 Dr. Gregory Holman is in Washington playing in a chess tournament. He is also an intelligence operative for an Eastern European country and may be ready to defect to the United States. He apparently is killed in an explosion in a night club. However, Erskine determines the badly burned body is not Holman. Now, the U.S. and Holman s country are seeking the operative. If the U.S. can convince Holman to defect, valuable information can be decoded before an upcoming peace conference. Erskine must cope with another chess player selling information to both sides and Korvin, the experienced ambassador from Holman s country.