YMMV / The Queen's Gambit

• Aluminium Christmas Trees: Competitive chess is only more popular and more intense in the 2020s than it ever was in the mid-century, especially with the increased popularity of streaming, but some young chess players would be shocked at the reality of competitive chess in the 1960s. For example, we see several adjournments throughout the series; now, because of the advances of computer technology and the advantages players would have if an adjournment were to take place, most if not all major tournaments have abandoned the concepts of adjournments, allowing for longer (and, in fact, more mentally exhausting) play.
• And You Thought It Would Fail: A Hollywood Reporter piece revealed that as one of the last projects shepherded by Netflix executive Cindy Holland, the show was mocked internally as "Holland's Folly" while her successor Bela Bajaria and her staff were dismissive and unpleasant to the crew. That is until the show debuted to critical acclaim and became Netflix's most-watched miniseries, earning eleven Emmys including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, the first time a streaming service won the award.
• Alternative Character Interpretation: There's a fan-theory that Cleo, working for the KGB, might have deliberately sabotaged Beth's second game against Borgov by convincing her to get drunk and have a wild night beforehand.
• Captain Obvious Reveal: It's played as a twist that Beth's mother tried to kill them both in the road accident. The thread of Beth's mother's mental breakdown is stretched over the entire series until it concludes with the reveal, but the quick flash in the first episode of her mother's teary eyes in the rear-view mirror and the line "close your eyes" already made it abundantly clear what happened.
• Common Knowledge:
  • Some have accused the show of presenting stereotypical anti-communist and American exceptionalist views because of the depiction of Borgov and Beth's description of his moves as "predictable" and "bureaucratic." Never mind that Borgov, although often appearing serious, has a funny side—he jokes about dying with his head on a chess board—and is a perfect gentleman who is extremely warm to Beth when she wins, even hugging her and leading the crowd in raucous applause. All of the Russian players are quite kind and far from emotionless, with the exception of the one player who storms out on Beth. One shakes her hand despite her reducing him to tears, and Luchenko compliments her with the warmth of a longtime family member. In fact, Benny praises "the Soviets" for their playing style because they work together, and criticizes American beliefs in individualism and exceptionalism. And how does Beth win in the end? By working together with others.
    • On top of that, Beth is shown to be extremely uninterested in furthering the rhetoric of the cold warriors she encounters throughout the series. She initially takes money from a Christian group that wants to fund her to, as Benny puts it, "Beat the communists for Jesus", but ultimately turns them down AND gives back the money they already paid her because they wanted her to publicly denounce the USSR's state atheism. On top of that, Beth is accompanied by a State Department agent when she goes to the Soviet Union for her last game; after she wins against Borgov, the agent is talking about what a big deal it is that she "beat the communists at their own game", to which she responds by... leaving the car with all her luggage and going to play a game of chess with a group of Russian fans. The entire ending sequence is basically emphasizing that Beth only really cares about the game, and doesn't want to engage with the politicking that both governments are attempting to do around it; as are the many normal citizens who don't care that someone from their country got beat by an American, and are just happy to meet the world champion. Ultimately, the show doesn't really take a hardline pro- or anti-communist stance. It's just a show about chess, and it acknowledges the backdrop and politics of the Cold War, but is fundamentally disinterested in them.
  • There has been popular criticism that Beth's recovery from addiction was too simplistic and idealized, that Beth would likely require outside intervention in the form of some sort of program. Never mind that we really only see what Beth's life is like for a few months after she quits drinking, and she is shown to struggle with staying away. Her path to sobriety is actually supported by a multitude of research and theories. First off, Beth has already established in the narrative that she tends to stay sober when she's surrounded by supportive people (like Benny). In the weeks leading up to the championship, she has Jolene, and at the championship, she also has Townes. She also has an outlet for her brain, which is something that plenty of experts recommend—having something non-destructive, like chess, to pour one's self into is a fairly common mechanism. Lastly, the idea that addiction can only be fought through "tough love" and loved ones dropping their support for someone with addiction is one that many experts in psychology and addiction disagree with—that a person is more likely to use when they're feeling abandoned. Essentially, Beth is in a much more supportive, healthy place at the end of the series—it's pretty easy to believe she stays sober.
• Diagnosed by the Audience: Although not universal, there are some fans who speculate that Beth may be on the autism spectrum: she has a deep interest in chess and fashion, she's very good at visual thinking and patterns, she doesn't socialise like other girls of her age and she's very few friends, who all revolve around her special interests. Her facial expressions, mannerisms and vocal inflection are often subdued. She approached relationships and friendships on different terms in different ways. Lastly, her struggles are similar to low support autistics and coped with substance use.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Despite only having a large role in the first episode, Mr. Shaibel is a favorite for most viewers. This is due to him a kind hearted mentor who helps uncover Beth's love and talent for chess and still supports and cares for her years after they last meet. His offscreen death broke the hearts of viewers just as it did to Beth.
