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The Queen's Gambit

Walter Tevis

4.22 · Rating details · 40,824 ratings · 5,531 reviews

An alternative cover edition for this ASIN can be found here.
When she is sent to an orphanage at the age of eight, Beth Harmon soon discovers two ways to escape her surroundings, albeit fleetingly: playing chess and taking the little green pills given to her and the other children to keep them subdued. Before long, it becomes apparent that hers is a prodigious talent, and ...more

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Paperback, 243 pages

Published March 11th 2003 by Vintage (first published February 5th 1983)

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Nov 06, 2020 Joe Valdez rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-general

The Queen's Gambit is the first novel I've read in some time that I looked forward to cracking open in the evening to finish. Rather than simply wanting to get through it, I didn't want it to end. Published in 1983, the title has multiplied its Google searches in the last month by virtue of a successful Netflix mini-series. Walter Tevis is an author who'd been on my radar for a while though, with several science fiction novels, as well as The Hustler and its sequel The Color of Money. With The Q ...more

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Jun 26, 2019 Sam Quixote rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Blimey o’reilly, The Queen’s Gambit was an absolutely stonking good novel – the best I’ve read in ages! Why hasn’t anyone ever told me to read Walter Tevis before?! He’s an utterly fantabulous writer!

Set in 1950s/60s America, Beth Harmon is an orphaned chess prodigy who rises up through the ranks to become the American No.1 and heads across the Iron Curtain to take on the World Champion: the intimidating Russian Borgov!

The story is a bildungsroman but also about genius and addiction. In the or Blimey o’reilly, The Queen’s Gambit was an absolutely stonking good novel – the best I’ve read in ages! Why hasn’t anyone ever told me to read Walter Tevis before?! He’s an utterly fantabulous writer!

Set in 1950s/60s America, Beth Harmon is an orphaned chess prodigy who rises up through the ranks to become the American No.1 and heads across the Iron Curtain to take on the World Champion: the intimidating Russian Borgov!

The story is a bildungsroman but also about genius and addiction. In the orphanage Beth becomes addicted to tranquillisers, then later on discovers alcohol and uses both to get her through the increasingly challenging tournaments. Which only adds to the fascinating nature of Beth’s character: rare, incomprehensible talent coupled with a very relatable human frailty. Tevis shows us his idea of how a chess prodigy might operate – partly through mental visualisation, partly through an unspoken instinct manifesting without clear articulation – which is convincing if probably not wholly accurate.

I’ve played chess but I’m by no means a chess player – I wouldn’t even call myself an amateur, I’m that unskilled! – and yet I found it riveting to read a book filled with chess matches! The matches are genuinely tense and thrilling to read even without understanding the moves as they’re being described - that’s how accessible and interesting Tevis makes chess. He really was an enormously gifted writer.

Beth’s relationships were all awkward but touching in their way. From learning chess from the orphanage’s janitor Mr Shaibel, to her cheerful but fragile foster mom Mrs Wheatley, to her first couple of boyfriends, and her best friend Jolene – they were all compelling, though ultimately we see Beth as she always felt: isolated and alone. Partly through her intellect, partly through unfortunate circumstances, though it makes her subsequent addictions more understandable.

Tevis’ prose is mesmerising and the pages flew by. It’s such a smooth and effortlessly gripping read – I’ve read thrillers that were less exciting than this novel about CHESS of all things! There really isn’t a single thing I can think of to critique in the slightest.

I loved The Queen’s Gambit totally and obviously I’m recommending it to everyone – and now I’m off to check out all of Tevis’ other novels that I’ve been missing! ...more

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Oct 30, 2020 Elyse Walters rated it liked it

While I enjoyed this book about a young orphan girl....
who became addicted to prescription medication—
while at the same time became addicted to the game chess....
Grows into a brilliant world chess champion....
I found myself more interested in her drug addiction ( something that thank heavens I have no personal experience with), her history, and relationships than ‘reading’ about the specific pieces on the board being played - ( knights, ponds, rooks, queens, bishop, kings, check or checkmate) . ...more

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Jan 15, 2021 Tim rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 1980s, reviewed, favorites

Note: This is not really a review. It's more me just gushing about something I love... sorry. That's all I have to offer on this one.

_____

I'm not one who usually buys into TV show hype and has to read the book. Sure, I read the first couple of Song of Ice and Fire books, but I did it before the TV show. Same with Haunting of Hill House. I enjoyed Mindhunter, but never felt a strong desire to read the book. Just because I enjoy one version does not mean I will care for it in another

I completely Note: This is not really a review. It's more me just gushing about something I love... sorry. That's all I have to offer on this one.

