Murder at the Chessboard
Murder at the Chessboard

Author: Mark Hess

Publisher:

Published: 2021-06-19

Total Pages: 316

ISBN-13:

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This is a perfect opportunity to pit your wits against this tangle of a mystery. Seven people are trapped in a lonely mansion at the top of a mountain where a private detective races to identify the killer before no one is left alive. The weather is brewing into a late winter snowstorm and the drive down the mountain is dangerous. Complicating the dilemma, there is no cell phone connection or any way to contact anyone for help. The situation turns serious after they learn the gates are closed and locked. The killer has them perfectly trapped. No is permitted to leave until the end of the three day weekend. Meanwhile a childhood romance is about to rekindle, as a rich relative promises to reveal which guest will be granted a prize. The detective is disturbed to realize things are not what they seem when teams are formed to search for the promised treasure. Detective Joe O'Conner wonders how far greed will take this odd group, his dubious playmates of childhood. He will need all his training, experience and instinct to solve this case, but a friend wonders if a bad case of love will keep him too distracted to be effective. This cozy mystery will delight any amateur sleuth with the twists and turns of the story, until at the end, all are confronted by a startling exposure. What is the real meaning of a collection of chess sets? Which clues will bring the answer before disaster hits?

Murder at the Chessboard
Murder at the Chessboard

Author: P. T. Houdunitz

Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal Pub

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 9781579121624

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Compiles puzzles that require deductive reasoning as readers must analyze the clues, alibis, and testimonies presented to solve mysteries including "Death of a Con Man", "Halloween Horror", and "Gunfight at the OK Motel".

The Devil's Chessboard
The Devil's Chessboard

Author: David Talbot

Publisher: HarperCollins

Published: 2015-10-13

Total Pages: 418

ISBN-13: 0062276212

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An explosive, headline-making portrait of Allen Dulles, the man who transformed the CIA into the most powerful—and secretive—colossus in Washington, from the founder of Salon.com and author of the New York Times bestseller Brothers. America’s greatest untold story: the United States’ rise to world dominance under the guile of Allen Welsh Dulles, the longest-serving director of the CIA. Drawing on revelatory new materials—including newly discovered U.S. government documents, U.S. and European intelligence sources, the personal correspondence and journals of Allen Dulles’s wife and mistress, and exclusive interviews with the children of prominent CIA officials—Talbot reveals the underside of one of America’s most powerful and influential figures. Dulles’s decade as the director of the CIA—which he used to further his public and private agendas—were dark times in American politics. Calling himself “the secretary of state of unfriendly countries,” Dulles saw himself as above the elected law, manipulating and subverting American presidents in the pursuit of his personal interests and those of the wealthy elite he counted as his friends and clients—colluding with Nazi-controlled cartels, German war criminals, and Mafiosi in the process. Targeting foreign leaders for assassination and overthrowing nationalist governments not in line with his political aims, Dulles employed those same tactics to further his goals at home, Talbot charges, offering shocking new evidence in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. An exposé of American power that is as disturbing as it is timely, The Devil’s Chessboard is a provocative and gripping story of the rise of the national security state—and the battle for America’s soul.

The Chess Artist
The Chess Artist

Author: J. C. Hallman

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 2004-11-14

Total Pages: 356

ISBN-13: 9780312333966

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An exploration of chess enthusiam throughout the world notes the contributions of Kalmykia dictator Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, New York's legendary chess district, the Princeton Math Department, and more. Reprint. 10,000 first printing.

The Flanders Panel
The Flanders Panel

Author: Arturo Pérez-Reverte

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Published: 2004-06-07

Total Pages: 358

ISBN-13: 0547539584

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“A sleek, sophisticated, madly clever chamber mystery” from the international bestselling author—the basis for the film Uncovered starring Kate Beckinsale (The New York Times Book Review). A fifteenth-century painting by a Flemish master is about to be auctioned when Julia, a young art restorer, discovers a peculiar inscription hidden in a corner: Who killed the knight? In the painting, the Duke of Flanders and his knight are locked in a game of chess, and a dark lady lurks mysteriously in the background. Julia is determined to solve the five-hundred-year-old murder, but as she begins to look for clues, several of her friends in the art world are brutally murdered in quick succession. Messages left with the bodies suggest a crucial connection between the chess game in the painting, the knight’s murder, the sordid underside of the contemporary art world, and the latest deaths. Just when all of the players in the mystery seem to be pawns themselves, events race toward a shocking conclusion. A thriller like no other, The Flanders Panel presents a tantalizing puzzle for any connoisseur of mystery, chess, art, and history. “A beguiling puzzle—a game within a game within a game—solved in perplexing but entertaining fashion.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer “For mystery fans who yearn for literate, intelligent, sophisticated whodunits, Spanish author Pérez-Reverte’s highly acclaimed story fills the bill perfectly . . . An inventive plot, gripping suspense, fascinatingly complex characters, and innovative incorporation of art, literature, and music will enthrall readers looking for something a little different.”—Booklist “This intelligent mystery . . . comes up with a satisfying twist at the end.”—Library Journal

