I saw the limited series on Netflix. I was intimidated at first, because I don't know anything about chess except the very basic rules. But the show was extremely well done, and even though I didn't know the moves or anything about the matches, the show did an excellent job of explaining what was going on. My brother then gave me the novel the show is based off of for Christmas. I was excited to read it!
Netflix's decision to make it into a miniseries was wise, in my opinion. It allowed them to adequately adapt the book to film, and it was fun to compare the two. The creators of the series definitely took some license with the novel, but in the end, I was really impressed with both works.
The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis follows the orphan Elizabeth Harmon. Elizabeth starts out at an orphanage upon the death of her mother. While there, she is taught to play chess by the janitor while she's supposed to be in class. Around the time Beth turns thirteen, she is adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Wheatley. Mr. Wheatley soon leaves the family, and Beth decides to start playing chess competitively. She wins the Kentucky State Championship as an unrated player in her first ever tournament. Beth then goes on to continue competing in tournaments around the U.S. Does she have what it takes to become a world class champion? Or will her alcohol addiction and abuse of prescription tranquillizers ruin her talent?
In all, I LOVED the novel. I loved the descriptions of the matches. I loved Beth's inner narration. I loved all of the characters. You do not need to understand chess fully to be sucked into this riveting novel. It's a quick read, barely over 200 pages. I loved that the book is not only about chess, but it also deals with some pretty heavy topics like divorce, alcoholism, and the loss of parents. I liked that Tevis is not afraid to let his main character struggle and FAIL. Beth does not win every single match, and I think that's significant. Many authors give their main characters some convenient out so that they don't always hit rock bottom. Beth hits rock bottom and she hits it hard.
I think my only real complaint was some of the characters are mentioned, they make a big impact on Beth, and then we never see them again. I would have liked the story to resolve things with Townes (he competed in the Kentucky state championship as well, and Beth beat him too, but she runs into him a couple of other times) in particular, whom Beth always had a huge crush on. This is something the series did that I thought was better than the novel - they came back to Townes, and even Beltick (the former Kentucky state champion Beth beat at her first tournament) came back as well. I was a little bothered by Tevis being "done" with a character and they almost get forgotten.
In all, this was one of my favorite novels that I've read in a long time.
I rate this book ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I would rate this as PG-13 - there is quite a bit of sexual content and drug use.
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