There’s something deeply comforting about a story where a group of seemingly mismatched kids come together over a shared passion—and The Winning Move delivers that feeling in the most grounded, heartfelt way.

I picked this up because I love stories about quiet resilience—those small, determined acts of finding your people and your purpose. And in this middle-grade graphic novel, that happens over chessboards, inside school libraries, and in the quiet struggles of kids just trying to be seen and understood.

I love the layers in everyone's character and how beautifully their story is woven in the moves of the game. Book personally feels like an invitation to play.

It’s a story that reminds you that your “winning move” doesn’t always happen on the board; sometimes it’s just showing up, finding your people, and staying in the game. It left me feeling warm, inspired, and oddly eager to dust off my old chessboard.

Halima loves chess and wants to start a club. At first not enough people show up, but then mysterious notes are found in books and lockers and that lures in Daniel. They finally have four players so a club is formed. After playing and practicing the club finds they’re having fun and building teamwork. Their confidence grows. The advisor announces a tournament with other teams. At the tournament Halima wonders if Blake and Parker are cheating. What happens?
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

I recieved a free eARC of this book. Thank you for the opportunity to read it.

Halima loves chess more than almost anything. With the help of her friend, Jem, who loves to bake, and is willing to be supportive even though chess isn’t their favorite thing to do by a long shot, Parker, who just wants ro win at something, and Daniel who finds a chess puzzle in the library, they create a chess club….but learning ro work together may be harder than they expect.

I loved the range of children represented in this book, and the general character development. This is an enjoyable middle grade novel. It seems likely to be a set up for a series, which is welcome.

Halima Kasim loves to play chess, but doesn't have enough people to play games with her. Her cousin Abdi lived in Kenya with a lot of extended Somali family, and he will play online with her sometimes, but her siblings aren't interested. Halima convinces her best friend, Jem, to play with her as a way to distract her from the death of her beloved grandfather, and the two approach Ms. Barnes to be their faculty advisor for a chess club. They recruit Parker, whose siblings play a lot of sports, and who wants something competitive that might make his parents pay attention to him. Daniel finds mysterious chess notes in library books and is lured into the club as well. The group has to deal with Lucas, an annoying bully whom Jem stand up to, and well as former friend Blake who sometimes gives them problems. Jem struggles with anger issues. The group spends a lot of time practicing, and eventually has a match against another team. The book includes many chess diagrams and descriptions of moves.

I really liked Duffy's illustrations, and this has more descriptions of the game of chess than most books I've read. Jem seemed like the main character to me, and her baking and dealing with the death of her grandfather was more prevalent than Halima's challenges. Pair this with Giles' Not an Easy Win or Gerber's Focused for readers who want stories centered around chess.