_____

I'm not one who usually buys into TV show hype and has to read the book. Sure, I read the first couple of Song of Ice and Fire books, but I did it before the TV show. Same with Haunting of Hill House. I enjoyed Mindhunter, but never felt a strong desire to read the book. Just because I enjoy one version does not mean I will care for it in another

I completely admit that I have bought into the hype for The Queen's Gambit. I wasn't even interested in the show at first. I kept hearing people talk about it at work though and on one of the forums I frequently visit and kept seeing the damn thing every time I turned on Netflix until I finally said "I give!" and tried it.

...

I loved it. Honestly one of the best shows I've seen in some time. Flash forward to be beginning of this week when I was walking around Barnes and Noble on Sunday and saw a copy of this on display. I usually dislike media tie-in covers (again, see that first paragraph), but seeing Anya Taylor-Joy's eyes staring me down over that chess board, seemingly intimidating the player in front of her... I decided yes, I'd give the book a shot as well.

Yes, it was just as good. In fact, it was exactly what I needed. Since the year had started I've already finished three books, all of which I gave three stars. They were fun enough, but nothing that wowed me. This was perfection and is already a contender for favorite book of the year... and we're only two weeks into it.

I won't go over the plot. It's been discussed and now with the show pretty much everyone knows the basic idea, but the book is well told. Structurally it leads the reader into all its themes and ideas bit by bit. It's about genius, it's about addiction and while the drama is told remarkably well, chess is of course where it stands out and manages to somehow, through describing the moves, create more suspense than any thriller I've ever read.

This book is simply a joy from start to finish. A wonderful read and one I cannot recommend enough. 5/5 stars. ...more

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Dec 08, 2020 BlackOxford rated it really liked it

Shelves: american

The Tragedy of Success

The Queens Gambit is about professional chess in the same way that David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest is about professional tennis. That is to say, the core of the book is about how we use our talents to destroy ourselves. In this it is sImilar to Stefan Zweig’s Chess Story which, although written three quarters of a century ago, carries the same warning about the same game.

Beth is a chess prodigy. The first impression of her story might be that she is another Billy Eliot The Tragedy of Success

The Queens Gambit is about professional chess in the same way that David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest is about professional tennis. That is to say, the core of the book is about how we use our talents to destroy ourselves. In this it is sImilar to Stefan Zweig’s Chess Story which, although written three quarters of a century ago, carries the same warning about the same game.

Beth is a chess prodigy. The first impression of her story might be that she is another Billy Eliot or a Mozart, a rerun of talent triumphing over adversity. But Walter Tevis has done something unusual. Although the book is written on the third person, the reader gets to know very little about Beth from the outside. The perspective is that of Beth from the inside - what she, feels, thinks. But what she is to herself is opaque. She, like most of us, has no idea that she is neurotic.

Beth is an Objective Introvert in Jungian terms. That is, she is particularly sensitive to the social environment in which she finds herself; and she tends to adapt herself in a variety of ways to that environment. I think it’s fair to say that Objective Introverts are the permanently oppressed in modern society. In ages past, they might end up in monasteries or as quiet functionaries in a family business. But in a competitive corporate society their lack of aggressiveness and apparent malleability makes them seem weak and unserious, unfit for commercial adventure.

Unless, of course, they have some significant talent that allows them to shine - like playing chess. In that case the talent is perceived - by its possessor as well as the rest of society - as a compensation for an otherwise unfortunate personality. Like the autistic savant who can sketch an entire cityscape from memory, the talent is not only a way to fit in but also a route to fame and fortune. Or so it might seem.

Beth compensates for her psychic imbalance using two strategies: chess and dope. Chess provides a focus from which the constant pressure generated by the the world can be mitigated. The dope dulls what’s left of the world and eases the pressure between matches. Outstanding therapy therefore.

The problem of course, as in any self-help regime, is that the remedy quickly becomes part of the problem. As Beth is successful professionally, chess promotes even greater introversion. And the dope becomes a greater intrusion than the rest of the world had ever been. Together they drive her further into what becomes obsessive addiction.

