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Published February 16, 2021 at 4:57 PM CST Listen • 48:41
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Before it was a Netflix hit, “The Queen’s Gambit” was a 1983 novel written by University of Iowa Writer’s Workshop graduate Walter Tevis.
The book begins with eight-year-old Beth Harmon’s arrival at an orphanage in Kentucky following the death of her mother. The orphanage is a cold, uncaring place where she and the other children are fed tranquilizers to keep them docile. Beth s only saving grace is her discovery of chess through an unlikely teacher, the gruff janitor Mr. Schaibel who holds court in the dank, dark basement. The rest of the book follows Beth as her extraordinary chess skills grow. She is adopted, becomes the Kentucky chess champion and moves on to competing on the world stage. All the while she struggles with addiction and isolation.