In October 2020, as a pandemic-weary world scrolled for distraction, Netflix released a seven-part limited series about a cold, addicted, orphaned chess prodigy. By all conventional metrics, it should have failed. Chess is notoriously un-cinematic. The protagonist, Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy), is emotionally guarded. The source material—a 1983 novel by Walter Tevis—had been out of print for decades.
The book was critically adored but commercially cold. For decades, Hollywood circled it like a cautious knight. Director Bernardo Bertolucci wanted to adapt it. Heath Ledger, an avid chess player, reportedly carried the book around before his death, hoping to direct a film. But the project stalled repeatedly. Executives didn’t understand chess. They demanded romance subplots, car chases, or an underdog-triumphs arc. The novel offered none of those. Creating the Queen-s Gambit
The Queen’s Gambit is available on Netflix. Walter Tevis’s original novel has been reissued with a new introduction by Scott Frank. In October 2020, as a pandemic-weary world scrolled