... spellbinding.

Chess can make for compelling literature, especially in fiction... because the game offers a battle between two minds, two personalities, two worldviews. But a game itself is only compelling to readers if we are made to understand and care about the players, seeing their moves as reflections of their characters... Herein lies the trouble for The Grandmaster. Since chess is not a sport by the standard definition, Carlsen and Karjakin do not turn their natures into motor mechanisms, thus depriving the reader of visible action. That, in turn, forces Butler to press too hard in describing the moves on the chessboard.

If you can forgive the author and publisher for a misleading subtitle, you might actually enjoy The Grandmaster: Magnus Carlsen and the Match That Made Chess Great Again.

Not the usual chronicle of a world-championship chess match.

Punchy charm. [Butler's] tone is rapid-fire and rambling; he diverges freely and spiritedly.

A bravura performance by the author, who recognizes that if more people cared about that championship, this would have been a very different book..