Checkmate with a champion show

The Queen’s Gambit became Netflix’s most viewed scripted limited series ever in only four weeks and was its top show in 63 countries, including the UK. Based on the novel of the same name by Walter Tevis (who also wrote The Hustler and The Man Who Fell To Earth), it’s the inspiring tale of chess prodigy Beth Harmon (a mesmerising Anya Taylor-Joy, far right with Marielle Heller) playing her way to the top in a male-dominated game. From the moment Beth sits down to her first game of chess as a little girl to the climactic match when she is taking on the Russian world champion, we are rooting for her, and the finale is as emotional a piece of drama as you will watch this year. Available now