I sincerely hope nobody will have the bad idea of a "sequel" for this gem of a mini-series. The main character is Beth, a sullen orphan, gifted only for the game of chess, and her difficult formative years. Growing up is always a painful procedure, even when extraordinarily gifted.

Beth is orphaned at a young age and being the only child of a single mother, she ends up in an orphanage. Thankfully, her orphan years in the institution do not involve anything too traumatic or sinister. In fact, Beth learns to play chess thanks to the equally sullen and introverted janitor, Mr. Shaibel.

The two develop a relationship made of silence and games, more than anything else. Only much later Beth will acknowledge the importance of Mr. Shaibel in her life.

When Beth gets adopted, she forms a strong, albeit weird bond with her adoptive mother Alma, a bit of a drunkard, who gets separated from her husband earlier on and then is free too travel with Beth, accompanying her to championships all around the US.

From her first tournament, Beth is caught up in the claustrophobic and competitive world of chess, until the final, defining match with Russian grandmaster Borgov.

The beauty of the show, apart from perfect costumes, setting and soundtrack, is that you can enjoy it, even if you care nothing about chess. Also, it does not rely too heavily on dialogues. Beth is not a talkative girl, nor particularly charming, but one cannot but help rooting for her. All the actors do a top job, especially Anya Taylor-Joy, who will be probably defined by this role for a long time to come.