The Queen's Gambit

Season 1

1. Openings

Elizabeth Harmon is orphaned at age nine when her mother dies in a car crash on New Circle Road in Lexington, Kentucky. She is taken to Methuen Home for Girls, where the children are given tranquilizing pills to make them more compliant. While dusting erasers in the basement, Beth discovers the custodian, Mr. Shaibel, studying chess on his own. After repeated requests and demonstrating that she has already learned how the pieces move by observing him, he reluctantly agrees to teach her the game. She improves quickly, thanks to her spatial intelligence and tranquilizer abuse, which allow her to focus and visualize chess games on the ceiling above her bed.

When she is able to beat him regularly, Shaibel introduces Beth to the local high school chess club teacher, Mr. Ganz, whom she also beats. Ganz invites her to play a simultaneous exhibition against his entire club. After the state passes a law outlawing the use of tranquilizers on children, Beth begins to suffer from withdrawal. Given tranquilizer pills by her friend Jolene, Beth beats Ganz's entire class easily. Still suffering from withdrawal, she is caught stealing a jar of the tranquilizers and passes out after swallowing several mouthfuls of pills.

2. Exchanges

Beth is adopted as a teenager by Lexington couple Alma and Allston Wheatley. Alma is unhappy, while Allston is emotionally distant and frequently absent. At her new high school, Beth is bullied by the popular girls from the "Apple Pi Club" for her drab clothes and intelligence. Beth steals tranquilizers from her mother and again begins to visualize chess positions on the ceiling. She also steals a chess magazine and learns about the upcoming Kentucky State Championship. Short of money, she writes to Mr. Shaibel, who sends her $5 for the entrance fee.

She surprises the organizers by cruising through her early games, and develops a crush on a young man named Townes, who she plays against shortly after. After their game, Beth becomes flustered when she learns she has started menstruating, though she receives help from her first round opponent Annette Packer in the bathroom, and from Allston once she arrives home. After the second day of the tournament, Beth comes home to find that Allston has deserted her and Alma, but the two women agree to lie so Beth can stay.

During her final game of the tournament against state champion Harry Beltik, Beth becomes flustered by his late arrival and runs to the restroom to reprimand herself, after which she regains composure and takes a tranquilizer to help win the game. Alma takes an interest in chess after seeing Beth's winnings and plans to take Beth to a tournament in Cincinnati.

3. Doubled Pawns

Beth wins the tournament in Cincinnati. She continues to skip school while traveling to tournaments and quickly gains national recognition for her achievements. She also begins dressing more stylishly as her winnings increase. At school, Beth is invited to a meeting of the "Apple Pi Club" by the girls who had initially shunned her. She soon realizes she has nothing in common with them and, stealing a bottle of gin, escapes back home. In 1966, Beth heads to Las Vegas for the U.S. Open where she is reunited with Townes, now a journalist covering the event for the Lexington newspaper.

They return to his hotel room where Townes takes pictures of her. The two play chess and share a brief, intimate moment, but are interrupted by Townes's roommate, who Beth suspects is also his boyfriend. Beth runs into the current U.S. national champion, Benny Watts, who points out an error in her game against Beltik. Beth is taken aback and replays her earlier game, losing her confidence. She experiences her first professional loss against Benny the next day and they finish the tournament as co-champions.

4. Middle Game

Beth takes night classes in Russian at a local college. She attends a party where she smokes marijuana and has sex with one of the students. Left alone in the empty apartment for the weekend, she indulges herself with more alcohol and drugs. After graduating from high school, Beth travels to an international tournament in Mexico City with Alma. Beth competes against several international players, including 13-year-old Soviet prodigy Georgi Girev, whom she defeats in a tough game lasting two days. While in a crowded elevator, Beth overhears a discussion between Soviet world champion Vasily Borgov and two associates about her playing style and potential weaknesses.

Beth then plays Borgov and loses to him in an intense game after he surprises her with an offbeat opening. Back in the hotel room, Beth discovers Alma has died of suspected hepatitis, likely worsened by her excessive drinking. Beth manages to contact Allston in Denver, who wants nothing to do with the burial arrangements. However, he agrees to let Beth keep the house. Beth buys more tranquilizers from a pharmacy before flying home to arrange Alma's burial.

5. Fork

Beth returns home to Kentucky and reconnects with Beltik, who is attending college and has romantic feelings for her. At Beth's suggestion, he moves into Alma's house to accompany the now lonely Beth. The two spend time training and occasionally having sex until Beltik realizes Beth's obsession with chess will always overshadow any relationship they may have. The two part ways, as Beltik admits his passion for the game has waned. Beth travels to the 1967 U.S. Championship in Ohio, where she reunites with Benny Watts. The evening before they are scheduled to face each other in the final game, Benny challenges Beth to several rounds of speed chess.

An experienced speed chess hustler, he beats her consistently. The next day, however, Beth defeats Benny to become the U.S. champion. The two discuss Beth's future in international competition. Benny, recognizing that Beth needs both a role model and a trainer, invites Beth to train for the Paris Invitational with him in New York City.

6. Adjournment

Beth travels to New York with Benny, where he trains her for the Paris Invitational. He invites two strong players, Hilton Wexler and Arthur Levertov to assist, along with a model named Cleo, who quickly befriends Beth. Beth repeatedly beats Benny, Wexler, and Levertov at simultaneous speed chess. After the others leave, Beth and Benny have sex, but Benny ruins the mood by talking chess strategy afterwards. At the Paris Invitational, Beth advances to the finals against Borgov. Cleo, who is also in Paris, invites Beth out for drinks, resulting in a late-night bender.

Hungover, Beth oversleeps the final and can't focus, losing to Borgov again. Devastated, Beth declines Benny's offer to continue training with him for the Moscow Invitational. She returns to Kentucky, where her lawyer informs her that Allston now has issues with her living in his house. He demands she vacate, but Beth buys the house from him, removes all his belongings, and redecorates. Soon after, she plunges into a days-long drug and alcohol bender, ignoring the outside world. She reluctantly honors her commitment to visit the Kentucky State Championship, where Beltik confronts her about her alcoholism. The next day, Beth finds Jolene at her front door.

7. End Game

In a flashback to 1957, Beth and her mother visit Beth's biological father, who refuses to take Beth in. In the present of 1968, Jolene and Beth attend Mr. Shaibel's funeral. Afterwards, Beth revisits the orphanage and breaks down when she discovers Shaibel followed her career up until his death. Jolene helps her quit drinking with a physical fitness regimen and loans her the money to attend the Moscow Invitational. Beth wins several games, gaining many Russian fans. In the final game against Borgov, Beth plays the Queen's Gambit. The game is adjourned after forty moves.

Beth reconnects with Townes, who is covering the tournament for the Lexington Herald-Leader. Beth receives a phone call from Benny, who has assembled Harry, Matt, Mike, Wexler, and Levertov to analyze her game with Borgov. When play resumes that evening, Beth is able to visualize the game without tranquilizer pills and beats Borgov after refusing a draw offer. Beth is celebrated widely by the locals gathered outside the venue. On the drive back to the airport, Beth exits the car and heads for a park where local men play chess. They recognize her and greet her warmly, inviting her to play.