In 1984, the Siberian natural gas pipeline was completed on schedule. This was unexpected, given that the pipeline had been a contributing factor in a "trade war" between the USA and Western European countries, led by West Germany, in the previous years. For the first time in two decades, Germany and the wider European community collectively succeeded in asserting their right to freedom of energy choice in their negotiations with the USSR, despite the United States maintaining its trade and energy-related commodities embargo against Moscow. Chess Moves in the Energy Market is the story of how this happened, how for thirty years West Germany used energy trade as a strategic tool for economic and political rapprochement between East and West, prioritized energy security over Cold War dynamics, and ultimately became dependent on Russian natural gas.