Queenside: The Chess Club Book Two

by Dima Novak

The rousing follow-up to the award-winning “YA masterpiece” Pushing Pawns sees a wildly diverse high school chess team grappling with brutal cops, ruthless gentrification, and competition more ferocious than they’ve ever faced. It’s the worst day of Moses Middleton’s life. Reeling from a crushing break-up, he joins his best buddy P.D. in New York City’s Travers Park, where more bad news Their beloved chess tables are scheduled for demolition. Then a violent stop-and-frisk encounter with a pair of crooked cops leads to detention in the local precinct house. And that’s just the beginning of Moses’ struggles. The superbly gifted Esther has left the team and kicked our hero to the curb. The chess club is a different beast this year, disrupted by new members and romantic complications. Under the demanding supervision of Soviet grandmaster Viktor Fleischmann, the team gropes for solidarity as it prepares for its greatest challenge to the National High School Chess Championship. Meanwhile, enlisting old and new comrades in an effort to save the chess tables, and perhaps the whole neighborhood, Moses uncovers a conspiracy that reaches from cutthroat moneymen to sadistic police officers — and even to his own teammates. Multiple crises are on the boil when a sudden act of shocking violence threatens to destroy the team and shatter their dreams. Sinister forces are at work. Can the young comrades snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, over the board and on the streets? Praise for BOOK ONE Kirkus starred
“Eye-opening and engaging; a triumphant mashup of underdog sporting contest and teen drama”
"A YA masterpiece that belongs on every teen’s smartphone. An instant classic." CT Liotta, author of No Good About Goodbye :
"Don’t miss it. As clever as it is smart, Dima Novak’s PUSHING PAWNS twists a tale of public school chess competitions into a gratifying story of classism, teamwork, loyalty, friendship, and sweet, sweet revenge."

342 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 26, 2023

About the author

Dima Novak is the pen name of a chess-mad patzer living in Jackson Heights, Queens.

The photo, sadly, is not me. It is the incomparable Mikhail Botvinnik, who is much discussed in "Pushing Pawns."

Reviews

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Those of us who read everything for the romance be warned: the sequel to Dima Novak's (deservedly award-winning) Pushing Pawns opens with a knife to our sentimental little hearts. Line one page one it's the 15 year old Moses' familiar, witty, introspective voice -- 'Don't be a dick,' I told myself--color commentating on the wreckage of our Happily Ever After hopes from book one bobbing against the rocks where, sometime between the novels, Moses and Esther's canoodle canoe foundered. Still, the intriguing figure of Esther en garde graces another fantastic cover by Joe Saint Lot and promises Moses will continue to chercher la femme.
While we wait for the stabilizing of a friend zone or increasingly unlikely reconciliation to eventuate, Moses has little time for sobbing to emo and American Movie Classics, as tempted as he is. Something even more sinister than the first novel's menaces (one friend's abusive uncle, a school principle trying to tank the life chances of another, the advent of yuppie scum to the neighborhood treating the locals like fauna and nuisances) - something demanding even more ingenuity, principle, and courage from the teens in the chess club in the fictional, but perfectly plausible, Q722 high school in Jackson Heights Queens ('so diverse it's perverse') -- quickly materializes to further accelerate the up-growing of these memorable, loveable, admirable and profoundly drawn kids we recall from the debut, and some new ones -- also surprising expectations and undermining clichés.
The new problem: Conquest. The Gentrification that inspired Moses' adventures in competitive chess playing, and spurred a depressed former Soviet grandmaster Viktor Fleischmann's emergence from the psychic mothballs of despair and purposelessness to mentor the Q722 crew, intensified to a new level. The property developers, the karens, the cops combine to threaten a haven of neighborhood chess and much more.
As in the previous, Novak delivers, in the most natural way, lessons in NYC and world history, and heaps of political insight that will absolutely engage teenagers now more disposed than they have been in a couple of generations to think about the better worlds that are possible. It's a vision of ordinary people who are not passive, selfish, helpless but always engaged, standing up for what they believe and for eachother, winning some and losing some. All for one and one for all. Plus really good jokes.

[Igor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Togetherness, be it family, comradeship, collegiality, communal or anonymous meetings in public houses; it’s our life force. With it, we are socially immortal, unstoppable, endlessly creative and wise. This is also the credo of the series.

In second installment of the series, the protagonists are now a bit older, a bit smarter, at the doorstep of adulthood. Some relationships are challenged, some dreams shattered, but spirit is always willing when there are comrades to share the struggle with! Don't forget the chess matches which follow the journey and always reflect the struggles, which will bring delight to both professionals and amateurs.

This time the stakes are bigger, more serious hurdles arrive in form of oppressive society we today all live in, ruled by parasites and their many foot-soldiers, capos and entitled courtiers in form of police brutality, corruption, gentrification... invasion of the neighborhood... fully relatable by anyone who spent more than few month in any big city, let along a lifetime! But this is not a bleak story of protagonists doomed to fail or to perpetually be locked in a cog-machine, no!, it is one of great struggles in making, a society of oppressed trying to re-assert itself, to resist, to organize, a new wave of young revolutionaries are coming! Yes our future is bright, yes we shall prevail.

What will happen with the group in 3rd installment? Where can I meet these beautiful people with unwavering determination and endless love so meticulously presented in the series? Answer for the first I don't know, but for the second I can tell you, look around you, we are billions!

[C.T. Liotta · Rating 5 out of 5]

QUEENSIDE is a poignant and powerful narrative that explores the journey of Moses Middleton, a teenager navigating heartbreak and social injustice while discovering collective action. Novak skillfully portrays the protagonist's transformation from a chess enthusiast to an activist, making Moses relatable and inspiring. The novel excels in its authentic depiction of societal issues like police brutality and corruption, presenting a realistic yet hopeful perspective on community challenges. The underlying message has teeth: systemic injustices are insurmountable, and the powerful will always evade accountability, but there remains undeniable strength in unity and shared purpose. QUEENSIDE is not just a tale of adolescence or chess; it's a compelling reflection on resilience and the significance of standing together. I like Novak because his stories are never whiny tales of victimhood. He offers a path out of the morass, and makes it look fun. A must-read for those who appreciate thought-provoking, socially conscious storytelling.

...and did I mention it's fun and funny and a thoroughly enjoyable read?

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can’t say enough about this book. I will admit I was lost in the chess intricacies but the rest of the story had me the whole way. The characters (young/adult, ethical/sleeze and all in between) were interesting; the issues pertinent in today’s complicated world; the writing was tight and moved right along. An easy to read book that I enjoyed.
I won a copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway hfor this honest review.

[keatssycamore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Waiting, impatiently, for the third installment so my twelve year old can read the parts she likes best out loud to me again doing various voices (I get to perform any Victor lines in the selections).