Beth’s personality is not her problem. What gets her in trouble is her compulsion to ‘fix’ her personality. If she could realise that there is no need to do so, she might not be so driven to find competitive success. But she’d probably enjoy chess - and life in general - much more. ...more

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Feb 01, 2021 Beverly rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: coming-of-age-novel

Extraordinary tale of a young girl's genius at chess

If you loved the Netflix series, you will adore the book from which it was born, The Queen's Gambit is storytelling at its finest. Walter Tevis is well known for his books about pool, The Hustler and The Color of Money. Pool and chess have much in common. Each sets one player against one other. Each game requires dexterity and the ability to see in three dimensions, and each requires a calm and clear mind.

If told that I would read a book about ...more

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Feb 15, 2017 Lisa (not getting friends updates) Vegan rated it it was amazing

Recommended to Lisa (not getting friends updates) by: Lucille

Shelves: historical-fiction, reviewed, mental-illness, z2017, fiction, readbooks-male-author-or-illust, orphaned-and-quasi-orphaned-kids, bookclub, zz-5star, favorites

I love this book. It’s feeling really challenging to try to start my next (any) book because I doubt I’ll enjoy it as much as I liked this one. I have added this one to my favorites shelf.

I’m so grateful that my book club agreed to read this for our March book. For me it was the perfect book at the perfect time. In fact, some of my book club members were having a hard time getting a copy, so I quickly finished the last couple of chapters so that they could read my library copy before its due dat I love this book. It’s feeling really challenging to try to start my next (any) book because I doubt I’ll enjoy it as much as I liked this one. I have added this one to my favorites shelf.

I’m so grateful that my book club agreed to read this for our March book. For me it was the perfect book at the perfect time. In fact, some of my book club members were having a hard time getting a copy, so I quickly finished the last couple of chapters so that they could read my library copy before its due date. That was easy to do. This book was easy to pick up and hard to put down. My preference when reading books is to stop reading at the end of chapters or at least at the end of mid-chapter marked breaks, but with this book I was happy to read until I had to put the book down to do something else. Finishing a sentence was enough for me. I didn’t want to stop reading until I absolutely had to stop.

Beth Harmon is an amazing and memorable character. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about her life and reading this amazing coming of age story. I loved both the character and the story.

The secondary characters are also very well drawn out, to just the right amount, in my opinion, and they all also contribute to making this story great.

I don’t even play chess and there is so much in this story that is play by play during chess games, and I had no idea what was going on with the relaying of chess pieces moving on the board or what they meant, yet the descriptions completely held my attention; I was riveted. I was hooked for start to finish. I think if I knew the game of chess I might have gotten even more out of the story, though I have no complaints reading it not knowing the game.

I was afraid I wouldn’t enjoy reading about Beth as much when she aged (age 8 to age 19) but I found her always interesting. In fact, even though the book ended in a satisfying way, I’d read a sequel if there was one. Unfortunately, this book was published in 1983, the author’s seventh book, and he died in 1984, so this is his last book.

The book is a really fast read; it has 243 pages and 14 chapters, some long. The story took a few unexpected turns in the last couple of chapters. I appreciated the twists in the storyline.

This is a story about a girl who’s a chess prodigy but if I had a thrillers shelf I’d use it for this book. It did read like a thriller, especially parts in the middle and the end.

I wouldn’t say that the language is gorgeous, and it’s not a particularly quotable book, but I think that it’s beautifully written. The characters, particularly the main character, are completely believable. It’s a brilliantly constructed book. Though it isn’t a long book and the events take place over only 11 years, it felt like an epic to me.

I’ve always wanted to learn to play chess, though I think the fun would be playing at an advanced level. At this point I doubt I could learn to play past a beginner level, and I certainly don’t have the aptitude to play the way the best chess players can play. It seems as though it would be a thrill to be able to play at a top level. I got a bit of vicarious satisfaction from “watching” Beth play the game. This book made me even more curious and interested in the game. If I had read this as a teen or young adult I’ll bet I’d have made an effort to learn and play chess games.

Highly recommended. Particularly recommended for those who enjoy coming of age stories, orphan stories, those have an interest in chess, physical fitness, addiction, mentoring, and feminism. ...more

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Nov 07, 2020 Anne (on semi-hiatus) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2020, thriller, audio, fiction

11/15/20 Update: After listening to this book I watched the Netflix adaptation and loved it.

