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The Queen’s Gambit is a must-see series to binge watch.

The Queen’s Gambit has been on our TBW (To-Be-Watched list) since it hit Netflix back in October 2020. Yet, I can definitely hear you asking what is so good about a show whose main topic is chess? Forget the nerdy stereotypes, this whip-smart drama has everything from love to feminism and empowerment, could you really ask for more!

In season 1, we meet Elizabeth ‘Beth’ Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy), an orphan chess prodigy as she fights for stardom in the late 1950s to early 1960s. Learning the chess ropes from mentor William Shaibel (Bill Camp) and the former enemy turned friend/lover Benny Watts (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), she transforms into a proficient player of the game of chess. While growing ever determined to conquer the boundaries of the male-dominated sport. Beth goes through so much in this first season being haunted by her past demons and struggling with her obsession with narcotics.

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Based on the book of the same name by Walter Tevis, the first season follows the main plot point of the novel. Yet, a story of a woman owning it in the 1960s was such a fresh take from anything we had really seen in the last couple of years.

Now with a title like The Queen’s Gambit which is named after an opening chess move, there has to be plenty of chess happening in this series. Not as much as you would think and definitely not in the way we would visually interpret a chess game.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly creator, Scott Frank was quoted saying “We have to give each tournament its own personality that reflects where [Beth] is at.’ So the vibe of each tournament became different — the feeling, the look, everything.” Every scene was unique from the average games between Beth and her real-life opponents to the scenes where she imagines a life-sized chessboard on the ceiling to play through her possible moves, which feels incredibly surreal.

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After completing the first season we have waited to see what’s next for this mini-series drama and of course the fashion trends of the era. We were not only in love with the characters and story of this series but its amazing vintage fashion. Beth’s fashion from the first series was an extremely chic goal. From the peter pan collared shirts to the all-white ensemble by the end of the series, we are honestly so sad they are not available in a local boutique.