• Genius Bonus:
  • Although Beth performs a few different openings throughout the series, when she plays white she is most commonly an e4 player. It is not until her final match with Borgov that she plays the titular opening of the Queen's Gambit, which is a d4 opening. Those who know basic chess theory know that e4 openings tend to lead to sharper play with more attacking potential, whereas d4 is generally known as less aggressive in the opening, setting up for a more positional game with a very active middle game. The choice to open with d4 symbolizes Beth's move away from her Attack! Attack! Attack! style in playing and in life, her newfound patience and discipline. Additionally, if one believes Beth is set up as something of an Expy of Bobby Fischer, her preference for 1.e4 makes sense since Fischer himself preferred that opening above all others. It is also an example of Ripped from the Headlines, as Fischer himself made the switch from e4 to d4 to score a crucial game win over Spassky during their world championship match.
  • If you know chess, you can really appreciate the winning move by Beth in her game with Luchenko, one of the few times you can really get a clear look at the board on pause. Her bishop endangers his queen, with which he MUST continue protecting his pawn at f3; otherwise, Beth takes it with her own queen for a checkmate. There are just two spaces, e2 and e4, to which he can move his queen to take it out of immediate danger while still protecting that pawn. She'll take his rook at e1 with her rook at d1, he'll take her rook with his king, and she'll move her other rook to e5, pinning his queen against his king. All he can do is take the rook after it takes his queen. He resigns because the deficit will be too great; she'll relentlessly clear away pieces until she trades a pawn for another queen, then checkmate, if he even lasts that long.
• Iron Woobie: Beth. It would take a long time to list all the bad things that happen to her—starting with her mother's death—but she never gives in and instead becomes a chess prodigy, even while spiraling into addiction.
• Les Yay: Whether or not anything happened between Cleo and Beth, plenty of fans still see plenty of tension between them.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • Seeing chess pieces on the ceiling, which appears to happen Once an Episode.
  • The Queen's Gambit is a shōnen anime. ^note The show has often been compared to a live-action shōnen anime, due to the intensity of each fight. This also prompted multiple fanart of the show as an anime or manga.
  • There's an oddly specific photoshopping gimmick that's circulated around Twitter and Tumblr where people edit Beth playing literally anything besides chess, most often resulting in common board games being edited into the shot. It certainly gives games like Jenga and Connect Four an undercurrent of equal parts class and hilarity.
  • "Male authors trying to show a woman at rock bottom."^note A screenshot of Beth with curled hair and makeup while sitting on the couch in skimpy clothes and smoking is used to mock unrealistically glamorous portrayals of women having breakdowns.
  • Beth's Finger-Tenting. Anya Taylor-Joy joked on Saturday Night Live that this was the one thing she learned about playing chess from the role.
• Narm:
  • In Episode 7, the audience must be absolutely silent during the matches, so the radio commentators for the tournament sit in soundproof booths far above the rest of the audience (and they still whisper just in case). Because of their unfavorable position, the radio commentators are forced to watch and report on the match with a pair of binoculars, which can look unintentionally silly during the serious chess matches.
  • The final game between Borgov and Beth is a dramatic chess match played at the highest skill level...at least for viewers who aren't top chess players themselves, in which case, some of the drama is undercut by Borgov's questionable decision-making. In particular, World Champion Magnus Carlsen has noted that of all the games played in the show (all real games), the final game against Borgov actually shows him at his weakest, especially after the adjournment. When Beth moves her Knight (Ne6), Borgov is essentially in a position where he can't win, but instead of taking out Harmon's pieces and moving towards a draw, he moves, in Carlsen's words, "like a desperate man". Even when Borgov makes his "unexpected move" that causes Beth to go into her ceiling chess, Carlsen recognizes that Harmon clearly still has the advantage and thus finds the drama regarding Borgov's "unexpected move" a bit ridiculous.
• Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Harry wasn't exactly a favorite for his somewhat awkward interactions with Beth, but his presence in Benny's support group for Beth's final match with Borgov added to the Heartwarming Moment.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: The cinematography and editing of this show has been universally praised, especially whenever Beth visualizes a giant chess board on the ceiling above her to plan out her next moves. The editing of the scene where Beth and Benny compete in a tournament in Ohio is also spectacular, ratcheting up the tension and excitement of what is, for most, a very quiet and cerebral game.

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