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Interregnum: Inside the Grueling and Glamorous Battle to Become the Next King of Chess
A riveting chronicle of the battle for chess supremacy and the brilliant, eccentric, extremely online grandmasters changing an ancient game.
Every elite chess player dreams of becoming world champion, of wearing the wreath and going down in history. Yet for many of today's top grandmasters, that dream long seemed out of Norwegian juggernaut Magnus Carlsen was just too good. So when Carlsen announced he wouldn't defend his world title for a fifth time, the rest of the best saw a chance finally to sit on the throne.
Interregnum follows these brilliant and often eccentric minds around the world as they vie to become world chess champion. It’s a story of millennial greats whose time is running out. Of teenaged prodigies who refuse to wait their turn. Of triumph and heartbreak, aspiration and anxiety. Of an ancient sport experiencing a remarkable resurgence and of the extremely online enfants terribles changing the game.
Part sports chronicle, part paean, part character study, Interregnum offers something for both the chess-obsessed and the chess-curious as well as anyone who enjoys a riveting tale of struggle in sport or triumph of the intellect.
Every elite chess player dreams of becoming world champion, of wearing the wreath and going down in history. Yet for many of today's top grandmasters, that dream long seemed out of Norwegian juggernaut Magnus Carlsen was just too good. So when Carlsen announced he wouldn't defend his world title for a fifth time, the rest of the best saw a chance finally to sit on the throne.
Interregnum follows these brilliant and often eccentric minds around the world as they vie to become world chess champion. It’s a story of millennial greats whose time is running out. Of teenaged prodigies who refuse to wait their turn. Of triumph and heartbreak, aspiration and anxiety. Of an ancient sport experiencing a remarkable resurgence and of the extremely online enfants terribles changing the game.
Part sports chronicle, part paean, part character study, Interregnum offers something for both the chess-obsessed and the chess-curious as well as anyone who enjoys a riveting tale of struggle in sport or triumph of the intellect.
- GenresNonfictionChess
240 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 21, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
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May 26, 2026A muscular, if not always musical, telling of what happened when Magnus abdicated the throne. I have to admit that about half of these grandmasters, if not more, had been rather faceless to me - just pins for Carlsen to bowl over. Credit to Himelfarb for taking what could have been a salon wall of player portraits and instead enlivening their profiles, situating them within a historic moment for the game. There is pettiness in the scandal and drama on the board. Carlsen's game is "constrictive"; he leads opponents into the "dark forest." Gukesh is calculating and "poised": the new, if underestimated, king.
The understory here is how very online the game has become, how aggressively it has changed in just the last six years. For evidence, look no further than the book's mentions of "jeans gate" and the butt plug cheating rumors. Soon, someone—maybe Himelfarb—will tell that story in its entirety, if the pieces don't rearrange themselves once more.
The understory here is how very online the game has become, how aggressively it has changed in just the last six years. For evidence, look no further than the book's mentions of "jeans gate" and the butt plug cheating rumors. Soon, someone—maybe Himelfarb—will tell that story in its entirety, if the pieces don't rearrange themselves once more.
May 25, 2026
surprisingly readable for a series of descriptions of chess games! really liked many of the character asides and histories, particularly the intermission regarding women. i HAD been thinking it. these guys are not well btw.
May 3, 2026
This book was incredible. I'm not really into chess, but I love sports stories, and this gave me all the good characters, thrills, and emotional moments that you get from a good competition narrative. It's funny in parts, moving in parts, it's incredibly gripping, and so informative in a totally readable, interesting way. Would recommend to anyone.
July 16, 2026
Interregnum is excellent. It's a highly accessible review of the roughly 2 year period following Magnus Carlson's abdication of the chess "throne" and the struggle to see who would claim the title of World Chess Champion. The book avoids going into detail on individual games, offering summaries that are accessible to those who don't play chess. Himelfarb does a good job bringing the various personalities to life. Even those of us not familiar with top-level chess can keep the various players straight and understand key differences between them.
