MARK RUBERY CHESS
The Netflix mini-series ‘Queens Gambit’ took the world by storm and was responsible for another chess boom, the likes of which have not been seen since the Fischer-Spassky match gripped the world in their epic 1972 match. The series has been roundly celebrated by film critics and audiences alike and more importantly by chess players themselves. The following is a brief review from Albert Silver of Chessbase…
‘Chess players always feel a combination of excitement and dread when a movie is released that either contains chess or is actually about our beloved game. The excitement needs no explanation, and the dread is the flood of technical problems that seem to inevitably appear. When I reported the new mini-series on Netflix to a colleague, his first question was, “Did they get the color of the squares for the kings and queens right?” This seemingly sarcastic comment belies the standard chess aficionados usually face. The good news is that not only is chess superbly rendered, with a wide variety of grandmaster-level positions and situations, but the story and production of “The Queen’s Gambit” is exceptional on all levels. Simply put: this is easily the best chess movie or series to ever grace the screens.’
The climax is reached in the 7th and final episode where the heroine Beth Harmon (whose character is loosely based on Fischer) faces the World Champion, Vasily Borgov, in a tournament in Moscow.
This critical game follows Ivanchuk-Wolff, Biel 1993 for 37 moves before the protagonists go down a complicated and beautiful variation that results in the American registering a most popular victory!
Elizabeth Harmon – Vasily Borgov[D20]
Moscow 1968
1.d4 d5 2.c4 (Up to now our heroine has been a confirmed 1 e4 player but now is the time to play the opening which the novel and series is named after)… dxc4 3.e4 Nc6 4.Be3 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.d5 Ne7 7.Bxc4 Ng6 8.f3 Bd6 9.Qd2 Bd7 10.Nge2 a6 11.Bb3 b5 12.a4 0–0 13.0–0 Qe7 14.Rac1 Nh5 15.g3 h6 16.Bc2 Rab8 17.axb5 axb5 18.Ra1 Ra8 19.Bd3 Bb4 20.Rxa8 Rxa8 21.Qc2 Bc5 22.Nd1 Bd6 23.Nf2 Nhf4 24.Rc1 Qg5 25.Kh1 Qh5 26.Ng1 Nxd3 27.Nxd3 f5 28.Nc5 Bc8 29.Rf1 Ne7 30.Qd3 fxe4 31.fxe4 Qg6 32.Kg2 Kh7 33.Nf3 Ng8 34.Nh4 Qg4 35.Nf5 Nf6 36.h3 Qg6 (Here Ivanchuk, who like Harmon has a habit of looking up at the ceiling whilst analysing, played 37 g4 ) 37.Ne6! Ra4 38.b3 Rxe4 39.Nxd6 Bxe6 40.dxe6 cxd6 41.e7 d5 42.Bc5 Qe8 43.Qf3 Qc6 44.b4 Qe8 45.Qf5+ Kh8
46.Qxf6! (Naturally a queen sacrifice is a fitting way to conclude the game!)… gxf6 47.Rxf6 Qh5 48.Rf8+ Kg7 49.e8=Q Re2+ 50.Kf1 Qxh3+ 51.Kxe2 Qg2+ 52.Rf2 Qe4+ 53.Kd2 (At this point Borgov offers his hand in resignation which contains the Black king…) 1-0
“I think chess is on the rise now in America and around the world and I think this series will do a great job promoting it further and I expect now a boom, because it helps to refute the image of the game of chess as something that could turn you into a nerd -- or just to make you crazy. We can see that chess helps Beth Harmon to overcome her weakness and her addiction. So chess helps to elevate her to new heights and I think that will encourage many, many more parents to look at chess more favourably and to push their kids in this direction, especially girls.” (Kasparov interviewed on CNN)