Thursday
Nov192020
"The Queen's Gambit"
Thursday, November 19, 2020 at 4:50PM
The old Walter Tevis novel, "The Queen's Gambit", has been adapted by Netflix. I'm old enough to remember the endless discussions about whether Bobby Fischer was crazy or emotionally disturbed, and you can get more of this in "Luzhin's Defense", so I don't exactly feel a burning desire to see further portrayals of chess players whose sanity is in on the edge.
For those of you who have seen it, what do you think? (Please don't include spoilers.) Here are some essentially spoiler-free comments by Tyler Cowen, primarily on the chess elements.
tagged chess in fiction, chess in film
Reader Comments (6)
I think the series deserves much of the praise it has received from both within the chess community and outside of it.
It manages to portray the chess details (mannerisms, actual games, chess culture) as realistically as could be hoped for. Garry Kasparov got quite involved in advising for the series and even searched for games that would fit the descriptions in the book (https://slate.com/culture/2020/11/queens-gambit-garry-kasparov-interview-netflix-chess-adviser.html).
For those familiar with history, it is clear that the show does threaten to rehash the old tragedies and melodrama of Morphy or Fischer. But thankfully it never really goes there.
"whether Bobby Fischer was crazy or emotionally disturbed"
Whether? The only remaining question is the precise diagnosis.
[DM: The "or" was meant two indicate distinct options, not as a bucket. I'm thinking of "crazy", in this context, as referring to one's beliefs and how well they reason, and "emotionally disturbed" in reference to the non-rational components of one's mental life.]
Without spoiling things too much, I think you will find it is not paralleling Fischer as much as you might be expecting - other than being a US player in the 60s taking on the Russians!
I found it a moving experience seeing this show portraying chess tournaments so realistically to the wider (non-chess) world who would otherwise never get such an insight into the chess world.
I really liked it (more as the season went on). While Beth Harmon is clearly modeled on Fischer--and there are clearly some incongruities with the plot and chess playing (i.e. she does well when she takes sedatives?)--I think it is probably the best representation of chess, chess playing, and chess culture that I've seen. I don't recall too many popular pieces that have characters talk about the need to learn endgame technique and opening theory or really even talk about Capablanca and Morphy. But I may also just get goosebumps when someone is trying to decide what Sicilian variation to play.
On its own merits, it is ultimately a good tv show. The acting is excellent, and the chess games are filmed really well, in a way that had me wanting to see more of the actual game, but has left non-chess playing friends completely engrossed. It's certainly not perfect, in terms of chess or narrative, but it takes the game more seriously than anything I've seen before.
So, I'd totally recommend it.
Thank you Dennis. I am glad I am not the only one with no interest in such a show.
I just started watching this...and googled it...and found your blog.
(Hi Dennis!)
The series is pretty good. Kept reminding me of ol' Dan Conver who would mention the Polgar sisters to me each and every time we played.
[DM: Hi, Laura! I remember you, but wow, it was a long time ago! How's Charles doing? Thanks for your note about the series, and I hope you and Charles will drop me a note [you can use the "Contact" link to get the ball rolling.]