The Queen's Gambit

 

I had heard some good things about the mini-series, The Queen’s Gambit, so I bit down hard on my principles and signed up with Netflix at least temporarily so I could see this series.  It seemed like it was on everyone’s top 10 list for 2020 and I was moreover curious to see how someone could create a compelling drama out of chess.

I have had a personal fascination with the game since grade school, when Bobby Fischer became a virtual rock star by beating Boris Spassky in 1972.   I have dipped in an out of the game periodically and gave it up for awhile after getting my ego seriously bruised due to a shellacking by an 8 year old kid in a tournament.  Yet, the game has always fascinated me because of its structure, its beauty and the quirky people that get absorbed in it.

The Queen’s Gambit did not disappoint.   Based on the novel by Walter Tevis (published in 1983), The Queen’s Gambit centers on the trials and tribulations of Beth Harmon, played masterfully by Anya Taylor-Joy.  The series is set in the late 60’s and somewhat of a timepiece as well.   Harmon is orphaned and is sent to live in an orphanage.  She is introverted and self-marginalizing when she first arrives.  As had been the practice, the resident children were given tranquilizers and it is there that little Beth begins her struggle with drugs and alcohol.  It is also in the orphanage that nine year old Beth begins her chess journey by befriending the maintenance man, Mr. Shaibel, played by Bill Camp, a chess enthusiast that not only teaches her how to play, but teaches her the sportsmanship and manners of the game.

I wrote a piece last year about Bobby Fischer and Janis Joplin, two iconic figures of that era.  Both Fischer and Joplin were enormously talented---geniuses in their respective fields, socially awkward, with troubled, self-destructive tendencies. 

One of the outstanding features of the mini-series is the way the creators managed to borrow bits of the characters of both Fischer and Joplin and synthesize them in Beth Harmon.  Harmon had Fischer’s temperamental nature, fierce competitiveness and need for solitude.  After she is adopted, like Fischer, she grows up in a single parent household.   The series has all the elements of great storymaking—an enigmatic, talented central character possessed of exceptional talent, yet has internal demons to overcome.  Overlayed on all this is a coming of age story, as this abandoned little girl grows and develops into a world class competitor.  We see Beth develop as a complete person—emotionally, intellectually, and sexually.   She evolves from a somewhat surly little girl to a fully blossomed woman competing in a largely male world.  The storyline is also a timepiece, with the Cold War as a backdrop, setting the state for Beth to compete against the Soviet juggernaut, as did Bobby Fischer almost 50 years ago.

One aspect of the mini-series that I found most compelling was her struggles to develop normal relationships, and we see her grow as the series progresses.  Because of her status as an orphan and later abandonments, her instincts are to be aloof and standoffish.  Yet, she is able to forge relationships with Mr. Shaibel and her adoptive mother, as surrogate parents.   And she finds at least some level of kinship with Jolie from the orphanage, Benny, her sometimes chess opponent, sometimes tutor and sometimes lover, and Harry, also her sometimes friend, lover wannabe and tutor.   These people also struggle with her, each in his or her own way, to accept Beth on her terms. 

The chess scenes were excellent.  While they speeded up play for the series, they captured the realism and the intensity of tournament play.   The producers used former world champion Garry Kasparov and chess coach Bruce Pandolfini as consultants to the series.  The camera work was superb and focused a great deal on close facial expressions during play. 

And, as an aside, yet another Polish actor makes a splash.  Marcin Dorocinski convincingly plays the steely and taciturn Russian champion Vasily Borgov (turned down the role).   This continues a great run for Polish talent as of late.  Zophia Wichlacz lit up the stage in the PBS mini-series World on Fire and Magdalena Kolesnik blew audiences away with her stunning performance in Chicago International Film Festival winner Sweat.  Yay, Poland!

The Queen’s Gambit is an exceptional piece of work by creators Scott Frank and Allan Scott.   It combined great casting, great writing and acting, excellent and very deliberate setting selection and superb character development.   Like a great novel, it left me hungry for more at the end.  While there will be a temptation to produce a Season 2, that temptation should be resisted.  Leave this masterpiece as is.