Perpetual Check
by Rich Wallace

    PERPETUAL CHECK by Rich Wallace
    Category:  Contemporary
    Age Recommendation:  Grades 9+
    Release Date:  2/10/09
    Publisher:  Knopf
    Reviewed by:  Allison Fraclose
    Rating:  5 Stars


    Two brothers. One championship.

    Both Zeke and Randy Mansfield have made it to the Northeast Regional Pennsylvania High School Chess
    Championship. Zeke, the overly confident senior who succeeds in soccer, baseball, and tennis, was the top chess
    player in their school before Randy entered as a freshman. He’s the one their father calls “Ace,” and their father’s
    obsessive coaching has turned Zeke’s bravado into a weapon that he intends to wield during the tournament.

    For Randy, the slightly overweight freshman who makes up words for fun, chess is something that comes naturally,
    and he doesn’t let the fact that he’s beaten his older brother nine times out of ten effect his expectations for the
    tournament.

    As the championship progresses, and more talented players are eliminated, it becomes clear that the Mansfield
    brothers will be facing off against each other in the semifinals. With their father on the sidelines, more excited and
    competitive than both of them about this match, each brother begins to realize that perhaps their strategies toward
    chess - and life - aren’t so different and incompatible after all.

    No matter who wins, this tournament is bound to bring them closer, and offer an understanding that each of them
    had never thought possible.

    I honestly never thought that I’d find a story about a chess match so exciting and compelling. Although one does not
    need to be a skilled chess player to enjoy this quick, endearing read, it would help the reader to have a basic
    knowledge of the pieces and workings of the game to increase their enjoyment of this tale.