Review:
This novel was my "waiting for election results" choice. I tried 3 books previous to this one but was too distracted to become engaged in them. This story, though, heavy on plot, was perfect; I was able to become engaged immediately. I won't discuss the plot because there are already so many reviews of this book on GR. I'll just say do yourself a favor and don't listen to the Audible recording. T ...more

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Feb 15, 2021 Lori rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I didn't love it quite as much as the show. Where they differ I prefer the book. ...more

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Dec 27, 2020 Chris rated it it was amazing

Utterly loved this novel -- every bit as much as I savored the TV series. Who knew chess could be so freaking tense? Also, Beth Harmon is a fascinating creation: a savant with deep scars. Charismatic and messy. Every page of the novel is alive with both possibility and dread. PS: Once again I simply forget to post my review here weeks ago. Trust me, this isn't a month-long read. I devoured it in days. ...more

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Feb 01, 2021 Gabrielle rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: penguin-modern-classics, historical, american, read-in-2021, reviewed, own-a-copy

I hadn't heard much about "The Queen's Gambit", the book or the Netflix series, until last November, when two different colleagues insisted that I watch the show immediately, as the main character reminded them of me so much. How, I wondered, could the story of a chess prodigy possibly make anyone think of me? I am a beginner chess player (I started teaching myself in lockdown: it sounded like an interesting way to keep my brain active when I couldn’t focus on a book) and the only pills I pop ar I hadn't heard much about "The Queen's Gambit", the book or the Netflix series, until last November, when two different colleagues insisted that I watch the show immediately, as the main character reminded them of me so much. How, I wondered, could the story of a chess prodigy possibly make anyone think of me? I am a beginner chess player (I started teaching myself in lockdown: it sounded like an interesting way to keep my brain active when I couldn’t focus on a book) and the only pills I pop are iron supplements... As it turns out, it was the vintage wardrobe, pointy chin and deadpan attitude that were strikingly similar. But by the time I realized that, I had binged the show and ferretted a copy of Tevis' novel (as well as a lovely vintage Soviet chess set that would probably make my Russian ex-boyfriend green with envy). I had heard of Tevis as a writer of essentially philosophical science-fiction, and I was curious to see how someone who wrote "The Man Who Fell to Earth" would pull off what is essentially a feminist coming-of-age story.

I will not beat around the bush: I loved this book. The prose is lean and precise, yet manages to capture Beth’s thoughts and feelings beautifully, and I was instantly invested in her story and the very realistic evolution of her character.

When Beth’s mother dies in a car crash, she is sent to live in an orphanage in Kentucky. Life there is bland and boring to her until she meets the custodian, Mr. Shaibel, who plays chess by himself in the orphanage basement. Not one to take no for an answer, Beth hangs around until he accepts to teach her the game, and to the old man’s surprise, she displays a natural gift for it. He teaches her as much as he can, but besides chess, Beth has a fondness for the little green pills dispensed by the orphanage pharmacy, which predictably gets her in trouble...

Beth is eventually adopted by a couple who turn out to be estranged, and she goes to live with her aloof but kind and open-minded adoptive mother Alma Weathley, whom, upon finding out that her new daughter might just be a prodigy, becomes her de facto agent. As Beth becomes an increasingly famous chess player, her relationship with pills and alcohol becomes harder and harder to manage, and haunts her just as much as she is haunted by her rivalry with the world champion, Vasily Borgov.

It was easy for me to root for Beth: she’s an introvert who has a hard time socializing but gives everything to her passion and her determination is admirable. Her difficulties bonding with those she cares for was both heartbreaking but understandable, as is her slide with substances. I enjoyed the fact that while the sexism Beth has to deal with is often pointed out, it manages not to be didactic: Tevis simply highlights the situation Beth finds herself in and describes her annoyance with it. For Beth, her gender is not a significant part of what she does, and she can’t understand why everyone insists on making a big deal about it. And I loved, loved, loved the resolution.

I do think that a basic knowledge of the game of chess contributes to one’s enjoyment of this novel. If I had read it before I started studying and playing myself, I might have found the game descriptions very tedious, but knowing the mechanics discussed in the text made those passages very interesting. If game notations had been provided, I would have been tempted to set up my board and try them out.

There is something simple and straightforward about this book, in a way I find distinctive of modern American literature, and I loved that such trimmed prose can be used to describe complex characters and situations as well as they are in this little book. If you liked the show, as it is an almost flawless adaptation of the book, you will definitely enjoy it. A fantastic novel about a unique and unforgettable character. ...more

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Oct 28, 2020 Anthony rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: modern-american-lit

This is, quite simply, a fantastic novel. Wholly immersive, exciting, and human, it combines in completely satisfying prose the the unlikely pairing of a fascinating portrait of a brilliant and complicated young woman with the page-turning suspense of a great thriller in its depiction of high-stakes chess tournaments. I love chess, and I wonder how readers who don’t would feel about this novel, but for me Tevis elegantly and accessibly makes manifest the particular and singular joy of discoverin ...more

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Jan 02, 2021 Corina rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: standalone, audiobook, fiction

My first book of 2021

POPSUGAR READING CHALLENGE - A book set in multiple countries

4.5 stars

Amazing book!!!

