The Queen’s Gambit – Walter Tevis

In The Queen’s Gambit, Walter Tevis introduces us to Beth Harmon, a young orphan who appears to be a chess prodigy.  She learns in the basement of her orphanage, until she is barred from chess as discipline.  Once she is adopted, she starts playing again, quickly becoming the local state champion and growing her skill, and bank account, by entering tournaments across the country and Mexico.  Eventually, she becomes the US champion and has to face down her biggest challenge: the Russian world champion in a tournament in Moscow.

This book was the source material for a Netflix miniseries that was the pop culture sensation of last fall.  It was a very faithful reproduction, as I noticed very little derivation from what I remembered of the show versus what was in the book.  I never learned how to play chess, so I can’t say how faithful the play action was, but it was an entertaining enough read for a novice.