Beth Harmon has probably done more to promote the game, especially among girls, than all the real champions combined! What aspects of Beth’s playing and experience is informed by your own? The Queen’s Gambit becoming a huge hit has been great, because it’s great for chess. Beth had to move and act like a chess master, and, thanks to Anya Taylor-Joy, she did. For a show all about chess, it had to be better. It was a very enjoyable experience, even before the show became so popular - much to my surprise, by the way! It’s always annoying to see inaccurate and unrealistic portrayals of chess and chess players in movies and TV. How does it feel to imbue your mastery into this character? Have you enjoyed her success as much as your own? Now, it’s possible the fictional Queen’s Gambit heroine Beth Harmon is, largely thanks to your help. What are you waiting for? It’s your move! Take a look inside Kasparovchess - with Garry Kasparov! Until recently, you were the most famous chess champion in the world. Here he talks more about his behind-the-scenes role in The Queen’s Gambit, his own (albeit, unscripted) chess drama - and teaming up with the T-Mobile Tuesdays customer rewards program to offer a free three-month subscription to Kasparovchess starting October 19. “The goal of Kasparovchess is to make everyone love chess as much as I do,” says Kasparov. (Spoiler alert: Um, it is! It’s also beautiful and riveting to watch.)Īnd now, with the online and app-based platform Kasparovchess, he wants to help make you a chess champion too. And while a lot of attention has been bestowed upon actress Anya Taylor-Joy, who plays the main character, Beth Harmon, there’s a real-life chess Grandmaster who helped guide the gameplay itself: former World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov, himself a true wunderkind in the world of professional chess, the youngest player ever to earn the title of World Champion at the tender age of just 22.Īs a technical consultant for The Queen’s Gambit - the titular name for the opening move that fuels Harmon’s success - Kasparov, now 58, lent his considerable expertise and know-how to make the actual chess games as believable as possible.

From its debut last October to its Golden Globes and more recent Emmy wins, The Queen’s Gambit tells the unlikely tale of an orphan who combines rare skill and controlled substances to rise to the top of the chess world.

One of the few stories to rival the pandemic this past year has been the runaway success of the Netflix show that in itself ignited something of an epidemic - in chess.

Garry kasparov chess lessons