And of course I wish I had read the book first. But I must say the TV show is exactly like the book. They did a marvelous job following the book. And now after I watched the show and listened to the audiobook I can say that the book is as fascinating as the show.

The Queen's Gambit was one of my most favorite shows of 2020, and it's the one show I have been recommending nonstop. So, if you h ...more

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Dec 16, 2013 Andrew Smith rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I read somewhere that this is one of Lawrence Block's favourite stories. Well, if it's good enough for LB...
I'd enjoyed chess as a child and recall the hype and excitement surrounding the world championship match between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky, in the 70's. This book captures the excitement chess can evoke (trust me) - and you don't even have to have played the game to enjoy it.
The story of an eight year old orphan who transforms her life through chess is brilliantly told. I was sad whe ...more

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Nov 24, 2020 Eliza rated it really liked it

Shelves: library-books, kindle, original-idea, reviewed, fiction, 4-stars, very-good-but-not-phenomenal

What an exhilarating read! Though, I must admit, I felt like the beginning of the book was stronger than the end. That said, the overall story was unique and fast-paced. And the characters, which if anyone knows me understands that's the most important aspect of a novel (in my eyes), were flawed and realistic, which I absolutely loved.

Can't wait to watch the show! ...more

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Dec 07, 2020 Dave Schaafsma rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction-20th-century, addiction

So maybe you are one of the purportedly 62 million people who have seen (the truly wonderful) Queen’s Gambit series, and I don’t have to tell you anything about it. But have you also read the book, that I was listening to as I saw the series and finished it the next day, a couple days ago? Though I and the world are aware of Walter Tevis’s novels that became blockbuster movies--The Hustler, The Color of Money, The Man Who Fell to Earth--I think this is the first of his novels that I have read, a So maybe you are one of the purportedly 62 million people who have seen (the truly wonderful) Queen’s Gambit series, and I don’t have to tell you anything about it. But have you also read the book, that I was listening to as I saw the series and finished it the next day, a couple days ago? Though I and the world are aware of Walter Tevis’s novels that became blockbuster movies--The Hustler, The Color of Money, The Man Who Fell to Earth--I think this is the first of his novels that I have read, and wonderful it is, too. I read picture books to balance out my reading of climate change and dystopia, and this sort of works out that way for me, too: A feel-good story that is also really well and persuasively written. I read somewhere that the (high end) novelist Michael Ondaatje reads this book every couple years to remind him how to write a novel, and I can see that. It’s so good and entertaining!

The story millions of you already know, but let me highlight some of it, at least. It’s the story of Beth Harmon, a girl prodigy chess player, set in the last sixties, published in 1983. It should not escape you that in the late sixties a lot was going on: VietNam, the killing of MLK and the Kennedys, the Civil Rights movement, the rise of environmentalism and the second wave of feminism. Teavis ignores almost all of that to focus in this alternative historical fantasy on chess, one of his real lifelong loves--including poker, pool, drinking. . --The Cold War and. . . feminism!

The story is a rags to riches story as improbable as it is satisfying. A little girl orphaned by the death of her (in the movie, not the book) brilliant mathematician mother in what may be a suicide (in the movie we know this for sure) learns how to play chess from the janitor at the orphanage and is clearly a prodigy right from the beginning, at age eight. You know orphan stories from Dickens. We pull for the underdog. But Beth also gets addicted to tranquilizers from the school, which leads to the central tension of the story: Will she, like so many sudden young American celebrities, destroy her talent through drugs and alcohol (her next addiction)?

Random reflections: This book is more a coming of age story as much as it is about chess, though everyone that has a chess board is now dusting it off for the December 2020 holidays, or buying one (300 % increase in reported sales) based on the infectious and knowledgeable enthusiasm Tevis expresses for the game he loved all his life. Those of us Americans who are old enough to recall the matches one could see on television between American Bobby Fischer and Kasparov, Karpov, Spassky and other (mostly Russian) Chess Grandmasters appreciate the blast from the past this book gives you about a world aflame with the love of. . . chess??!! But it was real, trust me, millions watched these matches worldwide and loved them even if it was all a bit over our heads.

