The world's top chess players gather for a tournament in the Alps: seven men and one woman. The "Queen," Natalie Laurent, is brilliant, provocative, and possibly a cheat, which has earned her many enemies in the male-dominated world of chess. When Laurent's second falls to her death from the roof of the luxury resort, many hypotheses arise: Was a misogynist at work? Was a complicity being silenced? Or did she take her own life? During the ongoing tournament, Leitmayr, Batic, and Hammermann must uncover the tactics and deception behind the scenes to solve the mysterious death. They receive surprising and invaluable help from their forensic pathologist: Dr. Matthias Steinbrecher. He turns out to be a chess ace and proves to the detectives that even pawns can bring down a king.