England, 1546. A young Princess Elizabeth is surrounded by uncertainty. The Blac
k Death stalks the land and with it deadly conspiracies against her. She is not
currently in line for the throne, but she remains a threat to her older sister a
nd brother. In the midst of this fevered atmosphere comes an unprecedented invit
ation from the Sultan in Constantinople. He seeks to assemble the finest players
of chess from the whole civilised world and pit them against each other. The pr
ize? Fabulous wealth but also the honour of Christendom. Roger Ascham, Elizabeth
's teacher and mentor, is determined to keep her out of harm's way and also cont
inue her education in the art of power and politics. Ascham resolves to take Eli
zabeth with him when he accompanies the English chess champion to the Ottoman ca
pital. But once there, the two find more danger than they left behind.
