Chess has been the focus, or sub-focus, of several other movies, from Searching for Bobby Fischer to Fresh to Pawn Sacrifice. These are movies that lack the stand-up thrills of sports dramas like Rocky or Hoosiers, but what can you say? It's chess. A more cerebral game means more introverted, quirky characters. And The Queen's Gambit delivers in spades...or should I say, rooks. With 2.6K reviews on IMDb (as of the date of my review), enough has been said about the acting (wonderful, particularly Anya Taylor-Joy, whose eyes express just as much about her character as her words do), the story, and the backdrop.

Beth Harmon is a child prodigy who loses her parents at a very early age. She survives a stereotypical (for movies, at least) child orphanage by fantasizing about chess moves; fantasies initially fueled by tranquilizers. I am no expert on state laws in Kentucky in the 1960s, but now it seems quite hard to believe that such strong drugs were handed out disguised as "vitamins" to children back then.

The mini-series depicts Beth's triumphs and frequent set backs from age 9 to about 25. Because of her frequent addiction, financial, and relationship set backs, I had no idea where the story was going by the final episode. To reveal anything more would be a spoiler. But most characters, mainly the mostly male chess counterparts and her loyal friend and surrogate sister from the orphanage, but also the Russian chess adversaries, are very sympathetic (Russia is not portrayed in a negative light in this mini series).

The 1960s haven't looked this good since Mad Men. And the 7-episode duration is perfect. There is no need for this to be a drawn-out series a'la Better Call Saul or Ozark (not that there was anything wrong with those series, of course). Recommended, but don't expect Game of Thrones. Which suit me just fine.