After her mother dies in a car accident nine-year-old Beth Harmon is sent to an orphanage. A shy, withdrawn girl she finds a purpose when the school janitor teaches her to play chess. She demonstrates a prodigious talent for the game and is soon competing at a very high level. However, she has also developed a drug addiction as this seems to help her play. She seems set on a path for fame...and self-destruction.

Enthralling drama. Very interesting plot, showing how someone can start from humble, unfortunate beginnings and progress to be a leader in their field. Also shows the trappings of success.

While fictional the story is very believable and clearly much research and thought went into the chess side as it is very realistic and accurate. Grandmaster Garry Kasparov is a consultant on the show.

Anya Taylor-Joy is great in the lead role, capturing well Beth Harmon's introvertedness, complexity and emotional issues. Decent supporting performances with the stand-out being Bill Camp as Mr. Shaibel, the janitor.

Not perfect though. In an effort to quickly progress the plot the writers miss opportunities for reflection and character development. There were several plot developments where I felt a bit more time should have been spent following up on the development: a significant event in Beth's life occurs and rather than slow down to reflect and ponder on it and see how it affects her the writers launch into the next plot progression. An extra episode or two to cover these events would have been in order.

Some characters are also inconsistently drawn. I found the character of Benny Watts quite cartoonish and jarringly erratic.

Overall though it's a great series and a must-see.