It's not very realistic when it comes to the chess, except the actual games. I also found it frustrating that they obviously were inspired by Bobby Fischer whose real life would have made a great story, but decided he wasn't hollywood friendly.
The show is actually based on a book by the same name published in 1983 [0], never read it myself. The chess moves in it are apparently taken from Fischer and others, but it doesn't credit Fischer in any other way.
Which is kind of weird considering the show did even the comparing the protagonist to Paul Morphy thing that also applied to Fischer.
The book also tackles themes like drug addiction and feminism, but I found the show's take on these mostly pointless and superficial. Her drug addiction is never depicted as a struggle, she performs well drugged as well as sober, more of a comedic air to it than serious affliction.
It's also slightly historically revisionist when claiming there were no female chess clubs in the US back then, when there actually were whole female national championships since the late 1930s. The show also claimed how in the USSR women would never play against men, completely ignoring the history of Nina Alexandrovna Bluket [1], who's life would probably have made for a way more interesting and authentic story than a gender-swapped Bobby Fischer.
There are parallels to Fischer but if you want that movie "Pawn Sacrifice" is a decent movie.
As for realism when it comes to chess, as a (former - covid bleh) competitive league player they absolutely nailed the "feel" of the Chess world for me, better than anything else I've seen - yes they compressed the games and showed players moving far too quickly but that was a necessary compromise - hard to show a 7 hour game in real time as a TV show.
The camaraderie and eccentricities of the Chess world where displayed really well.
To be fair, Bobby Fischer life, while not totally uneventful wouldn't really be dramatic enough for a serie. At least, not without focusing on the geopolitical aspect of when he played spassky, which the serie apparently didn't go with.
Also, using a woman character was a good idea in my opinion, since chess is such a man world.
Not very realistic? I thought the depiction of tournament play was spot on, with the obvious exception of a few 'dramatic moments'. Have you played OTB tournaments?
Have you seen the top 100 chessplayer list? Now, 10 years ago?, 50 years ago? Have you see the women top 100 list? The few American women there are Asian-Americans or FSU. Only in Hollywood a cute WASPY girl is the GOAT of chess, and yes I know this is based on a 1980s novel.That does not make it realistic.
It's like making a movie where the best 100m sprinter in the world is a Guatemalan woman. Nice story, 0 credibility.
freeflight|5 years ago
Which is kind of weird considering the show did even the comparing the protagonist to Paul Morphy thing that also applied to Fischer.
The book also tackles themes like drug addiction and feminism, but I found the show's take on these mostly pointless and superficial. Her drug addiction is never depicted as a struggle, she performs well drugged as well as sober, more of a comedic air to it than serious affliction.
It's also slightly historically revisionist when claiming there were no female chess clubs in the US back then, when there actually were whole female national championships since the late 1930s. The show also claimed how in the USSR women would never play against men, completely ignoring the history of Nina Alexandrovna Bluket [1], who's life would probably have made for a way more interesting and authentic story than a gender-swapped Bobby Fischer.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Queen%27s_Gambit_(novel)
[1] https://www.chess.com/blog/Spektrowski/pioneers-of-soviet-wo...
jsnell|5 years ago
noir_lord|5 years ago
As for realism when it comes to chess, as a (former - covid bleh) competitive league player they absolutely nailed the "feel" of the Chess world for me, better than anything else I've seen - yes they compressed the games and showed players moving far too quickly but that was a necessary compromise - hard to show a 7 hour game in real time as a TV show.
The camaraderie and eccentricities of the Chess world where displayed really well.
BurningFrog|5 years ago
dreamcompiler|5 years ago
[0] https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/11/queens-gambit-a...
C4stor|5 years ago
Also, using a woman character was a good idea in my opinion, since chess is such a man world.
georgeoliver|5 years ago
cambalache|5 years ago
It's like making a movie where the best 100m sprinter in the world is a Guatemalan woman. Nice story, 0 credibility.