The Queen’s gambit For those of you who don’t know its story is a new mini-series released on Netflix and it’s been trending everywhere on the globe.
But must you watch this series? Is it worth spending your 7 valuable hours? What are you able to expect out of it? Is it just for Chess players or maybe non-chess players can watch it?
Let`s do Chess Talk.
Contents
Beth Harmon is a character on a combination of real chess prodigies:
It’s so refreshing to see a series w

here chess takes center-stage. We have seen numerous movies based on popular athletic sports and players, like say basketball, football, or maybe cricket. But for the primary time that any mainstream series or movie has been made especially for chess in such an impressive way which too on a premium OTT platform, Netflix.
How the Queen’s Gambit plays Chess:
Here, chess is that the hero & not just an adjunct to the story. You get to check what actually goes around the
game of chess, how a young player becomes a great player. You see plenty of nail-biting chess games. And that, I feel is incredibly fascinating for all chess lovers. Anya Taylor played Beth Harmon Joy, who is that the protagonist during this series. It’s a powerful character and you get invested in the journey of this girl who seems a bit quiet, detached, and fairly unremarkable until she discovers her incredible talent for the game of chess.
also, this story shows us her talent alone is not sufficient. What makes her an excellent player, is her passion
& her dedication towards the sport, her obsession with winning & with improving, and her curiosity to learn from everyone. While sleeping, all she is dreaming about is chess – her moves and her games. She is pretty confident also. Despite battling inner demons, substance addictions & the difficulties of life, she still finds how to become a chess stalwart. But even with all her achievements, it’s quite evident that Beth isn’t an ideal person, and that’s what makes it more real & relatable.
What to Know About the Queen’s gambit :
Another defining element of the story is that the relationships that Beth forms over the years. Although she is somewhat of a social recluse, she has these amazing bonds together with her trainer, her adoptive mother, her friends, and her colleagues.
In particular, her emotional connection with
her trainer is extremely endearing. It is such a subtle portrayal of how affection and care are expressed silently, with just chess being the subject of communication. That was really interesting to observe. Anya’s acting is mesmerizing. She isn’t only convincing as a chess genius, but also as a detached one that can sometimes seem a touch arrogant. She portrays her character beautifully.
Character Beth Harmon: The Rise & Falls of Chess.
The chess component is well-informed and very much reported. The game is appropriately respected by utilizing specialized terms like the Sicilian safeguard, the Najdorf, the Scholar’s mate everybody truly cherishes that as a player. There’s an instance where the young Beth is playing 12 masters, all directly, and crushing them. This seems to possess been inspired by the Simultaneous games of our real-life Grandmasters like Bobby Fischer or Magnus Carlsen. And that again is a powerful integration to the story.
This series is predicated within the 1950s & 1960s and if you have ever been intrigued by the good games of Capablanca, Fischer, Paul Morphy, or Mikhail Tal, you’ll get an insight into how they wont to play, travel & participate in tournaments in that era. Those were purely physical tournaments. Now we see a great deal of online chess. But it’s nice to check how chess was played in those good old days.
It’s refreshing to check the players analyzing their games, sitting over the board discussing among themselves rather than just looking at chess engines. You won’t find any internet in the least. And you’ll see all the old-fashioned modes of communication – like newspapers, telephones, and radio. Also, the competition between the players, the vintage setting, the originality & the novelty that they need to be maintained throughout these chess sequences make it really fascinating Another theme touched upon, is how in this period – much importance was given to the fact that she was a lady, excelling at a male-dominated sport.
In the coming days, she proves her abilities, forcing everyone to require a note of her skill instead of her gender. And that also has been brought out well in the story. Look, chess isn’t a physical sport; it’s
all in the mind. And so it becomes very difficult to bring out that element of drama convincingly. There is not much action happening aside from moving the wooden pieces on the board.
Even the players, for the foremost part, have
only a subtle visual communication, and that they don’t show intense emotions or expressions. But somehow, the makers have done an excellent job at capturing and dramatizing the high tension in those chess tournaments, and the absolute obsessiveness that the sport can inspire. The chess sequences are electrifying. Of course, the setup, the scenes, the editing, the background score – all that increase the
Supporting Cast:
All the opposite supporting cast – her friend Jolene, Harry, Benny, Townes, the janitor Mr. Shaibel, her adoptive mother – all have played their roles just right. So of these stellar performances are another good reason to observe The Queen’s Gambit.
Effect.
There are scenes where Beth goes through all the moving combinations in her mind – and we get to check what she sees in her head – and these scenes are an absolute visual delight. Now for the people that don’t know much about
chess, you would like not to fret.
Player.
All the fundamentals that you simply got to enjoy the series – you’ll learn alongside Beth. You’ll constantly find her asking questions from people, and also the answers will assist you
Editing
editing, the acting, they’re all ok to give you a way of what’s happening
In the series.
As it is, they need not shown complete games in the series, they’ve just created some exciting moments and built up chess conversations around them, that’s subtle, at a similar time very
Engaging.
So all in all, you’ll still understand & enjoy the series although you don’t have much knowledge about chess. Now keeping chess aside, is that this really worth the watch? Of course, Yes! There’s drama, there’s this passion, there
are these strong, engaging characters and their relationships! The performances are outstanding.
Conclusion:
What more could you ask of an entertainment series! If nothing else, watch it to follow the journey
of Beth. Her dilemmas, human conflicts, the extreme games she plays. Are all very captivating. And for chess lovers.
All this is often just icing on the cake! You will definitely enjoy the games, you will love the Chess Talks!
Just sign in to Netflix. And watch The Queen’s Gambit.
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