The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix

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  • The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix

    The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix

    October 22, 2020

    From The New York Times

    https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/16/a...gtype=Homepage

    by Alexis Soloski

    “The Queen’s Gambit,” is a seven-episode limited series that premieres on Netflix Oct. 23. A glamorous and wrenching view of chess, set in the 1950s and ’60s, it centers on the fictional character Beth Harmon (first Isla Johnston, then Anya Taylor-Joy), a child prodigy who discovers the game in a Kentucky orphanage. Despite punishing addictions to alcohol and tranquilizers, Beth, clad in Gabriele Binder’s elegant period costumes, plays and trains obsessively, rising through the rankings until she faces the world’s best. Which makes her something like the thinking woman’s Rocky.

    With its troubled protagonists and climactic matches, “The Queen’s Gambit” resembles other chess dramas. Its focus on a woman has precedent, chiefly Mira Nair’s “Queen of Katwe,” which Kasparov recommends. But when it comes to chess positions — the particular arrangement of pieces on the board — no other work rivals this one in terms of both number and painstaking accuracy.

    “It is as close as possible to the authentic atmosphere of chess tournaments,” said Kasparov, who consulted on the series.

    It’s also exceedingly faithful to its source material, a slender 1983 novel written by Walter Tevis, an author with a knack for books that Hollywood wanted: “The Hustler,” “The Color of Money,” “The Man Who Fell to Earth.” Tevis, a respectable club player, could delight even non-players with chess’s rhythms and language: the Sicilian Defense the Semi-Slav Variation, the Falkbeer Counter Gambit, the Ruy Lopez. The book borrows its name from an opening move in play since the 15th century.

    The celebrated chess coach Bruce Pandolfini, who had advised Tevis on the novel, created a bible of games and positions for the series, signifying key moments in Harmon’s play. He tried for moves with symbolic heft, like an exchange of pawns or a queen sacrifice. Kasparov inspected these positions and also designed the moves for the most significant games.

    “The Queen’s Gambit” includes more than 300 games, some glimpsed only in the foreground or background. To keep each match and each tournament from blending entirely into the next, the production designer, Uli Hanisch, developed unique color palettes to distinguish one locale from another. Steven Meizler, the cinematographer, varied the angles. The sounds the pieces make against the board change, as do the rhythms — from allegro to adagio.

    Could Kasparov identify with a troubled, brilliant, awfully improbable character like Beth? He could. “Chess is her language, she lives for the game,” he said. “And that’s how I played.”

  • #2
    Thanks Wayne! Really using The Flix of Net these months!

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    • #3
      just watched the queens gambit and really enjoyed it.

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      • #4
        Have been waiting a long time for this. One of my favorite chess novels (though I suppose there isn't a huge amount of competition in that arena). The novel has a few minor chess quibbles but does an excellent job capturing the sense of it.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by David Ottosen View Post
          Have been waiting a long time for this. One of my favorite chess novels (though I suppose there isn't a huge amount of competition in that arena). The novel has a few minor chess quibbles but does an excellent job capturing the sense of it.
          The novel had pages of analysis, but without an initial diagram(s) i couldn't make sense of most of it. So it will be great tio see real chess analysis on the screen.

          I think the idea for the lead character is based on the rise of master Lisa Lane who received much media attention. And a woman did win a weak state championship in 1958.

          i think all the chess scenes were filmed in Berlin. Some outdoor "American" scenes filmed around Cambridge, Ontario. The novel's tournaments were in hotels which was rare back then; most state championships in ymcas.

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          • #6
            Review and some analysis of the climactic game:

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIMaTKOZG-8

            Quite interesting.

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            • #7
              finished it the other night honestly wasn't amazing, but definitely had its moments

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              • #8
                On a related note : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toWzxjERiKE

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                • #9
                  The book is very good; looking forward to watching the screen version!

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                  • #10
                    Netflix number 1 in Canada. I don't know how well it's doing elsewhere.
                    Last edited by Erik Malmsten; Saturday, 31st October, 2020, 11:09 AM.

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                    • #11
                      Watch the first episode several days ago. Could not force myself to look to the second.

                      Wondering - Was a message of the first episode do drugs and get great in chess? Total crap.

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Egidijus Zeromskis View Post
                        Watch the first episode several days ago. Could not force myself to look to the second.

                        Wondering - Was a message of the first episode do drugs and get great in chess? Total crap.
                        Thanks for the heads-up ...

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Egidijus Zeromskis View Post
                          Watch the first episode several days ago. Could not force myself to look to the second.

                          Wondering - Was a message of the first episode do drugs and get great in chess? Total crap.
                          I wouldn't recommend the film to kids because of the drugs and sex. In reality these pills would not help one's chess. The novel was written in the 1970s drug era.

                          Her struggle with addiction is a big part of the character's growth.Viewers hope for her recovery. She is damaged and wonders if she is crazy. Flawed characters make stories more interesting.

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Erik Malmsten View Post

                            I wouldn't recommend the film to kids because of the drugs and sex. In reality these pills would not help one's chess. The novel was written in the 1970s drug era.

                            Her struggle with addiction is a big part of the character's growth.Viewers hope for her recovery. She is damaged and wonders if she is crazy. Flawed characters make stories more interesting.
                            I agree with Egidijus and am having trouble starting episode 2. A friend of mine (non-chess-player) told me he enjoyed it so I might give another episode a try..

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Ken MacDonald View Post

                              I agree with Egidijus and am having trouble starting episode 2. A friend of mine (non-chess-player) told me he enjoyed it so I might give another episode a try..
                              It seems that the first episode is the worse. But its not a one hour tv show but a six hour story, so hang in there. There's lots of chess content with great photography. (Although I remember US tournaments having a wide variety of colour of chess sets.) Also, you may find a couple of political/religious comments offputting.

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