Contradictheory: Chess can be fun – really!

Anya Taylor-Joy as chess prodigy Beth Harmon in 'The Queen’s Gambit', a TV mini series that is well-written, well-acted, presented skilfully, and – importantly for our chess-playing columnist – gets the chess almost always right. — Netflix

The Queen’s Gambit is a chess opening, where the player with the white pieces offers a pawn sacrifice almost immediately. It is my favourite opening when playing white, especially if the sacrifice is accepted, because it usually means an exciting game is on the cards.

The Queen’s Gambit is also a television series currently (November 2020) trending on Netflix, and since it’s a show about chess written and directed by Scott Frank (who also wrote Get Shorty, Out Of Sight and Logan, all of which I enjoyed), it was something I was looking forward to.