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The Queen’s Gambit – Streaming on Netflix

In a 1950s orphanage, a young girl reveals an astonishing talent for chess and begins an unlikely journey to stardom, while grappling with addiction.

The acclaimed Netflix limited-series The Queen’s Gambit, based on the novel by Walter Tevis, is a coming-of-age story that explores the true cost of genius. Abandoned and entrusted to a Kentucky orphanage in the late 1950s, a young Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy) discovers an astonishing talent for chess while developing an addiction to tranquilizers provided by the state as a sedative for the children.  

Haunted by her personal demons and fuelled by a cocktail of narcotics and obsession, Beth transforms into an impressively skilled and glamorous outcast, determined to conquer the traditional boundaries established in the male-dominated world of competitive chess.  

The series is directed and written by two-time Academy Award nominee Scott Frank and executive produced by Frank, William Horberg and Allan Scott, who also co-created the series. The Queen’s Gambit stars Anya Taylor-Joy, Marielle Heller, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Moses Ingram, Harry Melling and Bill Camp. 

Most South Africans who have viewed it have expressed astonishment that a story about chess would keep them enthralled. 

The Queen’s Gambit is available to watch now on Netflix.  

If you’re wanting to judge the quality of Netflix productions for yourself before signing up, watch a few Netflix Originals here for free

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