Never in my life did I think to myself “yep, your favorite TV show will be a show about chess”. I nearly threw a fit ( a grown-up fit, of course) when my mom sat me down and forced me to watch the first episode. There was no part of me that believed I would enjoy a show about a girl who plays chess. Oh boy was I wrong.
After watching that first episode, I had myself convinced that I would be staying up all night to watch all seven episodes. I came to my senses and I realized that I had six classes the next day and that my plan was entirely unwise, however I did finish it the next day. I now own a chess set, have learned how to play, and I’m constantly thinking about playing. I even have a chessboard set up in my room and I play myself (it works very well). All of this occurred in the span of four days.
The Queen’s Gambit is a mini series from Netflix. It’s only seven episodes, but each episode is an hour and a few minutes long. The series follows orphan Beth Harmon on her journey to become the chess world champion while she simultaneously battles addiction. The show is set in the 60s and is a refreshing escape from our 2020 reality. I loved seeing the fashion, design, music, cars, and all of the rest of the culture aspects that come through! Another amazing, and relieving thing, is that you get to watch political tensions and gender tensions completely come undone. The 1960s were a time of political strife and fear for Americans, and the rest of the world. The United States and the former Soviet Union were deadlocked in the Cold War at this time. As it turns out, the Soviets had the best chess players in the world during this time period. This becomes an important part of the plot in The Queen’s Gambit. No spoilers though! Beth Harmon is also an incredibly intelligent, strong-willed, ambitious woman who faces the obstacle of being a woman in a man’s world. That challenge is exacerbated when she enters the field of elite chess playing, and viewers get to watch her battle the stigma around women in male-dominated areas. This show has an incredibly rich plot, and anyone could find something to latch onto and enjoy in it. All of the reviews agree with me too! The show has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and Google reports that 98% of people have enjoyed it. I personally have never seen such high ratings for any TV show or movie. It clearly appeals to a broad audience to have sky high ratings like those.
After finishing the last episode, I was left laughing and crying and wishing I could watch it all over again for the first time. It is truly heartwarming and profound. If you’re looking for a new show to binge watch, or even if you’re not and you feel skeptical about this, I’m begging you to watch because I can almost guarantee that you’ll have yourself a new favorite TV show.