Chess Novel

At The Review Corner, a post on "The Eight" by Katherine Neville:

....It is the story of a legendary chess service, owned by Charlemagne, that is said to contain the secret to a mystery of great power, a mystery that fuses elements of the Grail Myth with alchemy and Hermeticism. The quest for this chess service serves as the driving force behind the book, and motivates the two protagonists, Catherine Velis and Mireille de Remy. Apparently, the quest for the chess service plays out like a chess game, with two sides, black and white, and each character a piece. Therefore, the main struggle of the book is for Catherine and Mireille, pawns both, to make it to the other side of the board and be made queens....