beyond that eventually. I don’t think we really got that, which is a shame. I mean, chess is fun and all, but I think you need more than just that to create a functional and meaningful relationship. But hey, maybe I just don’t get it because I’m not smart enough to have chess orgasms or whatever. Ah, where did this series go so wrong? I just feel like the direction of the story has taken such a sharp turn from Noughts and Crosses, it’s completely not even the same story and I’m so disappointed. It’s lost all of its momentum; I feel like the dystopian and unjust society they live in isn’t even a focal point of the story and has just been pushed aside for some really weak relationships ‘development’. I can’t even begin to express how sad I was reading this book. The series had so much potential but it really should’ve been a standalone, or the first book should’ve been the basis for a more dragged out story. Sigh. But, did this book have Nolan Sawyer, the number one chess player in the world at only twenty years old, who was rich, the quiet and intimidating one who was obsessed with the heroine and was able to do anything for her. Yes. Nolan Sawyer, my new type and dream man? Yes, yes and yes. Mallory gets an internship at a chess club and wants to decline, but it’s paid and she can’t pass up the money. Along with the tournament winnings etc. Things seem good, even though she’s keeping all this from her family (mom and two younger sisters) but then there is Nolan Sawyer. Chess Middlegames written by Laszlo Polgar is tailored for seasoned players that are close to becoming a Chess master. It contains a colossal 4158 positions that are categorized into separate themes. Such as the 168 positions of just isolated Queen pawn positions.Mallory Greenleaf would be fine with never playing chess again. She was really, really good but quit playing around 14. Now she’s 18 and supporting her family by working as a mechanic. Her best friend has her join in on a tournament and she not only wins, but beats the number one player in the world (yes, world). numer two: instead of enemies lets have academic rivals, the begruding respect but wanting to be better the tension😍 oh its so perfect, and lets say they are in collage/university (whatever you call it) and lets have them be in a really hard degree like mathematics or enginering or biochemistry. And they both have academic validation so they NEED to get top scores and be at the top of the class and its one or the other one week is him then its her ugh iconic. THEN they get paired up together for an assessment that is like half there grade and its SUPER important and so they have to work together on a engineering project/mathmatical problem/ biochemistry reaserch paper. and slowly they get to know eachother more than just this person i need to beat and they fall in love, and while in that relationship they still have that respectful rivaly and banter we all love Nolan Sawyer is a nine-foot-tall, large-handed, grumpy, and temperamental nepo baby. I’m kidding, only half of that is true. At least, that’s what Ali Hazelwood wrote, when she decided to mention his HEIGHT and his HANDS way more than needed. The amount of times she had to reinforce how tall he was and how large his hands were like omg please stop 😭 There are a few combinations to leave the chessboard with insufficient mating material. The best examples are: if you are the burnt out older sibling, this book is for you 🫵🏽 mallory is such a relatable character. at some points i was asking myself “is the author writing for me? or about ME?!” ⁉️

Mammoth Book of Chess by Graham Burgess is a giant book that’s great for intermediate players. The information is clearly explained and laid out while also being easy to digest. Books For Advanced Players (Above 1800) Learn Chess by John Nunn. This is a second option along with the recommendation above. Learn Chess is a great introduction to the game of Chess for complete beginners. In this clever and swoonworthy YA debut from the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis, life's moving pieces bring rival chess players together in a match for the heart. Growing up dual heritage in a world where bitter prejudice divides Noughts and Crosses has meant she's an outsider wherever she turns.

not particularly good, not horrible. just average. middling, if you will. but you know what — i enjoyed it. the only other book i’ve read by ali hazelwood is the love hypothesis, which i liked but found especially forgettable. the characters were flat and didn’t have much personality, the ethics of the relationship were questionable, the smut was truly some of the worst i have ever read, etc. If a player offers a draw and their opponent accepts, it is a draw no matter what the position is. Some players would rather offer a draw than mess up a complicated position. Gata Kamsky – Chess Gamer Volume 1: Awakening 1989-1996 by Gata Kamsky. Volume 1 and Volume 2 listed below, are great books for advanced players around 2300 and up. This is faster than the staircase method, and sometimes easier to pull off if there are more pieces on the board. Why would you keep something that makes you think of me?” I feel him shrug. “Because I think of you anyway, Mallory.”