Spy's Mate

A CANREADS Awards Finalist!

"A highly recommended genre-blending novel, this is an ideal read for chess enthusiasts, Cold War history buffs, and those interested in technological thrillers. Smart and evocative,  Buchanan’s Spy’s Mate balances a thought-provoking game with cunning espionage and innovative technologies—an absorbing story that delivers on every front."—CANREADS Review Committee

FOR FANS OF THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT

Set in the late Cold War-era Soviet Union, SPY’S MATE: A NOVEL follows the coming of age of Yasha Basmajian, a young chess prodigy of Armenian origin who rises through the ranks of the Soviet chess establishment with dizzying rapidity. Along the way, however, he must contend with many pitfalls, including operatives who manipulate him, jealous rivals who try to humiliate him, and high officials who threaten him when he asserts his independence, or takes a principled stance. 

With help from a renegade coach and a team of anti-establishment grandmasters, Yasha manages to run the gauntlet of two Candidates Tournaments until eventually he faces the sinister, predatory World Chess Champion, Evgeny Volosin, in a match where the stakes are nothing less than life and death.