Rebel Queen: The Cold War, Misogyny, and the Making of a Grandmaster Audiobook

A real life Queen’s Gambit, this captivating memoir tells the story of one of the most renowned women in chess history, Susan Polgar, taking on a sexist establishment and rewriting the rules of what women could achieve against the oppressive backdrop of Cold War Eastern Europe.

Born to a poor Jewish family in Cold War Budapest, Susan Polgar would emerge as the one of the greatest female chess players the world had ever seen—the highest rated female player on the planet and the first woman to earn the men's Grandmaster title. As a teenager in 1986, she became the first woman to qualify for the men's World Chess Championship cycle, later achieving the game's triple crown, holding World Championship titles in three major chess time formats.

Yet at every turn, she was pitted against a sexist culture, a hostile Communist government, vicious antisemitism, and powerful enemies. She endured sabotage and betrayal, state-sponsored intimidation, and violent assault. And she overcame all of it to break the game's long-standing gender barrier and claim her place at the pinnacle of professional chess, before going on to coach other players and build two separate college chess dynasties.

Before her improbable rise, it was taken for granted that women were incapable of excellence in the game of chess. Susan Polgar single-handedly disproved this belief.

 

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"Susan Polgar's journey from the depths of Cold War Hungary to the highest reaches of professional chess is as riveting as it is inspiring. Before her improbable rise, it was taken as scientific fact that women were incapable of excellence in the game of chess. Time and again, Susan proved them wrong. This is no mere memoir. Rebel Queen is the origin story of a real-life superhero."

— Gal Gadot