The Queen’s Gambit (2020)

I watched the 7 episodes that make up the Netflix original series The Queen’s Gambit. Whether you like chess or not, I believe, you will enjoy this show. It is based on the 1983 novel of the same name by author Walter Tevis (wrote short stories and 6 novels, 3 of which were make into movies; The Hustler, The Man Who Fell To Earth and The Color of Money). The story is about a nine year old, orphaned girl, who lost her mother in a car crash, that is taken to an orphanage, learns to play chess from the janitor and becomes a prodigy.

Tranquilizer pills are given to all the girls and she becomes addicted as they enhance her vision into playing chess. She is adopted by a dysfunctional family and begins to play in chess tournaments.

The story is about Beth Harmon, played in flashbacks at 5 years old by Annabeth Kelly, 9 years old by Isla Johnston and then by Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch, Split, Thoroughbreds, Glass, Irene Curie in Radioactive, Emma, The Miniaturist, Peaky Binders).

The janitor, William Shaibel is played by Bill Camp (Lincoln, 12 Years as a Slave, Love and Mercy, Loving, Molly’s Game, Vice, Wildlife, The Night Of, The Outsider, Jason Bourne, Red Sparrow, Joker, Dark Waters, News of the World), Jolene is played by Moses Ingram (actress and writer),

the director of Methuen Home for Girls is played by Christiane Seidel (an American-born German-Danish actress, Godless, Boardwalk Empire), Beth’s deceased mom played by Chloe Pirrie (BBC television and British films),

Mr. Fergusson the orderly at Methuen played by Akemnji Ndifornyen (BBC television and British films), Alma Wheatley is Beth’s adoptive mom played by Marielle Heller (A Walk Among the Tombstones),

chess player Harry Beltick is played by Harry Melling (Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter movies, The Current War), Beth’s adoptive father is Patrick Kennedy (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides),

chess player Benny Watts is played by Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Russian chess player Vasily Borgov is played by Marcin Dorociński (Polish film and television actor). I enjoyed this mini-series and will give it a 5 out of 5 stars. I have more to say but they are spoilers so I will post a part two to address my other comments. For more information read Wikipedia, IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes.