0
0
A mother and her two teenage sons ask what happens to our own judgment when a machine can find the perfect move in half a second.
October 12, 2026: Astitva Prakashan announces the upcoming release of Raising Chess Knight: Two Brothers, One Question – How to Think in the Age of AI, a family memoir co-written by educator Mohana Mukherjee Das and her sons, Dron Acharya Das and Druheen Acharya Das. Part memoir, part parenting book and part chess book, it takes a personal look at a question facing families and classrooms everywhere: when answers become effortless, who decides which ones to trust?
The authors’ answer begins at home. Dron and Druheen are brothers growing up under the same roof, alongside the same technology, and they have learned to think in very different ways. Dron questions the answer. He pushes past the obvious, tests the logic and keeps thinking until the reasoning holds. Druheen sees the opening others miss. He trusts his instinct, moves before certainty arrives and learns by stepping into the unknown. Both are competitive chess players and powerlifters who have grown up with chess engines like Stockfish in their pockets, much as earlier generations grew up with calculators.
The book opens in a hotel parking lot before a tournament. An engine is open on a phone, and a teenager’s thumb hovers over the analysis button. “What if I never learn to see this on my own?” he asks himself. From there the book moves through tournament halls and powerlifting platforms, through classrooms, and around a scarred kitchen table. Along the way come a grandfather’s simple question about why the pawn moves the way it does, and a mother on the phone with a teacher about yet another AI-written essay.
The family does not tell readers to put the phone down. They use engines and ask for help when they need it. Their argument is about sequence: struggle first, then check, and form the question before outsourcing the answer. In their view, the future belongs to neither humans nor machines. It belongs to those who know how to use both without surrendering the judgment, courage and curiosity that make their thinking their own.
The book is written in three distinct voices. Mohana writes from the classroom and the home, and her sons write from the chessboard and the gym. The seams are left visible on purpose, because the book shows three people with different relationships to the same problem still sitting at the same table.
Raising Chess Knight has already drawn encouragement for the authors’ work. The back cover carries words from President Donald J. Trump of the White House (“Your dedication and hard work will make a meaningful difference in the world”), Senator Elissa Slotkin of the United States Senate (“Our country needs more young leaders like you”), and a State of Michigan Special Tribute, which calls it “a heartfelt work that blends personal stories, competitive experience, and parenting insights.”
Who it’s for
- Parents and educators concerned about how AI is shaping the way children think
- Chess families and the wider competitive-sports community
- Readers who prefer a memoir-driven argument to a policy-driven one
About the Authors
Mohana Mukherjee Das is an educator, school leader and author whose work centers on curiosity, judgment and independent thinking in a rapidly changing world. Dron Acharya Das and Druheen Acharya Das are brothers, high school students, competitive chess players, powerlifters and authors. They are part of a generation learning not simply how to use AI, but how to think alongside it.
Book Details
- Title: Raising Chess Knight: Two Brothers, One Question – How to Think in the Age of AI
- Authors: Mohana Mukherjee Das, Dron Acharya Das and Druheen Acharya Das
- Publisher: Astitva Prakashan
- Category: Non-Fiction / General
- ISBN: 978-93-76866-51-9
- Price: MRP ₹250.00
- Formats: Paperback; also available as an e-book
- Release: Coming soon
Media Contact
[email protected] | www.astitvaprakashan.com
Review copies and interview requests are available on request.
The machine can answer. The next move is yours.