A Tribeca book company convinced the mom of a chess prodigy to sink thousands into a publishing deal, then failed to promote the boy’s tome and threatened to call checkmate on the child’s career, according to the lawsuit.
Oliver Boydell, 12 is a chess wunderkind with two national junior championships and a New York City championship under his belt.
Oliver’s mom, Tiffany, signed a deal with Metabook Inc. which called for the family to invest $40,000 and be a “true partner” with the company, which would “vigorously promote the book,” she said in a Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit.
Instead, Metabook “pocketed Tiffany’s money while effectively abandoning the project, and became an aggressive and rapacious impediment to Oliver’s chess career and opportunities, Boydell charges in court papers.
Oliver’s “He’s Got Moves: 25 Legendary Chess Games as Analyzed by a Smart Kid,” was published in 2020. Metabook rejected a chance to publish the boy’s second book, which was instead picked up by Random House.
Boydell is suing Metabook for $200,000 damages, claiming the company “threatened to bring knowingly false claims regarding Oliver’s second book in order to intimidate him and his mother and to interfere with Oliver’s chess and publishing career.”
The accusations are “profoundly inaccurate,” a spokeswoman for the company said, noting the boy’s book was featured in The Post, The New York Times and on “Good Morning America” and that Boydell “communicated her high level of satisfaction with how Metabook promoted and handled the book.”