The Last Checkmate
The Last Checkmate

Author: Gabriella Saab

Publisher: HarperCollins

Published: 2021-10-19

Total Pages: 442

ISBN-13: 0063141949

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A PopSugar Best Book of the Year! Readers of Heather Morris’s The Tattooist of Auschwitz and watchers of The Queen’s Gambit won’t want to miss this amazing debut set during World War II. A young Polish resistance worker, imprisoned in Auschwitz as a political prisoner, plays chess in exchange for her life, and in doing so fights to bring the man who destroyed her family to justice. Maria Florkowska is many things: daughter, avid chess player, and, as a member of the Polish underground resistance in Nazi-occupied Warsaw, a young woman brave beyond her years. Captured by the Gestapo, she is imprisoned in Auschwitz, but while her family is sent to their deaths, she is spared. Realizing her ability to play chess, the sadistic camp deputy, Karl Fritzsch, decides to use her as a chess opponent to entertain the camp guards. However, once he tires of exploiting her skills, he has every intention of killing her. Befriended by a Catholic priest, Maria attempts to overcome her grief, vows to avenge the murder of her family, and plays for her life. For four grueling years, her strategy is simple: Live. Fight. Survive. By cleverly provoking Fritzsch’s volatile nature in front of his superiors, Maria intends to orchestrate his downfall. Only then will she have a chance to evade the fate awaiting her and see him punished for his wickedness. As she carries out her plan and the war nears its end, she challenges her former nemesis to one final game, certain to end in life or death, in failure or justice. If Maria can bear to face Fritzsch—and her past—one last time.

Checkmate
Checkmate

Author: Mark Russell

Publisher:

Published: 2021-05-04

Total Pages: 388

ISBN-13: 9781914277016

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On 19th January 1931 a telephone message was left for Mr William Wallace at the Liverpool Central Chess Club, of which he was a member. It involved an appointment with a possible business client for the insurance collector, and instructed him to call at 25 Menlove Gardens East at 7.30pm the following evening. On the 20th Wallace duly left his home in Anfield at around 6.45pm and took three trams to Allerton. After searching the Menlove area for some time and asking several people for directions, it appeared that there was a North, South and West, but no East. Wallace returned home to find his 69-year-old wife Julia brutally murdered in the front parlour of their home in Wolverton Street. Despite consistently denying any involvement, William Wallace was tried and convicted of his wife's murder, only for the verdict to be overturned by the Court of Criminal Appeal - the first time in British legal history that an appeal had been allowed after re-examination of evidence. The question therefore still remains: who killed Julia Wallace on that cold January night in 1931? Published to mark the 90th anniversary of the murder, Checkmate dispels several of the myths and inaccuracies that have surrounded the case for decades.

On the Origin of Good Moves
On the Origin of Good Moves

Author: Willy Hendriks

Publisher: New In Chess

Published: 2020-04-10

Total Pages: 594

ISBN-13: 905691880X

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The way a beginner develops into a strong chess player closely resembles the progress of the game of chess itself. This popular idea is the reason why many renowned chess instructors such as former World Champions Garry Kasparov and Max Euwe, emphasize the importance of studying the history of chess. Willy Hendriks agrees that there is much to be learned from the pioneers of our game. He challenges, however, the conventional view on what the stages in the advancement of chess actually have been. Among the various articles of faith that Hendriks questions is Wilhelm Steinitz's reputation as the discoverer of the laws of positional chess. In The Origin of Good Moves Hendriks undertakes a groundbreaking investigative journey into the history of chess. He explains what actually happened, creates fresh perspectives, finds new heroes, and reveals the real driving force behind improvement in chess: evolution. This thought-provoking book is full of beautiful and instructive ‘new’ material from the old days. With plenty of exercises, the reader is invited to put themselves in the shoes of the old masters. Never before has the study of the history of chess been so entertaining and rewarding.

The Turk
The Turk

Author: Tom Standage

Publisher: Berkley Trade

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 292

ISBN-13:

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Part historical detective story, part biography, "The Turk" relates the saga of an unusual 18th-century robot--fashioned from wood to look like a man who was dressed like a Turk and played chess. 25 illustrations.