The Queen's Gambit

SOON TO BE A MAJOR NETFLIX SERIES starring Anya Taylor-Joy (Emma, The Miniaturist, Peaky Blinders) from Academy-Award nominee Scott Frank (Out of Sight, Minority Report, Marley & Me) and BAFTA nominee Allan Scott

When she is sent to an orphanage at the age of eight, Beth Harmon soon discovers two ways to escape her surroundings, albeit fleetingly: playing chess and taking the little green pills given to her and the other children to keep them subdued. Before long, it becomes apparent that hers is a prodigious talent, and as she progresses to the top of the US chess rankings she is able to forge a new life for herself. But she can never quite overcome her urge to self-destruct. For Beth, there's more at stake than merely winning and losing.

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Walter Tevis was an American novelist and short story writer. Whilst a student at the University of Kentucky, Tevis worked in a pool hall and published a story about the game for an English class. He would later revisit his love for pool in the novels THE HUSTLER (1959) and THE COLOR OF MONEY (1984), both of which would be adapted into multiple award-winning films starring Paul Newman. Among his other works, THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH (1963) and MOCKINGBIRD (1980) are considered masterpieces of science fiction. Tevis died in 1984.