Interregnum: Inside the Grueling and Glamorous Battle to Become the Next King of Chess

by Jordan Himelfarb

A riveting chronicle of the battle for chess supremacy and the brilliant, eccentric, extremely online grandmasters changing an ancient game.

Every elite chess player dreams of becoming world champion, of wearing the wreath and going down in history. Yet for many of today's top grandmasters, that dream long seemed out of reach: Norwegian juggernaut Magnus Carlsen was just too good. So when Carlsen announced he wouldn't defend his world title for a fifth time, the rest of the best finally saw a chance to sit on the throne.

Interregnum follows these brilliant and often eccentric minds around the world as they vie to become world chess champion. It’s a story of millennial greats whose time is running out. Of teenaged prodigies who refuse to wait their turn. Of triumph and heartbreak, aspiration and anxiety. Of an ancient sport experiencing a remarkable resurgence and of the extremely online enfants terribles changing the game.

Part sports chronicle, part paean, part character study, Interregnum offers something for both the chess-obsessed and the chess-curious as well as anyone who enjoys a riveting tale of struggle in sport or triumph of the intellect.

320 pages, Paperback

Published April 21, 2026

Reviews

[Chris Harvey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A perfect book for someone getting into watching professional chess. Knowledge of the rules of chess isn't necessary to enjoy this book, nor do you have to know any professional chess players. I think the ideal reader for this book would be someone who can name a couple famous chess players, like say Magnus and Gothamchess. Maybe someone who has got a chess.com account, and has played a few games, but hasn't read a chess book before. Himelfarb introduces around a dozen players and follows them the year before the 2024 championship as they all battle for the right to take on the champion Ding Liren. The personalities involved are wider than you might expect, they're not all introverted nerds.

If you are that new-to-chess reader, enjoy. For me though, I knew the characters, and I knew the story. I've followed chess for a couple decades now so there wasn't much in this book that was new to me. I enjoyed the book, and there is new information from first hand interviews done by Himelfarb with the players. But I don't think it was exactly for me. A game collection might have intimidated the ideal reader (there are no chess diagrams or move notation, everything is described in words) but I think it would have made for a more well rounded book. It's simple enough to look up the games being written about online to follow along, but I would have appreciated some diagrams.

It's a world championship year again in 2026, and as I write this the candidates tournament is on. Hopefully lots of would-be fans will read this book and become new fans.

[Felicia D'Acosta · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was incredible. I'm not really into chess, but I love sports stories, and this gave me all the good characters, thrills, and emotional moments that you get from a good competition narrative. It's funny in parts, moving in parts, it's incredibly gripping, and so informative in a totally readable, interesting way. Would recommend to anyone.

[Enid Wray]

Give this to the chess fanatics in your life but otherwise, pass...

DNF