“The Queen’s Gambit” is right: young chess stars always usurp the old

FROM THE very first episode of “The Queen's Gambit”, a hit Netflix miniseries about chess in the 1960s, it is clear what a precocious talent Beth Harmon is. Before her tenth birthday, she has learned to beat the janitor at the orphanage in Kentucky where she resides. Soon she takes on an entire college chess club in simultaneous matches, winning each one easily. By her troubled teenage years, she is vanquishing all comers, including stalwarts who are considerably older. After Beth wins a gruelling two-day match against one silver-haired champion, he gracefully concedes: “You are a marvel, my dear. I may have just played the best chess player of my life.”

The seven-episode drama has received universal acclaim from critics: of the 58 reviews gathered by Rotten Tomatoes, an entertainment website, every one was positive. But it has also been praised by chess aficionados for its accuracy (doubtless helped by having Garry Kasparov, a former world champion, as a consultant). And a recent paper by three economists confirms that the series’ portrayal of a young upstart vanquishing her elders is exactly what happens in real chess, decade after decade.