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La Joueuse d'échecs: Prix Hervé Bazin 2026
272 pages, Paperback
Published January 21, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 6, 2026
Protected Passed Pawns
In this timely biographical publication, Iranian and French chess Woman Grandmaster (WGM) Mitra Hejazipour makes a convincing case unveiling - pun very much intended - the fundamental connections between courage, hardworking habits, competitive excellence and the call for the recognition of political freedom, especially when it comes to women living under repressive regimes, in this case, the Islamic Republic of Iran.
This biographical text intermingle these different aspects of Mitra's life, showing how her momentous decision to remove her hijab during the 2020 World Rapid & Blitz Chess Championship in Moscow - causing her immediate exclusion from the Iranian national team - originates in a radical disapproval with the regime, which has only been growing along the way.
I like the candid way the author presents chess now as a psychological outlet for her, now as a discipline imposed on her by her father and how she sometimes resented it, or how one can begin to hate the game, given how much of herself she put on the line. I enjoyed the natural way in which Mitra presents her progressive discovery of the world outside Iran through the competitive circuit (Spain, India, Indonesia...), her brave act of resistance in 2020, her persistance in trying to integrate the customs of Brest in Brittany (France), learning the French language, starting over her superior studies, taking up computer science, then engineering studies in Paris, earning a living and taking part in the competitive circuit at large, with the help of some locals like FLE woman teacher Dominique Cadiou, notably, meeting members of the Iranian diaspora in Paris...
I have been slightly suprised by the choice to put down certain moves in the English algebraic notation, even though that is clearly not a major element in the narration, merely serving to highlight the thought process and the psychology behind the competitive life of a chess player playing under the flag of a theocracy, then under the flag of an adopted country. Mitra makes an interesting parallel between the critical thinking at work during a chess game and the one she had to put to use in a country where official statements and laws can be interpreted and enforced in ways that are hard to predict.
Among my preferred moments in the book:
- The passages involving her games in the Iranian chess federation
- Nigel Short's tutoring and occasional word about his disappointment with the Islamic Republic (2006-2007), Mitra's encounter with indian GM Arjun Kumar Erigaisi and their conversation about the point of believing in some form of monotheism.
- How the author underlines the tremendous part played by the sharing of videos online exposing the arbitrary of repression and the extreme violence used by the Iranian government to quell national demonstrations against widespread corruption, causing aiplanes to crash or social housing to collapse, killing and maiming hundreds in the process (notably against the national movement of protest in 2017 for instance). Names of protesters are given, like Vida Rabban and Mahsa Amini, most prominently.
Her act of defiance inspired Sara Khadem (Sarasadat Khademalsharieh), another Iranian woman grandmaster to do the same in December 2022 in Almaty, and then settle in Spain.
I would recommend this essay for people curious about the universe of world chess competitions as much as those interested by the exemplary trajectory of a brave religious and political dissident.
See also:
The Arrival
The Promised Land
De la part de la princesse morte
The Handmaid's Tale
How Life Imitates Chess
The Art of Learning: A Journey in the Pursuit of Excellence
White King And Red Queen: How the Cold War Was Fought on the Chessboard
Film:
Midnight Traveller – Hassan Fazili (On a closely related topic, about a family leaving Afghanistan)
In this timely biographical publication, Iranian and French chess Woman Grandmaster (WGM) Mitra Hejazipour makes a convincing case unveiling - pun very much intended - the fundamental connections between courage, hardworking habits, competitive excellence and the call for the recognition of political freedom, especially when it comes to women living under repressive regimes, in this case, the Islamic Republic of Iran.
This biographical text intermingle these different aspects of Mitra's life, showing how her momentous decision to remove her hijab during the 2020 World Rapid & Blitz Chess Championship in Moscow - causing her immediate exclusion from the Iranian national team - originates in a radical disapproval with the regime, which has only been growing along the way.
I like the candid way the author presents chess now as a psychological outlet for her, now as a discipline imposed on her by her father and how she sometimes resented it, or how one can begin to hate the game, given how much of herself she put on the line. I enjoyed the natural way in which Mitra presents her progressive discovery of the world outside Iran through the competitive circuit (Spain, India, Indonesia...), her brave act of resistance in 2020, her persistance in trying to integrate the customs of Brest in Brittany (France), learning the French language, starting over her superior studies, taking up computer science, then engineering studies in Paris, earning a living and taking part in the competitive circuit at large, with the help of some locals like FLE woman teacher Dominique Cadiou, notably, meeting members of the Iranian diaspora in Paris...
I have been slightly suprised by the choice to put down certain moves in the English algebraic notation, even though that is clearly not a major element in the narration, merely serving to highlight the thought process and the psychology behind the competitive life of a chess player playing under the flag of a theocracy, then under the flag of an adopted country. Mitra makes an interesting parallel between the critical thinking at work during a chess game and the one she had to put to use in a country where official statements and laws can be interpreted and enforced in ways that are hard to predict.
Among my preferred moments in the book:
- The passages involving her games in the Iranian chess federation
- Nigel Short's tutoring and occasional word about his disappointment with the Islamic Republic (2006-2007), Mitra's encounter with indian GM Arjun Kumar Erigaisi and their conversation about the point of believing in some form of monotheism.
- How the author underlines the tremendous part played by the sharing of videos online exposing the arbitrary of repression and the extreme violence used by the Iranian government to quell national demonstrations against widespread corruption, causing aiplanes to crash or social housing to collapse, killing and maiming hundreds in the process (notably against the national movement of protest in 2017 for instance). Names of protesters are given, like Vida Rabban and Mahsa Amini, most prominently.
Her act of defiance inspired Sara Khadem (Sarasadat Khademalsharieh), another Iranian woman grandmaster to do the same in December 2022 in Almaty, and then settle in Spain.
I would recommend this essay for people curious about the universe of world chess competitions as much as those interested by the exemplary trajectory of a brave religious and political dissident.
See also:
The Arrival
The Promised Land
De la part de la princesse morte
The Handmaid's Tale
How Life Imitates Chess
The Art of Learning: A Journey in the Pursuit of Excellence
White King And Red Queen: How the Cold War Was Fought on the Chessboard
Film:
Midnight Traveller – Hassan Fazili (On a closely related topic, about a family leaving Afghanistan)
March 29, 2026
Se lit facilement bien qu'un peu décousu.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews