I had Queen’s Gambit on my watch list for a while. I was pleasantly surprised that a TV show about chess is getting appraisals, so I thought I better add it for some free weekend in the future.
To add to that, it was clear that it popularised chess for a good period of time. I could definitely see the increased count of chess videos recommended to me by the algorithm.
Personally, I haven’t played more than a few chess games as a kid, so I was in for it because I expected it to be a good show, and it certainly didn’t disappoint.
I never expected someone to make a good show revolving around chess, but they really figured it out, and it makes me hopeful that it’s possible to make a show around other niche topics. I mean, chess is huge, but it’s hard to write a drama about it.
It has a good character progression, though I liked the most the first three episodes when it was about an orphan kid beating men at chess, then it got a bit darker, but still superb. The story was great, the characters were great. I definitely recommend it.