It was the runaway hit that nobody saw coming, yet this show just broke the all-time record for the most watched scripted limited series on Netflix, gaining 62 million viewers in under a month. That show is none other than The Queen’s Gambit, a deliciously magnetic and watchable new series based on Walter Tevis’ novel of the same name. It follows Beth Harmon, a young chess prodigy from Kentucky in the late ’50s who grows up to achieve incredible fame in a male-dominated world while also struggling with a tranquiliser addiction that threatens to consume her.
Word-of-mouth seems to have been this show’s vehicle of success – I never saw a trailer or even heard about The Queen’s Gambit until its lead actress (Anya Taylor-Joy in a mesmerising, career-making performance) posted about it on her Instagram. Nevertheless, it’s become my new obsession – it’s fantastic. I love it because it immerses its viewers into the world of chess without delving too far into the intricate mechanics of the game, while also refraining from dumbing it down entirely. You get all of the tense psychological thrills of the game without feeling like you’re in over your head.
I’m not about to learn how to become a Grandmaster of chess anytime soon, but I do feel the absence of the show’s magnificent drama and taut mid-century visual aesthetic in my regular viewing schedule (though, there is always Mad Men). But if, like me, you find yourself wanting more, here are some books that might fill the Queen’s Gambit-shaped hole in your life. Read on …
The Queen’s Gambit
by Walter Tevis
When she is sent to an orphanage at the age of eight, Beth Harmon soon discovers two ways to escape her surroundings, albeit fleetingly: playing chess and taking the little green pills given to her and the other children to keep them subdued. Before long, it becomes apparent that hers is a prodigious talent, and as she progresses to the top of the US chess rankings she is able to forge a new life for herself. But she can never quite overcome her urge to self-destruct. For Beth, there’s more at stake than merely winning and losing.
Buy it here
The Luzhin Defense
by Vladimir Nabokov, translated by Michael Scammell
Nabokov said of his chess-playing genius Luzhin, that despite his coarseness and grubby plainness, he is a lovable creation. Discovering his prodigious gift in boyhood, rising to the rank of international Grandmaster, Luzhin develops a lyrical passion for chess that renders the real world a phantom. As he confronts the fiery, swift-swooping Italian Grandmaster, Turati, he brings into play his carefully-devised defence. Making masterly play of metaphor and imagery, The Luzhin Defense is the book that, of his early works, Nabokov felt ‘contains and diffuses the greatest warmth’.
Buy it here
A Game of Chess and Other Stories
by Stefan Zweig, translated by James Bowman
When it is discovered that the reigning world chess champion, Mirko Czentovic, is on board a cruiser heading for Buenos Aires, a fellow passenger challenges him to a game. Czentovic easily defeats him, but during the rematch a mysterious Austrian, Dr B., intervenes and, to the surprise of everyone, helps the underdog obtain a draw. When, the next day, Dr B. confides in a compatriot travelling on the same ship and decides to reveal the harrowing secret behind his formidable chess knowledge, a chilling tale of imprisonment and psychological torment unfolds.
Buy it here
Queen of Katwe: One Girl’s Triumphant Path to Becoming a Chess Champion
By Tim Crothers
Phiona Mutesi sleeps in a mud hut with her mother and siblings, and struggles to find a meal each day. She is also one of the best chess players in the world. By the age of 11, Phiona was Uganda’s junior champion; at 15, she was the national champion. In 2010, she traveled to Siberia to compete in the Chess Olympiad, the world’s most prestigious team-chess event. Phiona’s dream is to become a chess grand master. But to reach that goal, she must grapple with life in one of the world’s most unstable countries — a place where girls are taught to be mothers, not dreamers, and the threats of AIDS, kidnapping, and starvation loom constantly.
Buy it here
Gentlemen & Players
by Joanne Harris
At St Oswald’s, a long-established boys’ grammar school in the north of England, a new year has just begun. For the staff and boys of the school, a wind of unwelcome change is blowing. Suits, paperwork and Information Technology rule the world; and Roy Straitley, the eccentric veteran Latin master, is finally – reluctantly – contemplating retirement. But beneath the little rivalries, petty disputes and everyday crises of the school, a darker undercurrent stirs. And a bitter grudge, hidden and carefully nurtured for thirteen years, is about to erupt.
Buy it here
Chess Bitch: Women in the Ultimate Intellectual Sport
by Jennifer Shahade
In the game of chess, where being female has been long considered a major disadvantage, the strongest piece – the Queen – is often referred to as “bitch.” Chess Bitch, written by the 2004 U.S. Woman’s Chess Champion Jennifer Shahade, is an eye-opening account of how today’s young female chess players are successfully knocking down the doors to this traditionally male game, infiltrating the male-owned sporting subculture of international chess, and giving the phrase “play like a girl” a whole new meaning.
Buy the eBook here
—The Queen’s Gambit is showing on Netflix now.
About the Contributor
Olivia Fricot
Olivia Fricot (she/her) is Booktopia's Senior Content Producer and editor of the Booktopian blog. She has too many plants and not enough bookshelves, and you can usually find her reading, baking, or talking to said plants. She is pro-Oxford comma.
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