The Queen’s Gambit

[sonatine]

The fictional Cold War chess match was a thinly disguised version of Fischer/Spassky 1972.

[GrenadaRoger]

https://en.chessbase.com/post/magnus...-gambit-series


I would say it’s a 5 out of 6. I would have given it a full score except I found it a bit disturbing that all the kids in the series want to get adopted because in chess that means losing 10 games in a row and no kid would want to do that.

Kidding aside though, I thought it was very enjoyable. The optics were great; they did the chess pretty well with the games.

However, he did say it wasn’t perfect.

Carlsen added:

I just found the whole thing a little too unrealistic. I just couldn't quite buy that after being six years without playing a tournament game in an orphanage and you would then be one of the best players in a few years.

It’s a good story but to me, I found it a little too unrealistic. But in general, having said all that, it was extremely enjoyable.

indeed it sounds unlikely, but i had a friend in high school that became a master level player from just studying obsessively books from the local library and other bookstores...he picked up the game in 9th grade and by the time he was a senior he could play 2 games simultaneous blindfolded while playing ping-pong and win both. He later went to UCLA and was a mid-level player at their school chess club (at the time Kim Commons & Jim Tarjan were members there too, my friend was not their equal )...my friend never took up tournament play though...so unlikely as the story seems, there are prodigies.

[Dan Druff]

Yeah obviously they exaggerated her almost instantaneous high level chess skill. No way a little kid who just learned chess a few weeks ago is able to beat 15 high school chess club members simultaneously.

Once she "grew up" in the series, the trajectory was a bit more realistic, though again sped up a bit too much.

Still, it didn't jump out at you as super unrealistic. It's a lot better than those LOL poker movies where the last hand heads up of a tournament is a rivered royal flush over quads.

[OSA]

Yeah obviously they exaggerated her almost instantaneous high level chess skill. No way a little kid who just learned chess a few weeks ago is able to beat 15 high school chess club members simultaneously.

Once she "grew up" in the series, the trajectory was a bit more realistic, though again sped up a bit too much.

Still, it didn't jump out at you as super unrealistic. It's a lot better than those LOL poker movies where the last hand heads up of a tournament is a rivered royal flush over quads.

I dont know about that Druff. My Dad would tell me stories about 8 or 9 yr olds in Russia playing chess 30+ hrs a week(not to mention the memory she had). The way children pick up things, if you play that much right out of the gate, you could be good really fast playing against hobbyists.

[Dan Druff]

I think they cut a scene or something regarding the death of her adoptive mom.

They said they were doing an autopsy and Beth would "find out later", and then she never found out, nor was it ever mentioned again.

It seemed to be implied that her mom drank some really low-quality contaminated alcohol at the Mexican resort, and died as a result. However, this was never verified, and the viewer was left to kinda guess at it.

For some reason that bugged me a little. She was a major character and the way they disposed of her was weird. Seems like sloppy editing perhaps.

[Dan Druff]

BUMP

I forgot to ask this but just remembered for some reason.

Was Townes supposed to be gay? Was that the big reveal at the end? It was confusing. He apologized for not telling her "the whole story" and that he was "confused", referring to the night in Vegas earlier in the series, where they appeared to be about to make out, but Townes' male roommate walked in.

On the other hand, he said that she broke his heart.

I'm not understanding. It's like they wanted to end with the twist about Townes being gay, but wanted to leave it as something to guess at?

[MumblesBadly]

BUMP

I forgot to ask this but just remembered for some reason.

Was Townes supposed to be gay? Was that the big reveal at the end? It was confusing. He apologized for not telling her "the whole story" and that he was "confused", referring to the night in Vegas earlier in the series, where they appeared to be about to make out, but Townes' male roommate walked in.

On the other hand, he said that she broke his heart.

I'm not understanding. It's like they wanted to end with the twist about Townes being gay, but wanted to leave it as something to guess at?

This is perfect example of how your conservative binary view of sexuality blinds you to the nuance of complex sexual/emotional feelings that are possible in people. Trying to explain this to you seems likely to be as challenging as explaining colors to someone who has no cones in the retinas. That being said, let me just suggest that you re-examine your questions but allow for the following possibility in the human experience:

Unexpected strong emotions in Townes for Harmon spurred him on to think he might want to be intimate with her, and that was confusing for him because she wasn’t a man. And when she completely pulled away from him upon realizing he had a gay lover, Townes was “broken hearted” that she had so abruptly emotionally pulled away from him. Because regardless of his relationship with his gay lover, he still had strong feelings for her and was very hurt that she had cut off contact with him.

Does that make sense now?

[MumblesBadly]

Now, for a more serious question: Can someone explain to me why the couple that adopted Harmon changed the emblem on the front of their 1957 Chevy Bel Air from a chevron to “Chevrolet” lettering in the short span between when they adopted her and the husband left on an extended business trip?

At the orphanage:




Leaving on the business trip: