A real life Queen’s Gambit, this captivating memoir tells the story of one of the most renowned women in chess history, Susan Polgar, taking on a sexist establishment, standing up to an authoritarian empire and rewriting the rules of what women could achieve against the oppressive backdrop of Cold War Eastern Europe.

Born to a poor Jewish family in Cold War Budapest, Susan Polgar would emerge as the one of the greatest female chess players the world had ever seen.

Susan would become the highest rated female chess player on the planet and the first woman to earn the men's Grandmaster title -- chess' highest designation. Still a teenager, in 1986, she became the first woman to qualify for the men's World Chess Championship cycle. Then, she would make history again, by becoming the first chess player, male or female, to achieve the game's "triple crown," holding World Championship titles in all three major chess time formats (blitz, rapid, and classical), and still the only one to earn all 6 of the world's greatest chess crowns (triple crown, world #1 ranking, Individual and Team Olympiad Gold).

Yet, at every turn, she was pitted against a sexist culture, a hostile Communist government, vicious anti-Semitism, and powerful enemies. She endured sabotage and betrayal, state-sponsored intimidation, and violent assault. And she overcame all of it to break the game's long-standing gender barrier and claim her place at the pinnacle of professional chess.

After retiring as a player, she defied the odds again, leaving all she had known in Hungary to start a new life as an American citizen, and becoming the only female Division 1 college coach in the country. Over her 14-year coaching career, she built two separate college chess dynasties from scratch, and led them to more national titles, world championships, major titles, and Olympiad medals than all other college chess teams combined.

Before her improbable rise, it was taken for granted that women were incapable of excellence in the game of chess. More than question those entrenched beliefs, Susan Polgar disproved them single-handedly.

Born to a poor Jewish family in Cold War Budapest, Susan Polgar had the odds stacked against her-from having few resources, to growing up in a sexist culture rife with vicious anti¿Semitism. Yet her father subscribed to the belief that geniuses are not born, but created, so he set out to ensure her success in an unlikely field: chess.
At age 4, she won her first tournament. By 15, she was the top¿rated female player in the world. She was the first woman ever to hold the men's Grandmaster title-chess' highest designation. The ensuing wins and accolades provided incredible highs to coincide with extreme lows as Polgar's celebrity brought backlash, including sabotage and state¿sponsored intimidation.

REBEL QUEEN is the memoir of her improbable rise, offering a rare behind¿the¿scenes chess story and featuring some of the game's most legendary characters. Yet it is a narrative that transcends chess, the story of a genius, treated from birth as a second¿class citizen, who thrilled against all odds. It is an incredible underdog story told by the woman who actually lived it.