Quick summary:
For a decade, Magnus Carlsen reigned as the unbeatable "final boss" of competative chess. He first won the World Chess Champion (WCC) title in 2013, and successfully defended it against consecutive challengers in 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2021. During the same time, he continued to dominate tournament play and maintained the highest ELO rating in the world. In 2022, Carlsen announced that he would not defend his title a fifth time. A new champion was crowned in 2023, pitting "Nepo" (Ian Nepomniactchi) against Ding Liren, who had finished first and second in the 2022 Candidates tournament. Ding defeated Nepo, becoming the new WCC.
Interregnum tells the story of the two year build-up to challenge the newly crowned Ding. The process: Top players compete to earn one of eight spots in the 2024 Candidates Tournament. Nepo, as the previous winner, was guaranteed one spot. Three would go to the top three finishers at the 2023 World Cup. Two spots would go to the top two finishers at the Grand Swiss. One spot would go to the highest-rated player who had not qualified by other means, and the final spot to the player who performed best in 2023 official tournaments. The winner of the Candidates in 2024 would challenge Ding.
Among the many dramatic threads that Himelfarb explores is the generational tensions. Many of the top players were Millennials, whose opportunities for WCC glory were thwarted by a decade of Carlsen's dominance. Given that chess players tend to peak in their mid- to late-20s, 2024 represented a possible last shot for many of these. In contrast were up-and-coming competitors from the next generation, just coming into their primes and having developed in the era when computer-aided preparation was widespread.
The final Candidates pool:
* Prior Candidates winner: Nepo (born 1990)
* World Cup ranks 2-4: Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa ("Pragg", born 2005), Fabiano Caruana (born 1992), and Nijat Abasov (born 1995). Carlsen won the tournament but declined a spot in the Candidates.
* Grand Swiss ranks 1-2: Vidit Gujrathi (born 1994) and Hikaru Nakamura (born 1987).
* Top rating: Alireza Firouzja (born 2003) won controversially over Wesley So after entering an obscure local tournament in France, which (as a much higher rated player than other contestants) gave him just enough ELO points to win.
* Top circuit performance: Gukesh Dommaraju (born 2006)
At the 2024 candidates tournament in Toronto, the final round started with Gukesh in the lead, with a half-point advantage over Nepo, Hikaru, and Caruana. Not only were these players close in the standings, but the final round had Hikaru facing off against Gukesh and Nepo against Caruana. Both games ended in draws, sending Gukesh to face Ding.
In the two years since winning the WCC title, Ding had struggled greatly, finishing poorly at multiple tournaments and seeing his overall ranking drop from #3 to #23 and struggling with focus and mental discipline. Nevertheless, the tournament was tied at 6.5 points for each competitor going into the final game 14. Although Ding had an early positional advantage, he was unable to capitalize, and seemed to be trying to force a draw to send the tournament to rapid play, where he likely held an advantage over Gukesh. However, a late blunder allowed Gukesh to win. Gukesh became the youngest undisputed WCC.
Quick summary:
For a decade, Magnus Carlsen reigned as the unbeatable "final boss" of competative chess. He first won the World Chess Champion (WCC) title in 2013, and successfully defended it against consecutive challengers in 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2021. During the same time, he continued to dominate tournament play and maintained the highest ELO rating in the world. In 2022, Carlsen announced that he would not defend his title a fifth time. A new champion was crowned in 2023, pitting "Nepo" (Ian Nepomniactchi) against Ding Liren, who had finished first and second in the 2022 Candidates tournament. Ding defeated Nepo, becoming the new WCC.
Interregnum tells the story of the two year build-up to challenge the newly crowned Ding. The process: Top players compete to earn one of eight spots in the 2024 Candidates Tournament. Nepo, as the previous winner, was guaranteed one spot. Three would go to the top three finishers at the 2023 World Cup. Two spots would go to the top two finishers at the Grand Swiss. One spot would go to the highest-rated player who had not qualified by other means, and the final spot to the player who performed best in 2023 official tournaments. The winner of the Candidates in 2024 would challenge Ding.
