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Welcome to the Check & Mate Buddy Read Discussion thread! This thread officially opens on December 2nd and anyone can join at any time. Please keep in mind that spoilers are allowed in this thread but only up to the group's current reading place. Do not spoil the book if you've read further than the group. Any extra days can be used to catch up!

Each day we will be reading by chapters or page numbers. Page numbers are an approximation based on the hardcover or paperback that is the default on ŷ������. The suggested Buddy Read discussion schedule is as follows:

Week of 12/02
Dec 2 Prologue-Ch. 5
Dec 3 Ch. 6-11

Week of 12/04
Dec 4 Ch. 12-17
Dec 5 Ch. 18-23
Dec 6 Ch. 23-28
Dec 7 Ch. 29-epilogue

PARTICIPANTS
~ Aikaterine
~ Juliane
~ Sophie
~ LiteraryCryptid

I'll join in on this too! My library hold just came in :)

Hi everyone,

I'm quite enjoying this read so far, its fun and flows along nicely.

I do wonder who the author modelled Nolan after, there are certainly hints to real-life players but he seems like even more of an extreme of the moody prodigy-type than some of the players I have in mind.

The friendship between Mallory and Easton is so sweet and I hope we get to see more of Easton through the book.

(view spoiler)[
Also judging from the very first page I don't want to know if there actually is "...Bill Nye erotic fanfiction" out there, right? ;-D

I'm curious if we get to find out more about Mallorys issues and what happened with her parents that got her to quit chess. She seems to have quite a bit of trauma related to that. Plus it does seem to have left her family in dire financial problems which from everything I know about the American health system basically means with any illness one is screwed.

Also I'm going to put the fact that Mallory has to tell Nolan that its checkmate down to her being an amateur who was nervous and not to something that probably happens regularly.

(hide spoiler)]

Hello!!

Chapters 1-5

(view spoiler)[ I’m really enjoying this read so far. I’ve only read one of Ali Hazelwood’s other books, The Love Hypothesis, and it was a very mediocre read for me, so I was apprehensive going into this one, but I’m already liking it a lot more. Mallory already comes across as a very relatable character for me. She has chronic eldest daughter syndrome. Constantly giving and never getting anything back. I’ll be honest I don’t really know anything about chess so that’ll be a blind spot for me. I’m curious to get into Nolan’s background as we’ve only had a small snippet of him thus far, I do hope it’s dual pov but it’s looking unlikely at this point. I’m loving Easton, she seems to have Mallory’s best interests at heart and someone for Mallory to rely on- it’ll be interesting to see the effects on Mallory now that Easton has gone away to college. I don’t typically love modern pop culture references in books, things like TikTok, Timothée Chalamet etc, but it’s not too severe or cringey at the moment, I just hope there aren’t a lot more mentions around stuff like that. (hide spoiler)]

@Juliane I love that you know about the chess world so you can keep us plebs updated lol. I like this so far! I'm a bit ahead of schedule and I anticipate continuing later this evening, so I may get close to the halfway point tonight.

I agree that Mallory has eldest daughter syndrome. I also do, so I imagine I'll connect with her and probably enjoy the book.

I don't read YA a lot anymore, especially not YA contemporary romance, but I will say this doesn't feel all too different from Ali Hazelwood's adult romances. It'll be interesting to see how she tells a story targeted at a younger audience.

Chapters 6-11

(view spoiler)[ The pacing really picked in todays chapters, I’m enjoying it a lot more. I think that’s down to having an actual interaction between Nolan and Mallory. Nolan showing up at her house and then having dinner was super sweet and it felt so natural the way he interacted with her sisters and mum, I hope we get more scenes like that. Mallory’s home life and the dynamic she has with her family comes across very real, it’s so easy to picture, and I think that’s why I’ve connected to the characters so quickly. We got more of a snippet into the situation of Mallory’s dad, but obviously there is still a lot more to learn. I am really intrigued to get into more of Nolan; his personality, his family, his history etc. he mentioned briefly that he doesn’t see his family so I’m looking forward to getting more into that. Also fuck Kolch, misogynistic pig 🐽. (hide spoiler)]

I understand Mallorys fear about Easton leaving her behind, it is so easy to lose sight of people and friendships when the close proximity is gone, I do hope that doesn't happen here.

I agree about all the YA-references it can be a bit too much but so far it is endurable in this book. Though I have to admit that sometimes I'm just happy I have at least heard of certain things, like I generally know what TikTok is and haven't had any YA-references I had to google yet for this book lol

I have to say that Oz, no matter how miserable he is, is really growing on me

@ Katie I don't want to stick my neck out too far regarding the amount of my chess knowledge for the actual tactics of play since I am only a very beginners-level player. But I do love watching the pros play ever since the World Championship 2018, when I realized that quite a few of the larger chess websites were offering free streams and commentary to watch the match and have watched far too much chess since then. 😅 And I guess one picks up quite a lot on the rules and circumstances surrounding the professional tournaments.

