The Queen s Gambit, Aussie chess champion Heather Richards started playing the game at a young age.
And in a similar way to the show s heroine, she wasn t always popular with her opponents. I had three grown men cry when I beat them, Ms Richards told 9news.com.au. It kind of scared me. I was 10 or 11.
The Queen s Gambit has been popular on Netflix.(Netflix)
Ms Richards, 37, was 10 when her mother taught her to play the game, alongside her brothers, in the UK.
At her first tournament she was one of only two girls.
She lost, she recalls, but after her mother bought her a book on chess, something clicked - and she started to win.