TELEVISION
The Queen’s Gambit Got Me To Play Chess Again
As it did every other person who once played
I was taught chess at the ancient age of 17 by a learned and cultured boyfriend. He was an avid player and we spent countless weekends at the local chess club. When I was there, I never dared play with others but I watched and analyzed the many games.
Our relationship didn’t last but my fascination with the game endured. When I was 23 and working in a pub as a bartender, I set up my chess set by the counter and I’d play in between serving drinks. I won every game. The exhilaration was unparalleled.
Life shifted and other things took precedence. I stopped playing. Work and later, parenthood consumed my time and attention instead. There, another opportunity presented itself. When my son was 5, I taught him the game, and soon after, his younger sister. Both children play regularly together.
Only now that they are teens have I picked up chess again and it is largely due to the gorgeously inspiring TV series The Queen’s Gambit that took me on an intriguing journey into the life of fictional chess prodigy Beth Harmon.
Said to be inspired by the life of real-life American chess prodigy Bobby Fischer, whom I greatly admired on my own chess journey, The…
