SPY'S MATE

Buchanan’s novel follows the evolution of a chess prodigy in the Cold War–era USSR.

Yakov “Yasha” Basmajian is a young man in Soviet-era Armenia. Just before Yasha’s mother enters the hospital to have a mass removed from her throat, she teaches her son to play chess. So begins Yasha’s obsession with a game that will define his life. Chess is important in the Soviet Union—“part of the official Soviet educational curriculum”—and Yasha travels to Moscow to study with an elite coach. As Yasha comes to understand, the point of chess, according to the Soviets, is “to prove to your opponent the ideological superiority of your intellectual preparation, the superiority of your tactical acumen, the superiority of your nerves and reflexes, and the superiority of your strength of will.” It’s heavy stuff for a young man playing a game, but, as Yasha will learn, he’s playing a very dangerous game indeed. Alongside Yasha’s journey, the narrative offers analyses of chess matches and insights into the practice of Soviet espionage (one character observes, “We exist in a highly paranoid state in these backward Republics”). One thread of the narrative concerns plans to build a powerful chess computer, though the Soviets would just as soon develop a discreet earpiece to help players cheat. The story features entertainingly colorful personalities (like a cranky American named Jimmy Hunter who seems loosely based on Bobby Fischer, and Yasha’s coach, who tells the protagonist that if he loses, “I shall truly despair of you”) and evocatively illustrates a time when the USSR was obsessed with preventing its citizens from defecting. Some scenes feel drawn out, but readers will be compelled to follow Yasha as he advances and confronts various obstacles in the bizarre landscape of elite international chess.

A vivid Cold War story about pursuing a dream in a world of Soviet oppression.