Scott Frank's Wonderful "The Queen's Gambit"

Rachel Syme, in her recent newyorker.com post, calls The Queen's Gambit “the most satisfying show on television.” I agree. Set in the 1960s, the series tells the story of Beth Harmon (played superbly by Anya Taylor-Joy), a child prodigy who discovers how to play chess in a Kentucky orphanage. Despite addictions to alcohol and tranquilizers, Beth plays and trains obsessively, rising through the ranks until she faces the world’s best in Moscow.

The show has a ravishing look. The chess tournaments are set in gorgeous locales and Beth’s clothes are spectacularly chic. Syme says,

In life and on screen, chess is considered the domain of hoary men in moth-eaten cardigans, playing in smoky gymnasia that reek of stale coffee. “The Queen’s Gambit,” instead, finds an unlikely synergy between the heady interiority of chess and the sensual realm of style.

An unlikely synergy between the heady interiority of chess and the sensual realm of style – this sums up The Queen’s Gambit beautifully.