Marty Supreme meets The Queen’s Gambit in bestselling author Ben Mezrich’s next smash, Checkmate: Genius, Lies, Ambition, and the Biggest Scandal in Chess.
Mezrich, master of the non-fiction thriller, joins us on the book’s publication to talk about this true story of the modern chess world’s most explosive scandal. Already in development by A24 following a fierce bidding war, with Nathan Fielder to direct and Emma Stone producing, Checkmate tells the 2022 story of 19-year-old American chess prodigy Hans Niemann’s defeat of world champion Magnus Carlsen in a stunning live match, and the bombshell cheating allegation and high-stakes investigation that followed. Hear Mezrich talk about his dive into the cutthroat world of competitive chess, how a centuries-old game became a billion dollar industry, his career-spanning fascination with young savants who tango between ambition and abuse in their quest for success, and more.