Grandmaster Series by Warren Murphy, Molly Cochran

Two men, born on the same day on opposite sides of the world, driven to oppose each other, for only one man may be the Grandmaster. Justin Gilead and Alexander Zharkov, two men driven by powerful forces they can neither understand nor deny--driven to fight each other in a battle for power that only one of them may win. Gilead is a magnificent athlete, an American, a genius, and a spy... moreTwo men, born on the same day on opposite sides of the world, driven to oppose each other, for only one man may be the Grandmaster. Justin Gilead and Alexander Zharkov, two men driven by powerful forces they can neither understand nor deny--driven to fight each other in a battle for power that only one of them may win. Gilead is a magnificent athlete, an American, a genius, and a spy. Zharkov is a master strategist, head of the feared secret service agency Nichevo, and a determined, ambitious man. They first meet as ten-year-old chess prodigies--both lonely, intent on winning, both wearing the symbol of the gold coiled serpent. They know the uses of pleasure, the secrets of pain, the impact of evil turned upon itself. They understand the deadly forces that grip the world in swift violence, and sudden death. But only one man may be the Grandmaster. Grandmaster is an extraordinary tale of spymasters and assassins, murder and intrigue played out against a background of Far Eastern mysticism from Moscow to Washington, from Havana to Tibet. less

Justin Gilead: brilliant American superspy and chess prodigyAlexander Zharkov: ruthless head of the secret Soviet agency Proven masters of the sudden-death game of global espionage, born under the same ominous stars, they are forever locked in mortal opposition. When a gruesome series of killings of Americans in Moscow threatens to rock the command centers of both the Kremlin and White House, both men claim the bloody streets of Moscow as their own personal gameboard in a rematch to the death... moreJustin Gilead: brilliant American superspy and chess prodigyAlexander Zharkov: ruthless head of the secret Soviet agency Proven masters of the sudden-death game of global espionage, born under the same ominous stars, they are forever locked in mortal opposition. When a gruesome series of killings of Americans in Moscow threatens to rock the command centers of both the Kremlin and White House, both men claim the bloody streets of Moscow as their own personal gameboard in a rematch to the death. But neither is aware that another opponent has entered the game ... an opponent so powerful he makes murder seem like child's play ...Moving from the cloistered worlds of Tibetan monasteries to the tense corridors of paranoia in Washington and Moscow, this edge-of-the-seat thriller is a jolting tour of the deadly forces that grip the world - and the long-awaited continuation of the Grandmaster legend. less