The Queen’s Gambit by Walter Tevis was originally published on February 5, 1983, by Random House. The novel is a work of literary fiction and follows the orphan chess prodigy Beth Harmon as she rises in the chess community and struggles with substance use issues on her way to defeating the Russian grandmaster Vasily Borgov. Though the book was published decades ago, it is one of many currently popular novels focusing on chess, like Ali Hazelwood’s Check & Mate. Parallels exist between Walter Tevis’s life and that of Beth Harmon, as the author had an alcohol use disorder and lived for a time in Kentucky, where the novel is set. The novel follows themes of moving From Self-Doubt to Self-Reliance, Substance Use as a Response to Anxiety, and The Constraints of Gender Norms, as Beth struggles to carve out a place as a woman in a male-dominated community. This novel was adapted into a Netflix seven-episode miniseries in 2020, starring Anya Taylor-Joy as Beth Harmon.

This guide references the 2003 paperback First Vintage Contemporaries Edition.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide discuss alcohol and substance use disorder. The source text includes a racial slur, which is referred to but not reproduced in the guide.

Plot Summary

Beth Harmon is orphaned at the age of eight when her mother dies in a car accident. She is sent to Methuen, an orphanage where the children are given tranquilizers in the form of green pills to keep them even-tempered. Beth realizes that these pills help her sleep and relieve her anxiety, and she begins to look forward to them, even hoarding them at times to take more than one at night. Beth makes a friend, Jolene, an older Black girl who looks out for her. She also befriends the janitor, Mr. Shaibel, who agrees to play chess with her after she shows him that she knows how the pieces move.

At first, Beth loses to Mr. Shaibel, but after analyzing the game in her mind, she strategizes and beats him regularly. He begins teaching Beth chess notation and different strategies, even gifting her a copy of Modern Chess Openings. Soon, she outmatches him, and he invites a friend, Mr. Ganz, to play her. After she beats both simultaneously, Mr. Ganz talks to the superintendent of the orphanage and invites Beth to play against his high school chess team. In the days before Beth’s trip to the high school, the orphanage stops giving out the green pills. Beth goes through withdrawal and struggles to sleep or stay calm until Jolene slips her three pills before she leaves for the high school. There, Beth beats the entire chess club.

Desperate for green pills, Beth breaks into the pharmacy while everyone watches a movie and eats an entire handful of pills. She then tries to steal the jar, but when she is caught, she passes out and drops it. Beth is taken to the hospital, where her stomach is pumped. Afterward, the superintendent punishes Beth by banning her from playing chess.

Two months before her 13th birthday, Beth is adopted by Alma and Allston Wheatley. Mrs. Wheatley is nice, although distant, while Mr. Wheatley disappears soon after the adoption and never returns. Beth attends seventh grade at the local public school, but she struggles to fit in. When Beth steals a copy of Chess Review from the pharmacy, she finds an ad for the Kentucky State Championship. She cannot afford the entrance fee and writes to Mr. Shaibel for help. He sends the money. Mrs. Wheatley sends Beth to the pharmacy with a prescription, and when Beth realizes it is for the same tranquilizers from Methuen, she keeps half for herself and begins using them again.

At the tournament, Beth is paired with another girl in the beginners’ section despite her insistence that she is not a beginner. Beth wins her four games on the first day and is one of only three undefeated players. She soon defeats everyone else she faces until she meets Beltik in the final game. After taking a break in the bathroom to visualize the board, she defeats Beltik and becomes the Kentucky Champion.

When Mrs. Wheatley finds out about the $100 Beth has won, she begins planning trips to tournaments, hoping it will be a lucrative opportunity for them. Beth begins winning tournaments in cities across the US. While she plays, she notices that the mornings after she takes the green pills, her mind is foggy, though she can clear it before she plays. Beth is interviewed by a magazine but grows frustrated when they only ask her questions about being a girl. Beth wants to eventually play the Russians, and she plans to play in the US Open to launch her into international play. However, she cannot attend that year because Mrs. Wheatley falls ill.