Tevis only has Beth make one explicit political statement in finally refusing monetary support to get to the World Championships from Moscow from a Christian organization that wants her to use her fame to denounce the “Markist/Atheist” Russia. She’s not going to do that. Another, possibly more subtle one, is that Beth undermines the Cold War ideology by honoring The Russians in many ways. The Russians honor tradition, dignity, and the history of the game. Benny tells Beth that one of the reasons the Russians rule in Chess is that they work together to support each other (cue Biden speech on how to beat the pandemic) whereas Americans compete against each other in individualist silos.

It’s not until Beth gets the call from NYC and her friends advise her that she finally realizes the full extent of what might be called a communist ideal, the power of the collective vs (merely) cowboy competitiveness. She learns from Harry and Benny, she reads the books of chess masters history at their suggestions, and in the end, she just simply plays chess with an older Russian man in the park who does not know her name, just for the love of it.

The feminism? Beth resents being seen as a (mere) girl, as a token. She wants to survive, as her old orphanage friend does, on her own terms. Beth’s adopted mother “had to” get married, and Beth wants independence, to stand on her own as a woman. Russia cheers her more than any other country, for her skill, not her gender.

I really really liked this book a lot!

Fun facts from Wikipedia:
In 1978 Nona Gaprindashvili became the first female Grandmaster. Judit Polgár is the only female player to have defeated the reigning world number one in a game, which occurred when she beat Garry Kasparov in 2002 at the age of 26. Polgar (born in 1976), a Hungarian chess player, is generally considered the strongest female chess player of all time.
...more

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Dec 20, 2020 Mehenaz rated it it was amazing

As much as I wished to have discovered the book before the TV show, that didn't stop the words from amusing me. Even if you don't know what any of the chess pieces do and have no interest in chess, Beth alone can make up for all that. What a character she is! She deserves more appreciation and acknowledgement as one of the most well-developed femme fatale. So, here's a tribute to the one who's "unapologetically feminine," yet not a goddess without flaws.

Instagram: @tishamonten ...more

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Sep 10, 2015 Lynne King rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016-books-to-be-read, chess, a-must-to-read, fiction-us, 6-star-rating, top-favourite-books

At eighteen, Beth Harmon has established herself as the queen of American chess. She may be the most gifted player since Morphy or Capablanca; no one knows just how gifted she is – how great a potential she holds in that young girl’s body with its dazzling brain. To find out, to show the world if America has outgrown its inferior status in world chess, she will have to go where the big boys are. She will have to go to the Soviet Union.

Imagine this story though. Beth, a plain, shy eight year At eighteen, Beth Harmon has established herself as the queen of American chess. She may be the most gifted player since Morphy or Capablanca; no one knows just how gifted she is – how great a potential she holds in that young girl’s body with its dazzling brain. To find out, to show the world if America has outgrown its inferior status in world chess, she will have to go where the big boys are. She will have to go to the Soviet Union.

Imagine this story though. Beth, a plain, shy eight year old becomes homeless when her parents are killed in a car crash. She had no choice in the matter but to be taken to the Methuem Home in Mount Sterling in Kentucky. Here she, as were all the other children, was given a tranquilizer twice a day to even their dispositions. Regrettably she was going to become addicted to these …

But Beth’s life is transformed when she is asked to go into the basement to clean the blackboard erasers. She sees Mr Shaibel, the janitor, playing a game on a board and by himself and soon finds out that it is called chess. She never would understand what caused her fascination with this game but she managed to persuade the janitor to teach her. Beth soon discovers remarkable chess openings, such as the Sicilian defense, the Queen’s Gambit and the Stonewall Attack. She proves to be a natural and soon she receives her first chess rating. Beth in no time at all is the American Chess Champion. However, along the way she finds out what disappointment can be in a male-dominated chess world and at what price. And as for the ending, well...

I found the chess sequences absolutely riveting. Beth actually planned the moves out in advance in her head and ended up stunning everyone with her play. Plus throw in her adoption, and her mother Mrs Wheatley, upon seeing how good Beth is with chess, soon encourages her to enter all the chess tournaments. Also Beth’s various relationships certainly helped her no end and then she meets the Russian Grandmasters.

I'm not at all surprised that the author is no stranger to chess. He learned to play as a seven year old and is now a class C player.

I was really taken with the title and upon research found out that the Queen's Gambit is one of the oldest known chess openings. It was mentioned in the Göttingen manuscript of 1490.

