BIOGRAPHIES
Wallmark, Laurie

The Queen of Chess: How Judit Polgár Changed the Game

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Stevie Lewis. A picture-book biography of the world’s all-time strongest female chess player traces the Hungarian trailblazer’s journey from child prodigy to becoming the youngest chess grandmaster in history. Wallmark relates how Polgár’s coaches and uber-supportive family helped her make all the right moves to maximize her talent, and recounts the iconic, aggressive endgames that propelled her to international stardom en route to her crowning achievement. The book does not stand on ceremony when it comes to calling out the flagrant misogyny in the chess world, but sacrifices some emotional texture by failing to register other challenges Polgár and her family faced. Lewis’s digital illustrations in a palette of mostly neutral colors underscore Polgár’s steadiness and cool-headedness, as well as the stability provided by her parents and sisters.

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