The Queen’s Gambit was a popular 2020 Netflix TV show that struck the entire world out on a curveball. It took just 4 weeks for it to become the platform’s most watched mini-series ever. Anyone who owned a TV with a Netflix account had already been engaged into a chess frenzy by what may be the most influential chess series in history. It accumulated 11 Primetime Emmy Awards, A Screen Actors Guild Award, two Golden Globe awards and countless others in 2021. The release of the series almost immediately impacted every chess retailer and manufacturer, including Chessgammon. We’ve produced an article about the year 2020 and how this impacted us if you wanted to find out more.
It follows Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy) who is a talented young chess prodigy on her rise to championship whilst also struggling with drug and alcohol dependency. The show ultimately portrays Harmon picturing imaginary chess plays on the ceiling where she can tactically rule out and calculate game plans against her opponents. This results from her dependency on tranquilisers as mood stabilisers. Beth begins her climb to the top with great strides, however, ultimately finds herself being held back by her addiction.
Two years have now passed since the show that would turn the chess world upside down and eager fanatics are still asking the question; Will there be a season 2?
- The Main Plot Line
- How it all Ended
- Will There be a Season 2?
- Should There be a Season 2?
- Where are the Cast Members Now?
- Our Favourite Queens Gambit Style Chess Sets
The Main Plot Line
Set during the cold war era, Season 1 portrays Beth Harmon at a young age playing chess with the janitor at her orphanage, Mr. Shaibal. This slowly becomes a regular occurrence until Shaibal notices that Beth has much more potential than he could’ve ever predicted. He introduces her to the coach of the local high school’s chess team and from thereon, she powers through each station until she lands herself a grandmaster title.
Her drug and alcohol addiction stemmed from her time at the orphanage where pills were handed out legally to the children of the orphanage to keep them calm. Her dependance worsened when she found that the tranquilisers would allow her to focus and remain calm at the chess board. She would regularly hallucinate, and picture different chess plays on the ceilings or sky.
The show pictures Harmon rising to the top and the struggles she faces every step of the way. Not only was it an extremely thrilling series, but the actress Anya Taylor-Joy captured the essence of Beth Harmon perfectly. She had a sophisticated and tactical demeanor and suggested that in a male dominated chess world, even a woman can thrive.
We see a huge variety of authentic Staunton chess sets during the show including the gorgeous Latvian Soviet Staunton set in the finale. The Fierce Knight set that we stock here at chessgammon featured in the Paris Tournament that Beth played at.
Not only that, but the final tournament between Harmon and Borgov featured a board produced by the manufacturer Rechapados Ferrar. We stock numerous different boards from this manufacturer in our ‘Executive range’. To find out more about the boards, see our article on the chess sets used in The Queen’s Gambit.
How it All Ended
Please note that this section of the article will contain spoilers of the show.
Beth learns to speak Russian in hopes to face the Soviets one day. She plays multiple chess games in her own head for hours and almost at every moment of the day in preparation for her destination. Whilst annihilating every grandmaster in her path, the one person she sees standing in the way of reaching the title of the ‘Best chess player in the world’ is a Russian grandmaster, Vasily Borgov. The night before the match, Beth spends a wild night with her friend and incidentally ends up hungover and late for her match. She is not able to defeat Borgov in this state and cuts out all her remaining friends before going on another long-term bender.
In the final episode, Beth’s childhood friend appears and shows her that contrary to what Beth has believed, her addiction is impairing her abilities rather than enhancing them. After which, she is finally able to beat Borgov.
Will There be a Season 2?
The series executive producer, William Horberg, responded to the question of a second season with “We felt that the series had a satisfying endpoint, and we’d allow the audience to fill in the space as to what happens next for Beth Harmon. Nothing has changed, despite fans demanding more on my Twitter feed. Scott and I feel really happy about the completeness of Beth’s story.” So, for now, it seems that there has been no mention of Season 2 and it is not in the works.
However, there have been many cases where unplanned second seasons have come about due to popularity. So, there’s nothing wrong with having hope.
There have been numerous teaser trailers produced of what a potential Season 2 could be about.
Should There be a Season 2?
In terms of season 2, there is potential for new challenges and new opportunities for Beth Harmon in the present day. However, the thrill of the original series and the rise of Harmon from an amateur beginner to the greatest chess player in the world is what skyrocketed the series to the top position. Unfortunately, after becoming the greatest chess player in the world, there cannot be any further goal to work up to for Beth.
There is an idea to involve modern day chess grandmasters or portray Beth’s struggles after becoming the world champion and keeping this title. However, none of these plot lines can provide us with the same thrill and excitement as her consecutive wins upwards until she reached the very top.
Where are the Cast Members Now?
Anya Taylor-Joy
2020 was a big year for Anya as she starred in many different series and movies. Before ‘The Queens Gambit’ debut, she played Emma in “Emma” which is a cinematic version based on Jane Austen’s book. She also starred in the X-men film, “The New Mutants”. She presented “Saturday Night Live” in 2021 and returned to her character as Gina Gray in the popular British series “Peaky Blinders”. It’s safe to say that Anya Taylor-Joy’s career has kicked off since her debut on “The Queen’s Gambit”.
Bill Camp
He starred in Mark Ruffalo’s courtroom drama Dark Waters, in The Crucible on Broadway in 2016 as Reverend John Hale, Gerald Ford in Vice, and Howard Salomon in The Outsider. Bill Camp became quite notorious for the way he captures his characters- to the point that you don’t even realise that there is an actor behind the screen-play that you see.
Thomas Brodie-Sangster
Who can forget Benny Watts? Now, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, was one of those childhood actors who was already quite famous before he landed his role in The Queen’s Gambit. Brodie-Sangster has become quite a well-known star in the modern day and has starred in ‘Pistol and ‘Sleep No More’ in 2022.
Harry Melling
Harry Melling played one of the best chess players in Kentucky, Harry Beltik. He quickly became good friends with Beth Harmon throughout the series. Melling recently played Malcolm in Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth and Edgar Allan Poe in the upcoming film, The Pale Blue Eyes.
Moses Ingram
Ingram played Harmons childhood friend and was ultimately the person who guided her to reach her win in the end. She is very new to the Hollywood scene but has already started landing major roles after her debut in The Queens Gambit. This includes starring in Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth and playing Inquisitor Reva in the anticipated Star Wars series, Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Our Favourite Queens Gambit Style Chess Sets
The Queen’s Gambit itself is a chess opening for the whites that is utilised to this day in top-level chess. To learn how to play this opening, see our step-by-step guide. We have compiled a variety of chess sets that resemble some notorious games in the popular show.
