SIX-TIME British Women’s Chess Champion Jovanka Houska has embarked on a new adventure…by releasing her own erotic novel!
Titled ‘The Mating Game,’ the book takes on a ’50 Shades of Grey’ style as she writes all about steamy situations in the world of chess.
We follow the life of 26-year-old protagonist Vanny as she begins her quest of fulfilling her dream of becoming a Grandmaster, and the ups and downs of her love-life along the way.
The book is co-authored with James Essinger, and he said of novel. “I had the idea of a beautiful and passionate heroine who had the basic problem that she was only attracted to guys who could beat her at chess. And so Vanny was born.”
Houska has also spoken of how the book is being greeted in the chess community as she lifts the lid of what really goes on behind tournaments.
She said: “I think that international tournaments are not that dissimilar to The Mating Game!
“So far, I’ve had a lot of funny comments from people I’ve not really expected them from – they’ve all been really supportive.
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“I hope that people will realise that it is not just about sex, or chess, but a powerful, romantic story too.”
She has however advised any parents not to let any budding chess youngsters get their hands on it, she said: “I would definitely not recommend that any children read this book, though!”
Houska has also came out and lambasted Anastasia from 50 Shades of Grey claiming she is too submissive, and that her own character Vanny is more independent and would not stand to be controlled by anyone.
The 36-year-old has also revealed which chapter readers should jump to if there interested in raunchy action.
HISTORY OF CHESS
- Chess goes back to almost 1500 years ago.
- It originated in India in the 6th century AD, before spreading to Persia and Southern Europe.
- 1495: First printed chess book
- By the end of the 15th century, moves of the pieces changed, which included pawns being able to move two squares on, the king moving one space either side and the queen jumping twice diagonally, before being allowed to roam free
- 1836: First chess magazine
- 1849: First national chess tournament
- 1851: First international chess tournament
- 1866: First match to be times by clock
- 1883: Chess clocks used for the first time
- 1886: First chess world championship
She said: “Chapter 19 is pretty raunchy! Vanny goes to visit Tom and it’s pretty racy stuff!”
So what was the reason why she took the plunge in writing an erotic novel? Well it all started when she met Essinger around 2005 and they both had plans to get chess into the mainstream.
Talks of a quiz show fizzled out with TV companies, then a non-fiction book based on the chemistry of players was turned down, before they decided to start to write a novel in 2009 together, sending each other daily emails on ideas and plot lines.
What is Houska's ultimate dream? That Scarlett Johansson plays the role of Vanny if the book is ever turned into a film.
You can download the first ten chapters of 'The Mating Game' on Amazon as a taster to see whether you enjoy it - the novel is available to buy in a Paperback or Kindle edition.
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