Oh for sure, Carlsen can be beaten, and the chances are always better in Speed and Blitz (his record 120+ games of classic chess without defeat is testament to that). But he’s one of only two - and the only male - chess player to ever hold the triple crown (Susan Polgar preceded him by winning the WC in classic, speed and blitz for women at the same time).
I sometimes enjoy watching the chess broadcasts when they send them here (not that infrequently, since Carlsen is WC), but I fear my own chess knowledge is very out of date - it’s a long time since I’ve played anyone seriously (I mostly spar with my kids, now).
I watched this with my daughter and we thoroughly enjoyed it, but this was one aspect of the show that was nagging at is. The show barely touched on women’s ability (not playing ability) and acceptance into male tournaments. I suppose it’s just another trope they preferred to avoid (same as the young woman in peril), but it seems more plausible that she hadn’t met any pedo’s but less so when it comes to misogynists.
2nd Episode: Excellent! At first I was disappointed that they switched actresses so quickly, but it’s all good.
The only part I felt like I missed something is when her adopted mother receives news about her husband being detained. Her references to not being a philosopher, not being Aristotle, what was that about? Was she just acting strange? Or was it a hint at what happened to the husband? Was he cheating on her? Is he in jail somewhere? Or was it just meant to be cryptic, in which case, well done! :)
I don’t think there was any suggestion of the husband being in jail. He was clearly leaving her, but without filing for a divorce. It’s unstated whether it was due to cheating / another family, or some other reason.
Just finished this. Loved it. Loved the actress with the big eyes playing Beth. Loved the story arc. Loved the supporting cast and characters. Loved the sets, soundtrack and styling. They all looked so good. Most of all, I loved how it didn’t have to go for a dark broody ending, but was so bold as to go for a big ol’ feel good happy end. That did me good.
I finished it! How wonderful was that? Right from the first episode you can feel it when the filmmakers are going to take you on a great journey, and in this case it was an even better journey than I had envisioned.
Finally got to watch this. Loved it - start to finish. Sure - the ending could have gone in many other directions, some of which would no doubt have been very dramatically satisfying, but IMO what we got was still amazing. Would have loved a proper epilogue, but I guess they had to keep the door open to a sequel.
Rewatched “The Queen’s Gambit” over the last week, and I think I enjoyed it more after having read the (excellent) book it was adapted from. And I kept thinking “This is so very well adapted and written for the screen, and so confidently directed, but I’m not sure I know Scott Frank. His name sounds familiar…”
And it turns out that writer/director Scott Frank wrote some of my very favorite films ever. :) Duh. He’s the screenwriter for Out of Sight (which might be my favorite movie of the 1990s), Get Shorty, and Dead Again. Plus, he’s also the guy that got called in to quickly do a rewrite and fix on the screenplay for the American version of The Ring.
Also: I can’t help but think about how many books we didn’t get from Walter Tevis. He wrote The Hustler, The Color Of Money, The Man Who Fell To Earth, and The Queen’s Gambit, all of which were adapted into films or short series. But like most of his characters, he struggled with addiction most of his adult life, and said he simply could not write while he was drinking. So there are 17 years between the novel Man Who Fell To Earth and his next novel in 1980, written and published after he’d gotten sober. And then in the final four years of his life he wrote four more books to huge acclaim (including Gambit and The Color of Money), and died young of cancer.
Very interesting story, Trig, I knew none of that. Also, not to mix stories too much but it reminded me of another. It seems like a lot of very creative people immerse themselves into their creations to escape some pains in life, and drugs/alcohol as well. Stephen King spent years as a heavy addict of alcohol and several other drugs, even stating he can’t remember the details of some of his most famous books now. And there was a huge fear when he did get clean that he would never be able to write again. So addiction can go both ways, making someone feel more empowered (even if not, ) and less empowered but able to cope.
Tevis’s story sounds sad but I’m sure there was a lot more there he was worried about in life beyond just writing that went in to why he needed drugs to cope.
There is a LOT in Beth Harmon that feels like Walter Tevis being autobiographical. Including her roots in and around Lexington, Kentucky. There’s also the biographical tidbit that due to a childhood illness that may have affected his heart, Tevis’s parents put him in a home for sick (and sometimes recovering) children for a year, in which he was heavily dosed with downers like phenobarbital. And so I imagine that like Beth, he found the alcohol and pills seeming like a way to facilitate his talent, but then becoming the thing that nearly wrecked him.
It sounds VERY autobiographical. It also makes sense the story was someone coming to grips with all that going on inside. I’m actually impressed the direction of the series was able to capture that so well too.