I play chess but really badly. Nevertheless, this book has certainly encouraged me to try and improve my game.

This remarkable gem has been languishing on my bookshelf for five months. Why I haven’t read it before I really don’t know but I’m glad I finally did.

Overall, this is a poignant, multi-faceted, exquisitely written and stunning book.
...more

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Nov 09, 2020 Lisa rated it really liked it

Shelves: audiobook, 2020-tbr-shelf

The Queen's Gambit, about a female chess prodigy, is loaded with chess games: chess strategy, openings, middle game, endings. I know nothing about chess, the audiobook was poorly narrated and I did not particularly like Beth Harmon - yet I was still riveted! A testament to Tevis' strong writing! ...more

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Sep 08, 2015 Warwick rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: united-states, fiction, chess

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Jan 06, 2021 Jonathan K rated it really liked it · review of another edition

For aspiring chess players

Rating: 3.5 stars
I was drawn to this story due to the popularity of the Netflix series which I'd never seen. A lover of the game and fan of 'Searching for Bobby Fischer', I found it engaging on many fronts. Similar to Josh Waitzkin, Beth is gifted child with a unique talent. An adopted orphan, her foster mother is emotionally distant but supportive. Once she realizes how gifted her daughter is, she sees dollar signs and acts as a manager. As a character, Beth is relati ...more

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Jun 28, 2011 Jeremy Bagai rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: games-and-gambling, fiction

I so adore this book.

The twin passions of games (order, clarity, focus, beauty, creativity, competition, transcendence) and addiction (chaos, release, abdication, destruction, waste). Loneliness and alienation. Redemption.

Tevis works these themes in all his books. The Hustler (most similarly), The Man Who Fell to Earth (most wrenchingly).

But I think Queen's Gambit is his best. The writing is pure and invisible. The tension, excitement, and suspense brought out by the chess matches is unreal, an ...more

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Apr 29, 2020 Joy D rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: zck, reviewed, north-america, coming-of-age, addictions, literary-fiction, games

Set in the 1950s and 1960s, Elizabeth Harmon is a chess prodigy with addiction issues. She learns chess at age eight from a janitor at her orphanage and obviously has a gift for the game. When she is adopted at age twelve, she eventually gets a chance to compete in tournaments. Her addiction issues originate in the practice of medicating children to keep them subdued and losing her parents at a young age.

The chess tournaments are well-crafted, and the author creates a sense of dramatic tension. ...more

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Mar 10, 2021 Kemper rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2020, addiction, sports, modern-lit

It’s too bad that this book has been so forgotten. If only somebody would do a really good TV adaptation of it then….What’s that? Oh. Never mind.

After her mother dies Beth Harmon is sent to an orphanage, and it’s just as much fun as that sounds. However, she manages to get by thanks to daily doses of tranquilizers they give to all the girls, and she discovers a natural talent for chess thanks to a gruff janitor who reluctantly teaches her the game. Beth is eventually adopted by a less than ideal It’s too bad that this book has been so forgotten. If only somebody would do a really good TV adaptation of it then….What’s that? Oh. Never mind.

After her mother dies Beth Harmon is sent to an orphanage, and it’s just as much fun as that sounds. However, she manages to get by thanks to daily doses of tranquilizers they give to all the girls, and she discovers a natural talent for chess thanks to a gruff janitor who reluctantly teaches her the game. Beth is eventually adopted by a less than ideal couple, but she finally manages to make her way to chess tournaments where she’s an instant sensation despite her fondness for her little green pills and a growing taste for booze. As she grows into adulthood she tries to become a player capable of beating the Soviet grand master who is the world champion, but Beth’s personal demons always threaten to overwhelm her as she struggles to live up to her full potential.

The amazing thing about this story is that it sounds like it could be pure misery porn, but it really isn’t. Yes, the lead is an orphan who has a very hard life in many ways including coping with addictions. Yet author Walter Tevis manages to keep the story from feeling grim, even when the circumstances really are.

I think this is because he’s more interested in how Beth reacts and copes with her problems rather than just dwelling on the ugliness of them. Even when she hits rock bottom and goes on an extended bender, we don’t wallow in the seedy picture of a young lady doing her best to drink herself into oblivion. Instead, by being in her head we see how she slides into this pattern because she doesn’t know how to deal with her issues rather than being some kind of narcissistic exercise in self-destruction.

