The book cover.
Grandmaster is a 2014 Young Adult novel by David Klass. The book focuses around Daniel Platzer, a young and seemingly unskilled chessplayer who is invited to join a chess tournament by his jock teammates even though he doesn't deem himself capable. The catch: It's a father-son tournament, and they found out that Daniel's father was once one of the most promising chess players of America, which Daniel never knew of...This novel contains examples of:
- Accidental Hero: Daniel is quite unremarkable at first, but in the end he Saves his father's life, beats two chess players way out of his league, and secures the competition victory.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Averted with Britney. She is the girlfriend of Brad Kinney, one of the most attractive and successful guys in their school, who is also majorly disrespectful towards her. In the end she realizes close to the end that this kind of relationship does not make her happy.
- Big Bad: George Liszt is a dedicated chessplayer who is ready to use every dirty trick possible to win, and he is the archenemy of Daniel's father.
- Celebrity Is Overrated: Discussed. Morris keeps on contemplating if he did the right decision when he stopped playing chess, trading between a normal and happy family life on the one hand, and fame, success and wealth on the other hand.
- Central Theme:
- Never give up before you have played a game. Don't be discouraged by the seemingly great records of your opponents.
- No great career is worth it if you cannot find happiness in it.
- Child Popstar: Liu is revealed to be the front singer of a teenage band.
- Dark and Troubled Past: The reason why Morris Pratzer kept his chess carreer a secret from his family. Not only did he grow up without friends and any love interest, he also almost killed an opponent during a match, and was on the verge of killing himself a few times.
- Deadpan Snarker: Liu is never short on witty responses or comebacks, but she is a genuinely nice person regardless.
- Hoist by His Own Petard:
- Burghoff, Daniel's second opponent, is so arrogant towards their respective ratings that he is not focused enough and makes a terrible mistake, enabling Daniel to win.
- George Liszt tried to stir up Daniel's team by telling him his father's past. Just because he did this, Daniel knew what was wrong in the final battle and was able to save his father and his game.
- I Just Want to Have Friends: This is why Daniel's father once stopped playing chess - he never had a girlfriend or friends while he was doing it.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Daniel is warned by George Liszt about what happened the last time his father played in a chess tournament. Liszt's intention is solely to steer unrest in the opposing team, but he has a point.
- Karaoke Bonding Scene: Zig-zagged, when the whole chess team is having a karaoke party on the second evening. It's played straight with Daniel and Liu, but subverted with Morris and Liu's mother, which led to nowhere and outright inverted with Brad and Stacey, who break up on the same evening and mere minutes after their performance together.
- Not Good with Rejection: Brad reacts violently towards Stacey when the latter ended the relationship.
- Parent-Child Team: Every team in the chess competition is this: Daniel and Morris, Eric and Dr. Chisholm, Brad and Randolph, Liu and her mother.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Moffatt, Daniel's fifth opponent, is a rich billionaire who attempts to bribe Daniel to victory. Daniel refuses and wins the game.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Eric Chisholm and Brad Kinney are complete pricks towards Daniel at first, but especially the former warms up for him considerably during the novel, dropping almost all the insults by the end.
