A Chess Prodigy

 

     I just finished watching The Queen’s Gambit, a miniseries with seven episodes on Netflix. Currently the most watched limited series on Netflix (62 million people have watched it in 28 days), it is about an orphan who turns out to be a chess prodigy and who becomes a world champion amidst her emotional problems and her alcohol and drug dependency. Story is quite compelling, the acting really good and the cinematography fantastic. I rate it 4 stars out of 5.

     I think, like the main character in the series, everyone (those who become a master in it) learns how to play chess at a very young age. If you’re already a teenager and you’re only starting to learn it, you won’t be good in it. I learned playing it when I was around ten, I think, after my father brought home a brand new chessboard, but I didn’t become a master in it either. Lol. I loved the game but I started losing interest in it when I realized I could not beat anyone in it. I would get bored waiting for my opponent’s move and I would be distracted and would instead think about something else, like I’d be better off reading a good story, and the next thing I’d know, my opponent had checkmated me.

     The last time I played it, I think was a few months before the pandemic, against my 18-year old nephew. I concentrated on the game, I didn’t let anyone or anything distract me, I even imagined seeing my moves on our ceiling, with imaginary inspiring violin music.

     Still, he soundly defeated me in five moves.