Beth plays the following year at the US Open in Las Vegas. One night, Mrs. Wheatley lets Beth try beer, and though Beth vomits from it, she realizes that the alcohol has the same effect as the green pills but that it hits her faster. Beth plays Benny Watts, the current US Champion, in the final game but loses to him, meaning that they split the title and prize money.

Back in Kentucky, Beth takes Russian classes at the local college. After one class, she goes to a college party, where she drinks, smokes marijuana, and has sex for the first time. When everyone in the house leaves for the weekend, she stays and drinks heavily, exploring its effects. Later that year, Beth graduates high school and begins preparing for her first international tournaments in Mexico City and Paris.

In Mexico City, Beth defeats all her opponents, including a talented Russian youth with whom she must play an adjournment—meaning that their game pauses for the night and resumes the next day. When she faces Vasily Borgov, a Russian grandmaster and the best player in the world, she finds herself terrified of his talent and calm. He defeats her, and Beth, unable to fathom how she did not see his strategy, leaves to drink in a bar. When she goes back up to her room, she finds Mrs. Wheatley dead. A doctor tells her that she died from hepatitis, and when Beth requests tranquilizers, the doctor tells Beth that she can buy them anywhere in Mexico. Beth calls Allston to inform him of his wife’s death. He tells Beth she can have the house if she pays the mortgage.

After the funeral back in Kentucky, Beltik offers to help train Beth to be better prepared for Borgov. He lives with Beth, and they soon develop a sexual relationship, though he grows irritated and leaves when she surpasses him in chess. Afterward, Beth relies on alcohol and pills to process Mrs. Wheatley’s death before stopping because she wants to beat Benny Watts at the US Championship. There, Beth and Benny win all their games and make it to the final game against each other. This time, Beth is prepared and defeats him, becoming the US Champion and earning an invitation to play in Moscow the next year.

After their game, Benny invites Beth to stay with him in New York City and train for her rematch with Borgov in Paris. She decides to join him, and in the city, they develop a romantic relationship. As with Beltik, once Beth surpasses Benny, the relationship sours. Beth goes to Paris unsure of how she feels about him, and she beats everyone and finds herself playing Borgov again. This time, she feels more prepared and believes she plays her best game. Still, Borgov beats her. She returns to Kentucky and buys the house from Allston. Her alcohol use disorder grows more severe, and she drinks all day every day to numb the rage at losing. When she competes in the Kentucky State Championship again, her hangover is too severe, and she loses her first game. She drops out and realizes that if she wants to play seriously again, she needs to change.

Beth contacts Jolene, and the two reunite after years apart. Jolene follows Beth’s career and offers to help when Beth explains her addiction. Beth begins working out with Jolene and studying seriously. She wins a tournament in San Francisco and even receives funding from a Christian group to go to Russia. They give her enough money that she can take Benny with her as a coach. When Methuen calls telling Beth that Mr. Shaibel has died, she and Jolene go to his funeral and stop at the orphanage. There, Beth visits the basement and sees that Mr. Shaibel kept clippings of articles about her. When Beth returns home, members of the Christian group visit and ask her to make a statement in support of their cause. Beth refuses and returns the money. Benny is furious and says he will not speak with her again.

Beth goes to Russia alone to play in the tournament and avoids using tranquilizers or drinking. She feels alone, seeing the many Russian grandmasters so close and friendly. Beth believes they will underestimate her, as she is American, and she goes on to beat each of her opponents until it is just her and Borgov. Their game is intense and even necessitates an adjournment. The next day, before they resume, Benny calls from New York, having followed the game, with advice for Beth. Though the advice proves to be unhelpful, Beth overcomes her fear of Borgov and finds a strategy to beat him. When he resigns, he shocks Beth by hugging her and celebrating her achievement. After the post-tournament reception, Beth stops in a park and asks a random man at a chess table if he wants to play.