Silver Queen

Mária Ivánka, the world-renowned many-times champion, was a star in Hungarian women's chess for two decades. She twice beat the active World Champion, Nona Gaprindashvili. Mária was one of the few players who often caused trouble for the Soviet women's chess elite. In her book she journeys back in time recalling some of the milestones of her career. The fairytale-sounding title refers to the trophy she won a couple of times in Holland, and also to the 'constant' silver medals of the Hungarian women's team at the Olympics. This is not a traditional chess book, although it does contain about 100 crucial games of grandmasters from Chess Olympiads, world and national championships, and other tournaments. Even though Silver Queen is an autobiography it is also a review of the last 40 years of international chess. It contains interesting stories and views on cultural differences between Europe and the United States, the unbelievable pressure and uplifting moments of Chess Olympiads, differences between male and female chess, fights behind the scenes, and lots more...