Rediscover: The Queen's Gambit

Netflix's limited series The Queen's Gambit, based on the 1983 novel by Walter Tevis, follows a female chess prodigy through her early years in an orphanage to her ascension among the ranks of chess world champions in the 1950s and '60s. Beth Harmon, played by Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch), must also contend with drug and alcohol addiction that began with tranquilizer pills dispensed to the orphanage's charges. The Queen's Gambit has received abundant critical praise and set record streaming numbers on Netflix. The series has also been favorably reviewed by real-life chess champions such as American Woman Grandmaster Jennifer Shahade, who told Vanity Fair it "completely nailed the chess accuracy."

Walter Tevis (1928-1984) also wrote the novels The Hustler (1959), The Man Who Fell to Earth (1963), Mockingbird (1980), The Steps of the Sun (1983) and The Color of Money (1984) several of which were adapted into successful films. And he was the author of some two dozen short stories. A tie-in version of The Queen's Gambit will be published by Vintage on December 29 ($16.95). In the meantime, Vintage's 2003 version is available ($16.95). --Tobias Mutter

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