Elsa’s Chessboard

Elsa carries her chessboard everywhere, always ready for a game. When World War II forces her from Europe, can chess help make America home?

Growing up in 1900s Vienna, Elsa’s brothers are always playing chess. ＂No girls!＂ they tell her when she first asks to learn; but she wears them down, and soon she’s such a pro that they give her a special chess set of her own.

Elsa plays chess whenever she can. When she grows up, she even meets her husband over games in the park. But when World War II grips Europe, the young Jewish family must emigrate to America, where they find themselves surrounded by unfamiliar languages.
Luckily, Elsa knows one language that can always bring people together: chess!

In the wake of COVID lockdowns and the hit show The Queen’s Gambit, millions of Americans are falling in love with chess, and young people are no exception. Based on the life of author Jenny Andrus’s grandmother, Elsa’s Chessboard is a gripping tale of resilience, human connection, and the boundless potential of women in male-dominated fields.

Jenny Andrus is a published author, children’s book reviewer, and librarian. As a freelance writer, she has written stories for newspapers and magazines, and co-authored Bay Area Baby, a resource book for parents. She currently reviews children’s books for librarian publications, including SLJ. For fourteen years she was the librarian at Live Oak School in San Francisco.

Julie Downing is the author of Hello, Sun, Hello, Moon, and Night in the City. She has illustrated over forty-five picture books, including Cubs in the Tub by Candace Fleming, The Fire Keeper’s Son by Linda Su Park, and Tessa Takes Wing by Richard Jackson. She has won many awards, including a Parents Choice Award, the New York Public Library’s Best Books Award, APAAL Best Illustrated Book and the Irma Black Silver Medal. Her work has been featured in the SCBWI Original Art Show. She lives in San Francisco.