The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Hazelwood, Ali. Check & Mate. Penguin Random House, 2023.

At age sixteen, Mallory Greenleaf dreams of someday beating the top chess player in the world: Nolan Sawyer, age eighteen. Two years later, Mallory’s friend Easton asks Mallory to compete in a chess tournament for charity. Mallory reluctantly agrees, given that Easton is soon leaving for a college in Colorado while Mallory is staying behind in New York to work in a car garage. Mallory serves as a caregiver to her younger sisters, Sabrina and Darcy, as Mom has cancer and Dad is dead.

Mallory can hardly believe it when she beats Nolan Sawyer at the charity chess tournament. The next day, a woman named Defne shows up at her home to offer her a fellowship at her chess club, Zugzwang. Mallory takes a few days to accept and only does so to help alleviate her family’s financial straits. She decides to keep her chess playing a secret from her family, as Dad was a pro chess player and he did something to betray them.

At Zugzwang, Mallory spends her days studying chess alongside her taciturn office buddy, Oz. At a tournament in Philadelphia, Oz defends Mallory from the rude male players who objectify her. She is scheduled to play Nolan in the final match, but a player named Koch gets her disqualified on the grounds of her doodling on her scorecard. Nolan is furious, as he was hoping to play Mallory, but he manages to beat Koch.

The day after the tournament, Mallory is shocked to find Nolan on her doorstep. To her chagrin, Mom invites him inside to dinner. Nolan goes along with Mallory’s lie that they know each other from their work at a senior center. Afterwards, Nolan offers Mallory fifty thousand dollars to play chess with him. Mallory refuses. Back inside the house, Darcy confronts Mallory with her knowledge that Nolan is the top chess player in the world. Mallory begs Darcy to keep her chess playing a secret.

At Defne’s behest, Mallory travels to Toronto with Nolan and his friends Emil and Tanu to participate in the Chess Olympics. Nolan openly admits that Mallory is the only reason he signed up for the Olympics. Throughout the week, he takes care of her—especially when Mallory breaks down upon seeing Dad’s ex-lover, a chess arbiter.

At a party in Toronto, Mallory and Nolan play tic-tac-toe and ask each other questions. They discuss sex and relationships. Mallory becomes furious when Nolan tries to make her admit that she loves chess and is not just in it for the money.

Back in New York, a photo of Mallory and Nolan at the party goes viral. There is speculation about them being a couple. Mallory storms to Nolan’s apartment to confront him with the article but finds him horribly ill. She spends the day taking care of him, then ghosts him for a week. They reunite on the final day of the Challengers tournament, when Mallory loses to Koch. Nolan asks Mallory to be his second at the World Championship. Mallory accepts.

Mallory, Emil, and Tanu move into Nolan’s apartment to help him train. As they train together, Mallory and Nolan grow closer. They start hooking up. The couple attends Darcy’s birthday party together, and then share their family trauma with one another. Mallory reveals that Dad was an alcoholic and a cheater. He died in a drunk driving accident. Nolan tells her that his famous grandfather, the chess player Marcus Sawyer, became abusive when he developed dementia.

The next day, Koch releases a statement exposing Nolan as the sponsor of Mallory’s Zugzwang fellowship. Mallory feels betrayed by his secrecy and leaves his apartment. Once home, Mallory explodes at her family. They have a heart-to-heart. Mom tells Mallory she knows about her chess playing and that she need not feel ashamed of it. Mom asks Mallory to include her family more in her life.

Mallory brings her family to the World Championship in Italy. There, she is greeted by Easton, with whom she had grown distant once Easton left for college. The friends make up. Mallory avoids Nolan, but runs into him standing in front of a photo of his grandfather, Marcus. She apologizes for overreacting about the fellowship. They agree to get back together. The novel ends with the couple excitedly preparing to face each other. The epilogue resumes two years later and reveals that Mallory and Nolan live together and are still playing chess.