A must-watch: The Queen’s Gambit

by Conrad Schormann
10/26/2020 – On Friday, October 23, Netflix started the "The Queen's Gambit", a new series, in which chess plays a major role. The series is based on the novel of the same name by Walter Tevis, and caused enthusiastic reactions from chess players and non-chess players alike. Conrad Schormann has collected some of them.
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A must-watch: The Queen’s Gambit

David Llada, renowned chess photographer from Spain and FIDE's head of marketing, is soccer fan. And usually the match Real Madrid against FC Barcelona, "El Clasico", as they say in Spain, is a must for him. But this weekend he decided against the "Clasico" and for chess. He had seen the first episode of "The Queen's Gambit" on Netflix, and it so captivated him that he immediately watched the second one.

"The Queen's Gambit" has been eagerly awaited in chess circles. In the center of the plot is chess master Beth Harmon, played by Anya Taylor-Joy. Blessed with an extraordinary gift for chess but tormented by her addictions, Beth has to face strong opponents and inner demons.

For the common chess player it is of course first of all important whether everything is going right in chess. Peter Doggers pursued this question in conversation with producer, director and author Scott Frank.

Doggers' conclusion: "The chess is done right."

So that's settled. Then let's have a look how the series has been received on Twitter. A selection:

SPOILER ALERT

Chess YouTuber agadmator already took a look at the decisive game shown in the series:

A modern classic: Walter Tevis' "The Queen's Gambit".

First published at Perlen vom Bodensee (Translation from German: Johannes Fischer)

The official trailer

Links

Conrad Schormann, skilled newspaper editor, runs an agency for editing and communication in Überlingen, at Lake Constance. But he lacks time to play chess which is partly due to the fact that he very much likes to write about it, for Chessbase, in the Reddit chess forum, or for his chess teaching blog Perlen vom Bodensee...

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