The Princess’s Gambit

Let me first say that today was a mental health day. It was a time for unwinding, recharging, resting, reading and distancing myself from routines. I still had the final episode of the Netflix show The Queen’s Gambit in my head and it reminded me just what a great game chess is. Not only for its ability to stimulate mathematical thought processes but also strategy and of course challenging memory. Speaking of memory, I couldn’t remember the last time I picked up a chess board but the show had inspired me to give it some thought.

Although this is based in fiction and on a 1983 novel, I am glad it was made into a miniseries rather than a movie as in previous decades. The mini series allows for an exploration of character and for characters not to just briefly cameo but to be properly entwined into a story as they are in novels. It allows time to build an emotional rollercoaster rather than just an early segment of the formative years, the challenging middle act and the inevitable showdown in Russia.

In truth that period (1960s) was Russian dominated and the likes of Bobby Fischer did not reign supreme until the early 1970s. It was also a sport (can I call it a sport?) certainly dominated by men and that the absence of women in the game was not only down to lack of opportunities but a reflection of the time that disabled those opportunities. In that sense The Queen’s Gambit seems almost a parallel universe as if the author had imagined a time where opportunities were there and that upon defeat there was no begrudging but an inherent respect. Knowing the world of competitive sports as well as I do and the world as it was or even can be, I felt that it was the writers respect for the game that prevented that animosity from creeping in.

It has clearly had a knock on effect though as it is said that the COVID-19 lockdown had already seen a rise in the sales of chess boards and now an increase in female chess players in part thanks to the streaming series. Incidentally, before seeing the show, our youngest daughter had already begun chess lessons (2020) as if we were only slightly ahead of the curve. We had enrolled our daughter in afterschool chess initially as extracurricular activity and had tried tutoring when the restrictions were eased although none so far in 2021. That said, there are a myriad of virtual tutors out there and could be worth investigating.

So as I enjoyed my day of doing things differently, I suddenly added a game of chess with my daughter to my ToDos. She gladly accepted the challenge and we set the board up. In a handful of moves Darcy had my queen and I realised that thinking a move or so ahead would not be enough. I reverted to the SillyMan Defence ( a not so elegant cousin of the Sicillian Defence) and then managed to recover somehow. As I watched my youngest daughter attribute points to the pieces and thoughfully gaze at the lay of the land, I took great delight knowing full well princesses are far better at this game than me – a man, resembling more a court jester than knight and more a custodian than king.