I'm pointing that out since I had to put the book down for a moment during chapter eight because the description of Mallorys game against Koch annoyed me quite a bit and I have come to the conclusion that this story might be far more enjoyable if one knows absolutely nothing about chess.

Quite a large amount of chess-related talk coming up for two points that bothered me mostly during this game so I put it under a spoiler to not clog up the whole thread too badly with such a long message haha

(view spoiler)[

I hate Koch and I'm glad Mallory beat him and I think she would have already been justified ripping his head off for the small talk during the game and no real-person professional player would have blamed her.
I can't believe that someone as well prepared as Defne did not inform Mallory about the rules set for the tournament beforehand, since she mentioned in one sentence that she is not sure if he is allowed to that.

Leaving aside my violent thoughts about Kochs early demise, as far as I know it is generally the accepted rule (there are stricter/precise rules depending on tournament) in professional tournaments that one is not allowed (except for example for a draw agreement or calling the arbiter) to disturb other players including ones opponent, be it by noise or too much movement or similar.

Mallory would have been totally justified to call an arbiter to complain about Koch and if he had kept at it it could have even gone as far as him being disqualified. While on the other hand him complaining about her profanity was just as ridiculous as the talking in the first place was the problem not the way it was said.

Furthermore I'm not sure the author is fully aware how time-taking during chess tournaments usually works. While I don't know anything about amateur tournaments in the US this was supposed to be a game during a professional tournament so I'm guessing general rules apply.

Usually there is a set time for each player, for example both white and black have 15 minutes each and if it is whites turn to move their clock runs down, once they have made the move they push the clock and the time for black starts running down and this goes on for the whole game.

If one of the players should run out of their own time the game is over and that player has lost the game no matter their colour or the current position on the board or even if the opponent only has one second left themselves. This could for example mean that if black has a very good position which they could most likely win, but if the players time-management is bad even such a game can be lost purely on time despite any advantage on the board itself.

The game Mallory plays against Koch is the second time in the book that an arbiter comes and tells them times up and therefore the game is drawn and black wins and I have no idea how that would happen in a professional game, unless the author suggests that there is a set time for the whole game, the game thereby ending when that set total time runs out no matter how much time the players have actually used individually.

If Koch was in fact out of his own time he would have lost, it would have been recorded in the game records as a loss (thereby influencing his ranking points quite differently than a draw) and Mallory would have advanced in the tournament anyway.

There are of course exceptions, often in what amounts to tie-breaks, where black would win by default if that game went into a drawn position and white couldn't find a way to go for a win but that does not count if it is "Times up" because then the player without time left on their clock would lose either way as well.

(hide spoiler)]

I'm really sorry about that long monologue and waffling on about chess like this, I just realized while reading that I was developing a kind of pet peeve in regards to the game and tournament descriptions. I will try to not go any further down that rabbit hole of inaccuracies of chess descriptions while continuing the book

I am of course fully aware that the main point of the book should be Mallorys life and the love story which I am enjoying reading about so far, I promise I will try to tone it down with the chess talk 😂

Lol you're good! I already skipped ahead to the acknowledgements/author's note and Ali Hazelwood made it clear that there's a healthy dose of suspending your disbelief in regards to chess rules specifically. It is a bit easier for me since I know nothing! I am freeeeee!!!

I am actually super close to the end with only about 50 pages left, I read a massive chunk of this book yesterday. (view spoiler)[The third act breakup was a little wtf for me though. I feel like Mal's reaction to learning that Nolan is--at least partially--paying for her fellowship was a little dramatic. I don't think her thought process was fully explored here, which does make a little bit of sense since it was her gut instinct, but I wish there had been more introspection on it later on. Like. This guy has made it pretty clear he's really into her in an honest way. He's very swoony. For her to immediately throw all of those feelings away and say she hates him is so strange to me.

I just got to the end of Chapter 27 where Easton shows up again. I would loooooove to hear her excuses for why she's been ignoring Mallory for months. I have been the person who tries and tries to reach out and make a friendship work while the other person leaves me on read, so I have a bit of a personal stake in this. I'm a million times more mad at Easton than I am at Nolan lol. (hide spoiler)]

Oh wow, you guys are FASTTT xD I only started my audiobook today and once again I'm reading mostly during my commute, but already I can tell that I'm flying by it, and I can't wait to keep listening to it. Actually, I even feel like I already like it more that Ali Hazelwood's adult novels!

lol yes I finished just a little bit ago. I'll keep the rest of my thoughts to myself until more people have a chance to catch up and I hear what you have to say!

I'm also a bit behind on the schedule but since I decided to let go of the chess accuracy this book has gotten so much better lol

One thing I'm curious about for everyone here who has siblings, are they generally as annoying as Sabrina or is her characterisation mainly due to her being a teenager? 😅 I would totally understand the latter point but her behaviour towards Mallory who is trying so hard is really starting to grate my nerves.

