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Watching The Queen’s Gambit Doesn’t Make You Good at Chess
Prepare for another chess popularity boom
If you haven’t seen the latest phenomenon to take the world by storm yet on Netflix, The Queen’s Gambit, you’re truly missing out on something special. Based on the novel written in 1983 by Walter Tevis, the show follows the life of a chess prodigy named Elizabeth Harmon. She is discovered in an orphanage by a janitor named Mr. Shaibel who works there and enjoys studying and playing chess in the basement by himself. When he begins teaching her the game, he quickly realizes her talent is of a genius level, and tries to help her develop and hone her skill.
While fictitious, the character of Elizabeth Harmon, played marvelously by Anya Taylor-Joy, is enthralling, and her journey showcases the exciting potential of pure talent, while also highlighting many of its dangers. Along the way she must face personal demons of drug abuse and deal with her past traumas, while at the same time navigating a world built to suppress her talents because she isn’t the right gender. All of this is captivating and exceptionally well-crafted in its story and production value, making it another rousing success from the Netflix studio, and the second such success from writer/director Scott Frank. His series Godless, a western starring Jeff Daniels, is also beyond excellent.
