The story
Orphaned at nine in 1950s Kentucky, Beth Harmon is taught chess by the orphanage custodian – and, like the other girls, is given daily tranquillisers that turn into a dependency. Adopted a few years later, she starts entering tournaments and winning, rising through the 1960s from small-town halls to the elite international circuit while wrestling with addiction and isolation. Anya Taylor-Joy stars in this adaptation of Walter Tevis's 1983 novel.
Why it matters
The Queen's Gambit became Netflix's most-watched scripted miniseries within four weeks and was the first streaming-service show to take the Emmy for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series. Its influence spilled off screen: chess-set and chess-book sales surged, and Chess.com reported several million new users.
Notable facts
- Netflix said 62 million households watched it in its first four weeks, calling it the service's biggest scripted limited series to date. (source)
- It won eleven Primetime Emmy Awards. (source)
- US games company Goliath Games said its chess-set sales rose by more than a thousand percent because of the series. (source)
- World champion Magnus Carlsen gave it five out of six stars but found Beth's rapid progress "a little too unrealistic". (source)