Review: Chess For Babies - Levy Rozman

Review: Chess for Babies - Levy Rozman - March 2026

I'll be honest with you: when this ARC landed in my hands, I laughed. Chess for Babies? My first thought was that it had to be a novelty gift , the kind of thing you buy for the chess-obsessed uncle who already has everything. But then I sat down with it, and I completely changed my tune.

Levy Rozman  better known online as GothamChess, International Master and one of the most beloved chess educators on YouTube has done something genuinely clever here. He's taken a game that intimidates grown adults and distilled it into its purest, most joyful form. The board book walks tiny readers through the names of the pieces, the basics of how each one moves, and the concept of what it means to win. That's it. No openings, no tactics puzzles, no commentary about the Sicilian Defence. Just the beautiful bones of the game, served up in a format a baby can hold with both chubby fists.

What makes this book work , really work  is the illustrations. Bold, high-contrast, and visually striking, they're designed specifically to support early infant development. Babies are drawn to strong contrast before their vision fully matures, and the art here clearly had that science front of mind. The pieces are rendered with personality and clarity, and the whole book has this wonderful sense of playfulness that never tips into being garish or overwhelming.

As someone who has gifted baby shower books for years and agonised over finding something that feels both smart and sweet, Chess for Babies hits a note I rarely see. It doesn't talk down to the child or the parent. There's a quiet confidence to it , the assumption that even the smallest person deserves to be introduced to something genuinely great.

Will your baby absorb the rules of chess from this book? Almost certainly not yet. But that's not the point. The point is storytime that plants a seed, a tactile object they'll chew on and point at, and a moment of connection between caregiver and child over something beautiful and brainy. Levy Rozman's warmth as a teacher shines through every page.

Whether you're raising a future grandmaster or just want something a little different for the nursery shelf, Chess for Babies is an absolute first move. I'm already planning to buy three copies for every baby in my life.

Amazon: https://amzn.to/4uy7fk0