Up to Chapter 17:

(view spoiler)[
I can't imagine the horror of finding your photos, someone has taking secretely, in the papers the next day. As if papparazzi aren't bad enough for famous people it seems now you can't be sure of a certain amount of privacy anywhere and I find Mallorys reaction understandable.
Although it seems Nolan has done this too often already regarding his reaction that there is no point trying to correct a lie the press has chosen to pounce on.

I do enjoy that we get to see more of Nolan in private, the scenes between him and Mallory while he was sick were so sweet.
And it is so nice to see how much he clearly wants her to be successful in chess, he really already seems head over heels in love with her.

Also can Koch just please fall into a fiery pit or something, I've developed real hatred for that guy. But I do like that there is so much talk about the sexism in chess and how women players deserve so much more than they are currently getting from both the media as well as the chess-organizers.

(hide spoiler)]

I have a younger sister, 6 years younger than me, so I never really lived with her when she was a teenager because she was in 7th grade when I went to college. But I do think Sabrina is ESPECIALLY mean.

(view spoiler)[That was a resolution that felt unrealistic. Sabrina acts one way the entire book and then at the end is like ohhhhh no I actually have appreciated what you do the entire time but I'm just mean. To be mean.

Didn't love that lol (hide spoiler)]

I finished and I really enjoyed this in the end.

@ Katie thanks for the insight :-) In between it almost felt as if Sabrina was simply a carricature of too many teenage stereotypes

(view spoiler)[ I agree with you about the ending, the solution of the conflict Mallory and Sabrina had with each other felt slightly too quick and easy.

I think chapters 23-25 were the culmination of all the trauma Mallory experienced over the years since she quit chess and to me it was a heavy reminder that she herself is still a teenager who has had far too much pressure put on her at far too early an age. Which doesn't change the fact that she herself was very unfair and over the top in these confrontations.

While one could put down Nolans sponsoring and Defne not talking about it towards miscommunication and not asking the right questions I have to completely agree with Oz (who is such a fun character) about Mallory needing to get herself together. After all she wanted to only treat this as a job without getting properly involved (which Defne doesn't even know about) and she has been lying to a large part of her family for ages and I do believe she was a bit to self-righteous in these moments. Although I can't really blame her for her reaction towards Sabrina lol

I also love that Easton showed up again, showing how both Mallory and Easton were insecure about their own futures and the fear of losing their closest friend, even while taking such differen paths, though I did want to yell at them for simply not communicating properly earlier.

I like the happy ending between Nolan and Mallory in general although I do hope they learn to communicate better.
Plus at the end I was surprised that there was no further exploration of the World Championship but it was a fitting ending with the Epilogue .
Also good luck for the future to Eleni from the BBC haha
(hide spoiler)]

I just started this and am at Chp5. I was looking forward to it as I enjoyed Hazelwood's other books. All the soc med and name drops weren't as bad as I was expecting.

But omg I can't stand Mallory and Sabrina in this chapter. Mallory taking everything on and feeling like she has to provide everything that is possibly not even essentials for her family?? And Sabrina being a downright brat and not understanding her family's circumstances? I find that hard to believe unless Mallory and her mother have been spoiling the two younger girls despite not being able to afford it. I just don't get that. I have a younger brother and money isn't always great but he'd never complain about not getting money for some extracurricular activity but we'd always make sure there's food on the table.

I finished this last night and I just felt meh about it. Maybe it was too YA for me.

(view spoiler)[ I agree that Mallory's reactions just felt over the top? Ok, maybe she felt betrayed but when your family needs money, you do whatever you can. I also found that it was quite unrealistic for a child of this generation to feel that much guilt over their dad's infidelity because the current generation absolutely would not stand for that, or let their dad dictate how they should live the rest of their lives. And Sabrina omg if that was my sister, I'd just slap her. And where was their mother in all this? Oh I didn't want to bring it up to hurt you but letting it fester for over a year?

I also thought we'd see some action with the world championship because Nolan has been dying to play against Mallory and we don't get a proper show out of this big tournament that's been mentioned so much. (hide spoiler)]

I finished it a couple of days ago, during my commute, and haven't had a chance to come talk about it, but I liked it, and might I say, ~ unpopular opinion incoming ~ way more than the adult installments by Ali Hazelwood! xD

However, I completely zoned out during the long chess descriptions, because my brain wouldn't focus on just listening about it, and not actually reading/seeing it anyway, ahaha. I also really didn't like (view spoiler)[the whole "first ever person he was attracted to" about Nolan, as well as how quickly the month-long lack of communication with Easton was discussed and resolved. (hide spoiler)]

Haha, I forgot to mention that I read your comments and completely agree!!