Among the many dramatic threads that Himelfarb explores is the generational tensions. Many of the top players were Millennials, whose opportunities for WCC glory were thwarted by a decade of Carlsen's dominance. Given that chess players tend to peak in their mid- to late-20s, 2024 represented a possible last shot for many of these. In contrast were up-and-coming competitors from the next generation, just coming into their primes and having developed in the era when computer-aided preparation was widespread.
The final Candidates pool:
* Prior Candidates winner: Nepo (born 1990)
* World Cup ranks 2-4: Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa ("Pragg", born 2005), Fabiano Caruana (born 1992), and Nijat Abasov (born 1995). Carlsen won the tournament but declined a spot in the Candidates.
* Grand Swiss ranks 1-2: Vidit Gujrathi (born 1994) and Hikaru Nakamura (born 1987).
* Top rating: Alireza Firouzja (born 2003) won controversially over Wesley So after entering an obscure local tournament in France, which (as a much higher rated player than other contestants) gave him just enough ELO points to win.
* Top circuit performance: Gukesh Dommaraju (born 2006)
At the 2024 candidates tournament in Toronto, the final round started with Gukesh in the lead, with a half-point advantage over Nepo, Hikaru, and Caruana. Not only were these players close in the standings, but the final round had Hikaru facing off against Gukesh and Nepo against Caruana. Both games ended in draws, sending Gukesh to face Ding.
In the two years since winning the WCC title, Ding had struggled greatly, finishing poorly at multiple tournaments and seeing his overall ranking drop from #3 to #23 and struggling with focus and mental discipline. Nevertheless, the tournament was tied at 6.5 points for each competitor going into the final game 14. Although Ding had an early positional advantage, he was unable to capitalize, and seemed to be trying to force a draw to send the tournament to rapid play, where he likely held an advantage over Gukesh. However, a late blunder allowed Gukesh to win. Gukesh became the youngest undisputed WCC.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
A perfect book for someone getting into watching professional chess. Knowledge of the rules of chess isn't necessary to enjoy this book, nor do you have to know any professional chess players. I think the ideal reader for this book would be someone who can name a couple famous chess players, like say Magnus and Gothamchess. Maybe someone who has got a chess.com account, and has played a few games, but hasn't read a chess book before. Himelfarb introduces around a dozen players and follows them the year before the 2024 championship as they all battle for the right to take on the champion Ding Liren. The personalities involved are wider than you might expect, they're not all introverted nerds.
If you are that new-to-chess reader, enjoy. For me though, I knew the characters, and I knew the story. I've followed chess for a couple decades now so there wasn't much in this book that was new to me. I enjoyed the book, and there is new information from first hand interviews done by Himelfarb with the players. But I don't think it was exactly for me. A game collection might have intimidated the ideal reader (there are no chess diagrams or move notation, everything is described in words) but I think it would have made for a more well rounded book. It's simple enough to look up the games being written about online to follow along, but I would have appreciated some diagrams.
It's a world championship year again in 2026, and as I write this the candidates tournament is on. Hopefully lots of would-be fans will read this book and become new fans.
If you are that new-to-chess reader, enjoy. For me though, I knew the characters, and I knew the story. I've followed chess for a couple decades now so there wasn't much in this book that was new to me. I enjoyed the book, and there is new information from first hand interviews done by Himelfarb with the players. But I don't think it was exactly for me. A game collection might have intimidated the ideal reader (there are no chess diagrams or move notation, everything is described in words) but I think it would have made for a more well rounded book. It's simple enough to look up the games being written about online to follow along, but I would have appreciated some diagrams.
It's a world championship year again in 2026, and as I write this the candidates tournament is on. Hopefully lots of would-be fans will read this book and become new fans.
June 6, 2026
“For all except one, someone out there is better.”
For almost 10 years, Magnus Carlsen was the world Chess champion. So great were his powers that people spoke of the Carlsen Effect:” the intimidating power of his reputation. It can cause players to tighten up and go awry, even to overlook Carlsen’s mistakes, believing that if they can’t understand a seemingly inexplicable move, that’s more likely a reflection of their own inadequacy rather than his. To err is human, after all, and Carlsen, the thinking goes, may not be.”
But in 2022, Carlsen abdicated his title, Opening the path for established grandmasters and up-and-coming players to compete for a title that had only been held by 16 players since 1886.
Jordan Himelfarb’s Interregnum follows the intense battle that, in multiple tournaments, and over 30 months, pitted dozens of grandmasters against each other, slowly whittling down the field until two men sat across a chess board inside a glass booth in Singapore to play a 14-game competition to decide who would be the best in the world.
You don’t have to be a chess nerd to enjoy this very human story of ambition, obsession, and the heroic/heartbreaking consequences of genius mixed with human foibles. But if you have *ever* played then you will walk away with a new appreciation of the gap that exists between those who push pieces across the board and those who soar above it.
A wonderful book.
For almost 10 years, Magnus Carlsen was the world Chess champion. So great were his powers that people spoke of the Carlsen Effect:” the intimidating power of his reputation. It can cause players to tighten up and go awry, even to overlook Carlsen’s mistakes, believing that if they can’t understand a seemingly inexplicable move, that’s more likely a reflection of their own inadequacy rather than his. To err is human, after all, and Carlsen, the thinking goes, may not be.”
But in 2022, Carlsen abdicated his title, Opening the path for established grandmasters and up-and-coming players to compete for a title that had only been held by 16 players since 1886.
Jordan Himelfarb’s Interregnum follows the intense battle that, in multiple tournaments, and over 30 months, pitted dozens of grandmasters against each other, slowly whittling down the field until two men sat across a chess board inside a glass booth in Singapore to play a 14-game competition to decide who would be the best in the world.
You don’t have to be a chess nerd to enjoy this very human story of ambition, obsession, and the heroic/heartbreaking consequences of genius mixed with human foibles. But if you have *ever* played then you will walk away with a new appreciation of the gap that exists between those who push pieces across the board and those who soar above it.
A wonderful book.
June 24, 2026
As an avid but amateur chess player, I think this book captures the excitement of a championship cycle without relaying each game on a move by move level. I would've liked to see more technical analysis of the games but I recognize that's not in the authors goals for the book and it's kept accessible for non players.
I appreciate how Himelfarb presents each player as having a real shot at the title position while being very realistic about the clear disparities in skill levels.
I'd definitely recommend it to someone either just getting into chess or looking for an easy and entertaining read.
I appreciate how Himelfarb presents each player as having a real shot at the title position while being very realistic about the clear disparities in skill levels.
I'd definitely recommend it to someone either just getting into chess or looking for an easy and entertaining read.
June 15, 2026
This was a great recap of the leadup to the 2024 Candidates tournament and then the World Championship. As someone who doesn't follow chess to closely and really is not familiar with any of the current players other than Carlsen and Nakamura, this book gave me a great briefing on a lot of the best players currently and now I feel like I'm pretty much up to speed with who the top 12 players in the world are.
August 4, 2026
3.5 stars
If you are relatively new to professional chess, this book is a great way to get up to speed. It gives short bios on many of the key players and highlights many of the significant events, especially in the last several years.
What took away from the book is that it seemed to want to cover wider ground, and therefore, the primary story arc could be lost at times.
If you are relatively new to professional chess, this book is a great way to get up to speed. It gives short bios on many of the key players and highlights many of the significant events, especially in the last several years.
What took away from the book is that it seemed to want to cover wider ground, and therefore, the primary story arc could be lost at times.
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April 23, 2026Give this to the chess fanatics in your life but otherwise, pass...
DNF
DNF
May 12, 2026
Intelligently written with excellent pacing. A really enjoyable inside look into the elite chess players of today. I read it in a day!
June 2, 2026
You don't need to be interested in chess to enjoy this book. It is more about being human and what it takes to be a champ in any discipline.
June 24, 2026
Hard to tell what a normie would think, but pretty entertaining stuff. I'm not sure how different the experience is if you weren't following it live.
July 26, 2026
Outstanding book. I don’t follow Chess even and this was written in a compelling and storytelling way I couldn’t put it down. Who knows, maybe I’ll sign up to chess.com now?
June 3, 2026
This is my kind of sports.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews