The Pawn
By (Author) Paco Cerd
Translated by Kevin Gerry Dunn
Deep Vellum Publishing
Deep Vellum Publishing
17th September 2025
United States
General
Fiction
Sports fiction
794.10922
Paperback
200
Width 139mm, Height 215mm
A tense examination of early Cold War anxieties, examined through the famous chess match between Spanish Arturito Pomar and American Bobby Fischer.
The Pawn shuttles between the United States, Spain, the Soviet Union, and beyond, tracking the lives of Pomar and Fischer. Using the two chess masters's professional trajectories, Cerd expertly examines the geopolitical anxieties of the world in the 1960's. For fans of Netflix's The Queen's Gambit, The Pawn explores the contentious shadow layers between game and politic, match and war, a pawn and a political tool.
Paco Cerd is a journalist and writer. He is the author of multiple award-winning books. The Pawn is the first book of his to be translated into English.
Kevin Gerry Dunn is a Spanish/English translator and a ghostwriter. His translations include The Tyranny of Flies by Elaine Vilar Madruga, Easy Reading by Cristina Morales, and works by Paul B. Preciado, Mara Bastars, Daniela Tarazona, and Ousman Umar. He has received an English PEN Award, a PEN/Heim Grant, and a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship.