The Queen’s Gambit (2020) – TV Series Review

Chess isn’t always competitive. Chess can also be beautiful

In the 1960s, when eleven-year-old Beth Harmon’s (Anya Taylor-Joy) mother dies and she lands in an orphanage, she discovers that she’s extraordinarily talented at Chess. She continues to practice and, with the use of drugs and alcohol, becomes an unstoppable force in the male-dominated arena.

If you would have told me to check out a series about a young woman setting out to become the world’s greatest chess player while struggling with drug and alcohol addiction, I would have passed. Well, that’s the show I’m writing about and I’m telling you, it’s much better than it sounds. Even though I had heard some good buzz about The Queen’s Gambit, it still surpassed my expectations and was much better than I would have guessed. Even if it doesn’t sound like your particular cup of tea, I’d still recommend giving it a shot. 

I thought the show started off weird, and there were some periods where Beth hit rock bottom that I didn’t particularly enjoy but, in hindsight, were necessary to make the ending more emotional impactful. Anya Taylor-Joy did a fantastic job as Beth Harmon and demonstrated an impressive range of acting for the role. I also enjoyed seeing Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Benny Watts, but Taylor-Joy really stole the show.

I enjoy the occasional game of Chess but it was crazy seeing the lengths the high level players go for the game. They spend countless hours studying strategy, reading books and replaying old pro’s games to become the very best. The show did a great job showing this and the varying skill levels of each player Beth played. I just never thought that a board game’s skill could reach such an extreme level.

One thing I liked about this series was that it told the full story – no more, no less. They told the story they wanted to tell and that was it. I know Taylor-Joy has expressed interest in returning to the role, but I can’t see a second season being made. And while it seems like something we, the audience, might like to see, continuing on this story unnecessarily can muddy the overall story. I feel the same way about HBO’s Watchmen, where, while it seems like it would be awesome to get another season, the full story was told and there is no need for it.

Something that surprised me was that this was not based on a true story. Since that’s the case, this was definitely portrayed realistically. The Queen’s Gambit is based on the 1983 coming-of-age novel of the same name by Walter Tevis.

Overall, I’d rate The Queen’s Gambit 4 ½ / 5 stars and would recommend checking it out. It was just a good story, plain and simple, and is currently rated at 100% by Rotten Tomatoes. Whether you enjoy Chess or not, or even if you don’t know how to play, this show is still one you’d probably enjoy.