Hatley High

Plot

Tommy Linklater is an eighteen-year-old whose magic, though usually small-scale, is the real thing because he actually pulls off the impossible. He discovers that his childhood habit of playing chess with his mother was a special talent she passed on to him. His father, Herman, is a physicist convinced that science will eventually explain everything in the universe. After Tommy's mother Melanie dies, they learn she owned a house in the small lakeside town of North Hatley, a place they never knew about. They decide to spend a year there so Herman can finish writing his cosmology book. Once they arrive, they find out Melanie was a famous figure in town. She left North Hatley after deliberately losing a chess match against the town's top Russian rivals, forcing the locals to see how their pressure to win had ruined the spirit of the game. Her photos and trophies are displayed all over town.

Tommy enrolls at Hatley High, which is best known for its Knights chess team, ranked internationally. He makes friends with Julius, a basketball star who secretly loves surfing, and two charming, ambitious guys named Trevor and Darryl who call themselves the Syndicate. He also starts dating Hyacinthe Marquez, a beautiful, witty cheerleader who can do cartwheels as easily as she quotes Oscar Wilde. Meanwhile, Herman is bothered by the town priest, Lorne Granger, a physics enthusiast who casually chats with God. Herman is uneasy around clergy, but Lorne's passion for physics eventually wins him over. Herman has a breakthrough when Lorne shows him an equation that shouldn't exist, allowing Herman to complete his book but forcing him to face the idea that the universe isn't a simple clockwork machine.

Shaun Rodes, the arrogant captain of the chess team, keeps trying to get Tommy to play him, wanting to see if Tommy inherited his mother's skill. Tommy refuses, but Hyacinthe arranges a game after school. Tommy loses and scolds her for betraying him. Shaun, however, suspects Tommy threw the match. Hyacinthe wins Tommy back by singing outside his window, and he forgives her. Still doubtful, Shaun invites Tommy to an illegal, high-stakes chess club filled with shady characters, attractive women, and cash.