“ The Queen’s Gambit ”, one of Netflix’s latest successes, starring Beth Harmon , has opened a debate on the topic of sexism, especially in the USA, and in particular on a male-dominated society and the role of women, starting with this sport.
The seven-episode television series, available from October 23, is based on the novel by Walter Trevis . The protagonist, Beth Harmon , played by a splendid Anya Taylor Joy , is left without her mother. She starts from the bottom, having encounters in the basement with the caretaker of the orphanage. She learns chess and is so good at it that she becomes a grandmaster of the discipline.
Beth Harmon and chess
For the protagonist, chess represents everything. "The whole world is in 64 squares ," says Beth, who, in the poverty of the Kentucky orphanage, finds her refuge and obsession among rooks, bishops, and pawns, her instrument of anger and redemption. Often, at night, when she goes to bed, thanks to the tranquilizers she administers, which end up becoming an addiction, Harmon stares at the ceiling of her room and sees a chessboard with pieces moving.
At night, she doesn't sleep, but she imagines endless games, moving pieces in her mind, creating stories made of numbers and probabilities. She sees things for what they are: their binary essence of 1s and 0s. Soon, she becomes one of the best and enters a world filled with repressed men, who at first regard her with suspicion, and then fall in love with her, follow her, admire her.
Between the late 50s, when Harmon was a withdrawn and solitary child, and the late 60s, when she reached the supreme tournament of the world's Grand Masters as a champion, stunningly attired in period costume by Gabriele Binder, we witness a stunning transformation. It's the Cold War era. The Russians are the best chess players, and Beth represents the United States' only hope of winning anything, and she succeeds by defeating all the best players.
Chess: still a male-dominated world
Beth Harmon, in “The Queen’s Gambit” is a fan of this sport and is one of the very few women seen in the television series competing in various tournaments.
At one point in the TV series, Harmon, who has already become famous, is interviewed by a journalist. The reporter, rather than focusing on the chess player's skills, focuses the interview on gender differences. When she reads the article, Beth reflects and says: "For me, being a woman is not a problem. And why should it be? "
The reality, however, appears to be even worse than what the Netflix hit suggests . Male dominance in this discipline appears to be even stronger. There are some controversial and questionable studies claiming that chess is a men's sport. This is nothing more than pure gender discrimination. For example, Judit Polgar is a woman who, in her chess career, defeated champions such as Garry Kasparov in 2002.
Polgar, the only woman to ever finish in the top 10 at the World Championships, retired in 2014, but it only serves to demonstrate that this sport isn't just for men. However, Judit explained in an interview that she's received less than ideal comments from men, some of whom wouldn't even shake her hand (a gesture that's almost mandatory in this sport). This is a difference with Beth. Harmon, in fact, isn't just admired by all her opponents, she also receives compliments from everyone, and she has no shortage of suitors throughout the course of the television series.
Prejudices in the world of chess
In the past, there have been speculations about why there aren't many top-level female players in this sport. Kasparov once stated that chess isn't in the nature of women.
Looking at the female side, however, the reason seems to lie more closely with the prejudice against the fairer sex. During the New York Times' in-depth interview with Judit Polgar, the former player stated that not only society, but also parents can be obstacles to their daughters. Fortunately for her, however, it was her father who taught her the sport from the time she was in kindergarten. Polgar also has two older sisters: Susan, who became a grandmaster and women's world champion, and Sofia, who became an international master.
Born in Catanzaro on July 5, 1989, he has been a member of the Order of Journalists (Freelance Journalists) since 2017. He earned a bachelor's degree in Social Work in 2013, a bachelor's degree in Sociology in 2016, and a master's degree in Organizations and Social Change in 2018. In 2020, he earned his fourth degree in Economics. He has also published three volumes of a science fiction trilogy.
