Plot summary
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.
Credits
Adapted from Wikipedia contributors, The Queen's Gambit (miniseries). Series, exact episode number and English title matched. Paragraphs formatted; references and illustrations omitted.