The Rook's Replacement Paperback – January 8, 2026

IT'S NOT EASY TO REPLACE A ROOK!It’s summer, and The Checkmates are headed off to camp. Of course, Garrett is bringing his chess set along! But there’s a problem. His dog, Smokey, chewed up one of his white rooks, and it’s going to take a few days for it to be repaired. In the meantime, he is using a fancy pewter castle in place of the rook. The chess pieces welcome the new fancy castle. The problem is… the snobby, fancy castle doesn’t want to be part of the chess set!Praise for Book 1 in the series, The Pawn's Puzzlement---“A very enjoyable children’s story on chess and more. It teaches the great lesson of chess: that everybody who has ever played chess has lost, but you get to set the pieces up once more and try again. There's also a warm lesson about friendship. You can’t ask much more of a children’s book.”Pete Tamburro, Senior EditorAmerican Chess Magazine Read more