Hello Readers!

As with most of us,  I too heard of The Queen’s Gambit when I first watched its insanely successful mini series on Netflix. What started off as a Friday evening – boredom stricken click of a button, quickly became a 6 hour binge watch as I was sucked into its enthralling plot and storyline. It wasn’t long before memories of my amateurish attempts at playing this game back in my early 20’s started to bubble up and I was once again caught in its elegant spell. I went in search of my prized wooden chessboard, dug it out of my bookshelf, dusted it off and set the pieces up for a game. As I went about it, moving my pawns in slow unsure motions I began to appreciate the intricacy and beauty of the game even more. It was fascinating how much power those pieces dancing across the 64 squares yielded. 

“It’s an entire world of just 64 squares. I feel safe in it. I can control it; I can dominate it. And it’s predictable. So, if I get hurt, I only have myself to blame.” – Beth Harmon, The Queen’s Gambit

The Queen’s Gambit by Walter Tevis is 1983 novel based on a fictional girl – Elizabeth Harmon, living in a foster home who quickly advances up on the leaderboard in the local and state chess circles, mercilessly defeating her male counterparts and going on to becoming a chess prodigy. The book also takes the reader through the personality development of Beth (as she prefers being called) as she struggles with drugs and alcohol addiction at various stages in her teen life.

The story begins when Beth enters the orphanage – Methun Home after her mother is killed in a car accident. The shy and introverted Beth tries her best to stay low and adjust to this new life and begins to look forward to her daily tranquilizer medicine (given to calm the children’s energy so they wouldn’t bother the staff) to numb her confusing emotions of loss and pain. During classes, she bumps into Mr. Shaibel – the Janitor playing a rather intriguing game she has never seen or heard of. Mr. Shaibel agrees to teach her only to realize her prodigy in playing this game. Beth on the other hand is completely drawn into the game of chess, visualizing the game and playing it in her mind during classes and more so in the night when the addictive tranquilizers do their magic.

The story is written from multiple perspectives – Ruth, her attorney and the white parents and is definitely an attention holder. For me personally, it opened my eyes to a few new things about racism in America that I had not explicitly known before. It touched upon various softer aspects of racism that gets brushed under the carpet of the more apparent things like brutality and inequality. I especially enjoyed the detailing of how racism affects Ruth and her family’s daily life. Every action had to be weighed in based on the color of their skin, even simple tasks like buying groceries drawing multiple dilemmas. There were some teary moments that were written exceptionally well and I did enjoy reading this book. 

As the years progress, Beth is adopted and moves to her foster home where she begins see her horizons expand. She is eager to move beyond local tournaments and begins entering state level tournaments, with the help of her foster mother. She quickly rises to the top in these chess circles beating the state and national champion to become a the new US champion. But with her rising professional and financial success comes her increased reliance on the tranquilizer drugs and alcohol. As she begins to prepare for the Russian chess tournament, she realizes that winning it will be no easy feat and she will need all the help she can get – emotional and professional to be able to do so.  

If you have watched the miniseries, the book may not offer anything new to the story, barring a few details here and there. But what it does have to offer is a literary treat when it comes to Tevis’s writing. Particularly, the author’s words on feminism at a time when even women were unsure of its existence is a pure treat. His literary depiction of Beth, beating the gender stereotypes playing a game that up until then was actively dismissed by everyone as not a woman’s cup of tea is worth a read. The writing is littered with happy, almost comical instances – mostly between Beth and her mother Ms. Alma Wheatley who share some touching moments in the book. It is not easy to write about the psychological development (bildungsroman) of a character without slipping into a boring monotone but the author managed to strike a balance by intertwining her thoughts and ponderings, keeping the attention of the reader taut.

Filled with unusual, unexpected friendships, a few lump in your throat moments and a lot of exhilaration, this book is definitely a memorable read. My only complaint? I wish I had stumbled on this book before Netflix did. But well played Netflix! I would definitely recommend this book and rated it 5 on 5 on GoodReads.  

Until next time, happy reading!

Love, SSB