TV: The Queen's Gambit: Miniseries

[ORRFForever]

Yay! A miniseries about chess.

My guess : The chess will be limited but beggars cannot be choosers.

Has anyone seen it?

Click to read more...

 

[ORRFForever]

Bill Camp is always good in everything.

As for chess and madness, for centuries they went hand in hand.

Something for me to watch.

 

[Perennial]

Declined...

 

[ORRFForever]

Declined...

??? Why? ???

It looks good.

 

[aufheben]

Is this actually about chess?

 

[ORRFForever]

Is this actually about chess?

We can only hope !!!!

From what I understand, it's about a chess prodigy who, while trying to become a Grand Master, starts losing her mind.

 

[Glenn Isildur Healy]

??? Why? ???

It looks good.

Joking?!

Queen's Gambit Declined

 

[ORRFForever]

Joking?!

Queen's Gambit Declined

Good one.

 

[ORRFForever]

Declined...

Now I get it. I am nun 2 brite.

 

[Perennial]

??? Why? ???

It looks good.

Joking?!

Queen's Gambit Declined

Now I get it. I am nun 2 brite.

It was my clever way of saying I'm not interested in watching it...

 

[ORRFForever]

It was my clever way of saying I'm not interested in watching it...

First episode was amazing so you should reconsider.

 

[ORRFForever]

Queen's Gambit / Episode 1 / Openings (2020) :

''No grandmaster is normal. They only differ in the extent of their madness.'' - Viktor Korchnoi

Beth Harmon is an orphan living at a Catholic boarding school. I'm not sure who wrote the initial episode but they got everything right, from the crosses on the walls, to fish on Friday, to burning her hand on the hot water radiator (I did that a million times), to the shadows on the floors and ceilings. Just perfect!

There, at the age of 8, she's introduced to chess and they got that right, too. From the openings (I never thought I'd hear "Najdorf" in a movie), to the notations, to the different board sizes, to lying in bed at night, staring at the ceiling, replaying games in her head as she flicks her fingers. It's all there. It's all perfect!

Add the personal depth of the Beth character (and her addiction to pills) and I could not be more pleased with Episode 1.

Perfect!

10/10

Current Rotten Tomatoes Score : 100% - BOTH critics and audience.

 

[ghostnights]

What a phenomenal series . I was transfixed on her . It also reminds me of playing chess with my dad .

9/10

Must see TV

 

[ORRFForever]

What a phenomenal series . I was transfixed on her . It also reminds me of playing chess with my dad .

9/10

Must see TV

I agree. Much better than I expected.

 

[spintheblackcircle]

First episode was phenomenal.

 

[ORRFForever]

First episode was phenomenal.

Yup.

 

[ORRFForever]

Queen's Gambit / Episode 2 / Exchanges (2020) :

"When men lose against me, they always have a headache... or things of that kind. I have never beaten a completely healthy man!" - Susan Polgar.

Beth gets adopted as Anya Taylor-Joy takes over the lead role. Her new home is cold and not without its challenges, including reinforcing her drug habit, but it allows her to spread her wings and grow in confidence.

Beth enters her first tournament and minus the inaccurate pacing, which is done for dramatic effect, it's authentic. When she plays the top player and he yawns out of arrogance after arriving late, you want to slap him, but it adds to the tension - that kind of behavior is not common (players are pretty respectful of each other at chess tournaments) but it does happen.

At the end of the episode, Beth finds herself a manager, a backer and a mother - all under her new roof. I'm skeptical so we'll have to see where this goes.

Thank you, Netflix, I love this series.

 

[Fiji Water]

The book had notable pro-communism undertones. Is the tv series the same?

 

[ORRFForever]

The book had notable pro-communism undertones. Is the tv series the same?

No. Not that I`ve noticed. I'll look for it when I watch the remaining 5 episodes.

 

[TheAngryHank]

Randomly gave it a try and liked it.

 

[ORRFForever]

Randomly gave it a try and liked it.

Good man!

I'm trying to stretch it out. An episode a night.

 

[TheAngryHank]

Good man!

I'm trying to stretch it out. An episode a night.

I like the pace , and her being strung out at age 9 is a bit humorous as they play it out , don't know how far in you are but won't spoil it.

 

[TheAngryHank]

First episode was phenomenal.

When she called the janitor a ********** and didn't even know what it meant lol.

 

[ORRFForever]

When she called the janitor a ********** and didn't even know what it meant lol.

 

[ORRFForever]

Queen's Gambit / Episode 3 / Double Pawns (2020) :

“Just as one's imagination is stirred by a girl's smile, so is one's imagination stirred by the possibilities of chess.” - Mikhail Tal

A few issues with episode 3...

1) Beth wins multiple tournaments and appears on the cover of Life Magazine with a rating below 1,800. This makes no sense. I've had a rating much higher than 1,800 and I've never been on any magazine covers.

2) For a feminist themed series, there sure are a LOT of poisonous pawns women. I keep wondering if Beth's mom is one of them.

3) Beth falls for a guy with a male roommate. When she sees them talk, she immediately knows he's gay. Quite a leap for a sheltered girl from the 1960's.

**

The Queens Gambit is turning into The Female Bobby Fischer Story - she even wastes a tempo to tuck her Bishop back on b3 like Fischer.

At only 46 minutes, episode 3 left me wanting more as Beth suffers her first loss. Oh well, you learn more from your losses. Like a good book, I don't want this series to end.