The Queen's Gambit is a 7 Part Netflix Orginal Miniseries focusing on the story of Elizabeth (Beth) Harmon's rise to the top in the world of Competitive Chess while struggling with her addiction to alcohol and tranquilizers.

Overall I enjoyed the series. Like most good sport shows, it focuses more on the players (or, in this case, the player) while the game merely serves as a backdrop to the main character's development. In that regard I think the attention to detail is truly commendable. All the games of chess in the series are games that could conceivably be played by actual Chess Grandmasters.

Additionally, the character of Beth Harmon is very well done. From the complex relationship she has to her mother, to her addictions, to her utter brilliance with regards to the game of Chess, Hamron proves to be an interesting, complex, and dynamic character.

The series is quite pretty to look at, and does an excellent job of making the chess games seem intense and interesting. I wasn't bored watching Harmon play.

Unfortunately I think the series falls a little short of the mark in regards to pacing and side characters. I can't say that I found any of the secondary characters outside of Harmon's mother to be terribly interesting. They either had little screen time to make much of an impression (despite the series implying that these characters were important) or simply weren't interesting to my eyes. Benny, for example, comes across as so over the top and tonally different from the rest of the show that it felt obnoxious to me. I'm not sure if he was supposed to be the "careless sidekick" type or what, but he doesn't get enough screen time to seem like anything more than an annoying chess player. Similarly, Jolene, for all the buildup she gets in the first few episodes of the series, sees almost no usage during the middle of the show.

The pacing is also a noticeable issue. Without spoiling anything, the events of "Fork" and "Adjournment" seem to drag on longer than they need to, and mostly serve as a way for the previously absent side characters to suddenly make an appearance, while they were nowhere to be found earlier. It's clearly meant to heighten the emotional impact of these episodes, but because these characters have been MIA for most of the show, that impact is lost.

The pacing issues don't kill the show, and I think it's absolutely worth a watch. It's just a shame that The Queen's Gambit bit off a little more than it could chew.