The Queen's Gambit: Season 1

2020 · 7 episodes · ★ 8.2

Limited Series

What Season 1 of The Queen's Gambit

In 1950s Kentucky, Beth Harmon, a nine-year-old girl, loses her mother in a car accident and ends up at the Methuen Home for Girls in Lexington. There she meets the janitor, Mr. Shaibel, who teaches her to play chess. Beth shows an unusual talent for the board, but at the boarding school she is given tranquilizer pills every day, which eventually lead to an addiction. The season pits her ambition to become the world's best female player against her struggle with that addiction. As her fame grows, the protagonist must keep fighting her own demons.

7episodes

Oct 23, 2020aired

6.6 hrtotal runtime

Season 1 Episodes

1x01 Openings
Oct 23, 2020 · 59 min · ★ 8.2
Sent to an orphanage at age 9, Beth develops an uncanny knack for chess — and a growing dependence on the green tranquilizers given to the children.
Directing: Scott Frank · Starring: Sergio Di Zio, Jonjo O'Neill, Madeline Holliday, Alexander Berdichevsky
1x02 Exchanges
Oct 23, 2020 · 65 min · ★ 8.4
Suddenly plunged into a confusing new life in suburbia, teenage Beth studies her high school classmates and hatches a plan to enter a chess tournament.
Directing: Scott Frank · Starring: Matthew Dennis Lewis, Russell Dennis Lewis, Dolores Carbonari, Sophie McShera
1x03 Doubled Pawns
Oct 23, 2020 · 46 min · ★ 8.2
The trip to Cincinnati launches Beth and her mother into a whirlwind of travel and press coverage. Beth sets her sights on the U.S. Open in Las Vegas.
Directing: Scott Frank · Starring: Matthew Dennis Lewis, Russell Dennis Lewis, Dolores Carbonari, Ilja Roßbander
1x04 Middle Game
Oct 23, 2020 · 49 min · ★ 8.2
Russian class opens the door to a new social scene. In Mexico City, Beth meets the intimidating Borgov, while her mother cozies up to a pen pal.
Directing: Scott Frank · Starring: Matthew Dennis Lewis, Russell Dennis Lewis, Dolores Carbonari, Sam Gilroy
1x05 Fork
Oct 23, 2020 · 48 min · ★ 8.0
Back home in Kentucky, a shaken Beth reconnects with a former opponent who offers to help sharpen her game ahead of the U.S. Championship.
Directing: Scott Frank · Starring: Dolores Carbonari, Alexander Albrecht, Jeremy Mockridge, Alec Dahmer
1x06 Adjournment
Oct 23, 2020 · 60 min · ★ 8.1
After training with Benny in New York, Beth heads to Paris for her rematch with Borgov. But a wild night sends her into a self-destructive spiral.
Directing: Scott Frank · Starring: Sergio Di Zio, Annabeth Kelly, Millie Brady, Uke Bosse
1x07 End Game Season Finale
Oct 23, 2020 · 68 min · ★ 8.6
A visit from an old friend forces Beth to reckon with her past and rethink her priorities — just in time for the biggest match of her life.
Directing: Scott Frank · Starring: Matthew Dennis Lewis, Russell Dennis Lewis, Sergio Di Zio, Peter Gilbert Cotton