Another thing Beth has to resolve is that the very nature of chess and studying it often means she spends a lot of time alone and in her own head which as a socially awkward person is how she often likes it, but she also has abandonment issues and also doesn’t really want to be alone. Since she’s her own worst enemy this is often a recipe for disaster. Plus, there’s been some chess masters who had mental health problems so for a woman who has her own issues, she’s uneasy about how going deep into the game might not be the best thing for her.

At the heart of the entire story is what it means to be a genius at anything. Beth has a natural talent that allows her to achieve a lot without much training, but because it’s all been easy for her she has to learn how to apply herself if she wants to become the world champion. When it’s been easy to be the best, it’s often hard to dig in and take the next step because talent will only get you so far in any field. When things get tougher, failure is always a possibility, and if there’s one thing Beth is frightened of, it’s failure.

Tevis also manages to make chess interesting in this. Like a lot of people, I know how to play, but I have no particular talent for it. His accounts of Beth’s games and study of it provide a glimpse into what it must be like to be a player at that level, and I actually found myself looking up some famous chess games and finding them fascinating.

It’s an extremely well written and sympathetic portrait of a woman struggling with her past and her talent. I’d already seen the Netflix show based on it, and it’s pretty faithful so there were no real surprises. Yet, I still found myself getting anxious about Beth and how she was doing both in her chess matches and in her life all over again. ...more

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Jan 14, 2021 Char rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: addiction, audio-book

Needing a break from my normal fare of dark fiction, I thought I'd give this a shot on audio.

I very much enjoyed the story itself, (I don't think I would have enjoyed the chess game portions if I had read this book instead), however I did not care for the narrator very much. Luckily the story was engaging enough that I couldn't quit, and in the end, I'm glad I stuck with it!

I recommend this, but be prepared for a lot of chess moves, chess talk and chess books.

*I downloaded this from Audible, it ...more

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Jun 24, 2018 John Martin rated it really liked it

I'm a tad biased rating this. In my youth, I was a chess junkie. The rise of Bobby Fischer coincided with my early adolescence. Thus I understand some of the technical stuff in this book and I can appreciate descriptions of well-turned wooden chess men. But putting nostalgia aside, I wonder if slabs of the narrative would be inaccessible to non chess players. The book was written in the early 1980s. The writing style might have been cutting-edge then but things have moved on in 35 years. Ditto t ...more

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Nov 15, 2020 Alicia Groscost rated it it was amazing

You don't have to play chess to like this book!

I absolutely loved this, but will admit I did this in backwards order by watching the Netflix Series first. Once I was part of the way through the series I confirmed it had started as book and then promptly switched over. The book had little nuances that were different, but overall the book and the series were very much aligned. The characters are well thought out and I really don't see how the book or the series could have been improved! ...more

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Jul 02, 2016 Ian rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: usa, 5-star-fiction, fiction

Most of the people who know me consider me a real bookworm, but coming across a novel like this makes me realise how little I actually know about literature. I had never heard of this novel before I joined GR, although I understand it is rapidly gaining the status of a modern classic, and deservedly so.

The setting is the 1950s and the central character, Beth Harmon, is a teenage chess prodigy, but one with dangerous addictions to tranquilizers and alcohol. Part of the tension in the plot is whet ...more

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Nov 22, 2020 Iulia rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2020

I read this book after watching (and absolutely loving) the show on Netflix. This is unusual for me, and what's even more unusual is that I enjoyed *gasp* the show a bit more than I did the book. I just feel like the tweaks the producers made to the story actually enriched it, and the 60's atmosphere, somewhat neglected in the book, was brought to life gloriously via sets and wardrobe. I would still recommend both reading The Queen's Gambit and watching its adaptation, what I would like to empha ...more

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Sep 12, 2020 Lee rated it it was amazing

Quite possibly a perfect example of a certain type of taut, pulsating novel -- and a lesson in precision and how to mesmerise your readers. And Tevis should have way more.

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About Walter Tevis

Walter Tevis

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Walter Stone Tevis was an American novelist and short story writer. Three of his six novels were adapted into major films: The Hustler, The Color of Money and The Man Who Fell to Earth. The Queen's Gambit has also been adapted in 2020 into a 7-episode mini-series. His books have been translated into at least 18 languages. ...more

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“It's an entire world of just 64 squares. I feel safe in it. I can control it; I can dominate it. And it's predictable. So, if I get hurt, I only have myself to blame.” — 35 likes

“She had flirted with alcohol for years. Now it was time to consummate the relationship.” — 12 likes

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