Kevin C. Wong

Mini Series - The Queen's Gambit (2020) [+]

The Queen's Gambit is a Netflix 7-episode hour-long drama based on the book of the same name. It's set in 1950's and 1960's America and follows the rise of fictional woman chess player Elizabeth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy). From living in an orphanage and being taught chess by the custodian Mr Shaibel (Bill Camp) to being adopted and pursuing her neophyte chess career with the support of her adopted mother Alma Wheatley (Marielle Heller), being US co-champion and then champion by beating her chess rival Benny Watts (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), then finally facing and beating world champion Vasily Borgov (Marcin DorociƄski) as part of an invitational tournament.

This is a series that took the chess world by storm, being very popular with everyone. The chess games shown are taken from real games and the game playing environment and moods are fairly accurate from what people have said. There is a little bit of sexism but nowhere near as bad as I've heard. Acting is good and Taylor-Joy does a good job of portraying someone emotionally detached from everything except for when it comes to chess.

Pacing is a bit slow. The first three episodes I found a bit boring. Then it starts to pick up and gets really interesting until the end.

Overall one of the better Netflix series.