This book is about Mallory and Nolan; Mallory is an ex-chess player who has to take care of her family and Nolan is the best chess player in the world. This book does very heavily talk about chess, so if you hate chess, this book is not your thing. But I will say, I would have never imagined that someone could take something like chess, and make it one of the hottest things ever. But Ali managed to do it; my whole view on chess has changed all thanks to this book. But I’ll be honest, when I first heard that this book was Ali Hazelwood’s YA debut, I was a little disappointed. I have not had the best experience with YA romance because a lot of them are so focused on not putting spice in, that they completely forget to put tension and actual romance in the book. This was not the case for check and mate; this book was exactly the same as any other Ali Hazelwood book, but it was fade to black. But all the pining, banter, and tension that Ali is a master at, is in this book. This might possibly be my favorite or second favorite book that Ali Hazelwood has written, but honestly I love all her books so much that it’s impossible for me to judge. I hope everyone knows that this book is 100% a must-read.