The Queen's Gambit

Locations
Call Number: Adult Book / Fiction / General / Tevis, Walter S., Fiction / Tevis, Walter
On Shelf At: Westgate Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / General / Tevis, Walter S.	4-week checkout	Reshelving
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / General / Tevis, Walter S.	4-week checkout	Due 07-15-2025
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Fiction / Tevis, Walter	4-week checkout	Due 06-27-2025
Malletts Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / General / Tevis, Walter S.	4-week checkout	Due 07-15-2025
Pittsfield Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / General / Tevis, Walter S.	4-week checkout	Due 07-14-2025
Malletts Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / General / Tevis, Walter S.	4-week checkout	Due 07-15-2025
Pittsfield Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / General / Tevis, Walter S.	4-week checkout	Due 06-27-2025
Traverwood Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / General / Tevis, Walter S.	4-week checkout	Due 06-27-2025

Beth Harmon, orphaned at age eight, insists that the janitor teach her how to play chess and from then on her entire life is changed.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

Summary / Annotation
Excerpt
Author Notes

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

If you are not a chess fan, take a pass on this book submitted by hiker15 on July 21, 2021, 5:02pm Novel is about an orphan girl who becomes a chess prodigy. The majority of the book is about her entering tournaments and (of course) winning. And how angry she gets when she doesn't win. And how she searches out all possible strategies to win.

If you like chess and are familiar with the various chess strategies, you will probably enjoy this book. If you are not familiar with chess strategies and don't really care about them, you will find this book tedious.

Great character-driven story submitted by Susan4Pax -prev. sueij- on June 16, 2023, 9:45pm TW for parental death, child abuse (drugging children), child sexual abuse, and drug/ alcohol abuse.

No wonder this has been so well liked and got picked up for TV (which I haven’t seen yet). _The Queen’s Gambit_ is a fantastic character-driven story about excellence in chess. I was a casual player as a kid, never enough to learn named moves or the notation system, and that didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the intricate description of games in the story at all. The author describes the overall feel and momentum of games well enough that understanding specific attacks and counterattacks by board positions isn’t necessary. Beth’s youth is apparent and integral to the story (e.g. her anger at losing or being pushed to practice/learn), but never so annoying as to put me off reading. Her relationships with various secondary characters are wonderfully depicted. The overall framework of the competitive chess world is new to me, but was clear and I love the insight into how it works.

The Magical Negro thing is really REALLY old, though. Could authors just frickin’ STOP? It’s slightly disguised as Jolene enters the story young and is female (they were historically male unless the wise old crone in the swamp), but the trope is still fully there.