Rebel Queen

A real life Queen’s Gambit, this captivating memoir tells the story of one of the most renowned women in chess history, Susan Polgar, taking on a sexist establishment, standing up to an authoritarian empire and rewriting the rules of what women could achieve against the oppressive backdrop of Cold War Eastern Europe.

Born to a poor Jewish family in Cold War Budapest, Susan Polgar would emerge as the one of the greatest female chess players the world had ever seen.

Susan would become the highest rated female chess player on the planet and the first woman to earn the men's Grandmaster title — chess' highest designation. Still a teenager, in 1986, she became the first woman to qualify for the men's World Chess Championship cycle. Then, she would make history again, by becoming the first chess player, male or female, to achieve the game's "triple crown," holding World Championship titles in all three major chess time formats (blitz, rapid, and classical), and still the only one to earn all 6 of the world's greatest chess crowns (triple crown, world #1 ranking, Individual and Team Olympiad Gold).

Yet, at every turn, she was pitted against a sexist culture, a hostile Communist government, vicious anti-Semitism, and powerful enemies. She endured sabotage and betrayal, state-sponsored intimidation, and violent assault. And she overcame all of it to break the game's long-standing gender barrier and claim her place at the pinnacle of professional chess.

After retiring as a player, she defied the odds again, leaving all she had known in Hungary to start a new life as an American citizen, and becoming the only female Division 1 college coach in the country. Over her 14-year coaching career, she built two separate college chess dynasties from scratch, and led them to more national titles, world championships, major titles, and Olympiad medals than all other college chess teams combined.

Before her improbable rise, it was taken for granted that women were incapable of excellence in the game of chess. More than question those entrenched beliefs, Susan Polgar disproved them single-handedly.

• “Rebel Queen reveals the making of a chess champion, Susan Polgar, from her early childhood to her outstanding adulthood. It tells the story of her resolute personality, fighting for the right for herself and other women to play in tournaments in which women were denied entry for years, and later training talented young men and women to become excellent chess players. A brilliant life.  A brilliant book.”
  Dr. Frank Brady, Member, U.S. Chess Hall of Fame and New York Times bestselling author of Endgame: Bobby Fischer's Remarkable Rise and Fall - from America's Brightest Prodigy to the Edge of Madness
• "In Rebel Queen, Susan Polgar has managed to write more than just a chess story. This is a beautiful and, at times, heroic narrative about perseverance against all odds, feminism in the face of adversity, and the power of making the right moves on the board of life."
  Keith O'Brien, New York Times bestselling author of Fly Girls and Charlie Hustle
• "Susan Polgar's journey from the depths of Cold War Hungary to the highest reaches of professional chess is as riveting as it is inspiring. Before her improbable rise, it was taken as scientific fact that women were incapable of excellence in the game of chess. Time and again, Susan proved them wrong. This is no mere memoir. Rebel Queen is the origin story of a real-life superhero."
  Gal Gadot
• “As the first autobiography by a top female chess champion in history, Rebel Queen is the fascinating and magical story of a tiny Hungarian girl, growing up in the repressive Soviet era, who sets out from the age of three to become the greatest chess master in the world--and she succeeds! Susan Polgar’s fascinating and colorful insider view of her interactions and private friendships with some of the chess greats of the century--(from Boris Spassky to Bobby Fischer) is invaluable. This wonderfully recounted memoir will inspire readers to feel empowered to seek their own path to their vision and their dream.”
  Katherine Neville, NY Times, USA Today, and #1 Internationally Bestselling Author of The Eight and The Fire
• "Comparisons to The Queen’s Gambit and The Rebel Queen are inevitable. But while Beth Harmon is fiction, Grandmaster Susan Polgar is very real, indeed. Polgar’s story about perseverance, competing on a world class stage,  and shattering the ceiling for women will be inspiring for many generations to come. Thanks to Susan Polgar, the future of chess seems brighter than ever."
  Ken Lee, top blogger for chess.com