Series Review: I Want to Play Chess Again

There was a time I went through my "I wanna be a witch phase" because I'd been obsessed with Harry Potter. To be honest, I think I still am. Then there was this time I wanted to wear high waisted jeans and sport shoes with a much shorter acrylic sweater than I'd ever worn in my life, just because I wanted the Betty Cooper look from Riverdale. Then for the longest of times, I've wanted to eat lobsters even though I'm a vegetarian (don't tell my parents, I have chicken every now and then), because I saw Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson have the best date ever in How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days. And now, I want to play chess again, because I just finished binge watching The Queen's Gambit.

Although, these observations might tell you that I'm easily influenced by TV, which I am, because whoever says they aren't, are big fat liars, I'd also like to point out that these are a few things which made me who I am today, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm proud of that. I got into dark academia because of Harry Potter. I got interested in learning obscure dark lores through Supernatural. Wearing high waisted jeans with acrylic (and knitted) sweaters are one of the best things I've done for my personality and for the life of me, I will eat seafood someday, just you wait.

So, I started watching The Queen's Gambit yesterday because I learnt that it's set in the 1960s, one of those mid century decades I love movies about, and lo and behold I was obsessed. Again. Mainly because it started with a child prodigy who excelled at chess, who learnt it from a janitor that also served as her kinda sorta father figure, but did I just see her compete with Dudley Dursley, of all people?! I was hooked.

Whether we like to admit it or not, we all search for a part of ourselves in the things we watch, and the things we read. I related to the fact that this little 9 year old girl was a sweetum to every adult she knew, but she was up to all kinds of shenanigans on the side. She got (ahem ahem spoilers ahead, avert your eyes plebeians to the next line and onwards) addicted to tranquillity pills from a young age, she went to the basement everyday to learn chess even when she wasn't supposed to, she stole a magazine, she literally broke into the medical room to steal the pills when she was cut off, and OD'ed on them for Christ's sake! I'm not saying I've done it all. I'm saying I've done some, but I'd admit to nothing if word gets out to my mother. What are you talking about, mum? It's just an article!

On her quest to become the greatest chess player in the world, she encounters a lot of difficulties even when she has seemingly glided through things that require intellect all her life. And it's not difficult to imagine why. In one of the scenes we find out that her mother was an intellectual too, having written a thesis on binomial equations in Cornell University. Despite all these things, she's had blows in life one after another. Her mother's dead, she lives in an orphanage that becomes the reason for her addiction, and that continues throughout her life as she tries to navigate through situations, big or small. The tranquillity pills and booze never leave her side, for the worse.

That aside, whenever I was watching the show, I'd be riddled with 2 questions, the first of which would have two parts. The first one was where in the deepest and darkest corners of my house is my chess set hidden? And the second part would be, you can exchange the pieces' positions? Trade knights and rooks and shit?! Whenever I was playing one on one chess with my computer, I'd always assumed "Computer cheating karta hai" when these things happened. How dumb have I been? This was making me question all the things I've learned in my childhood. Is gum not stuck to your stomach for seven years? And seeds don't grow into trees in my stomach? Also, why are all these beliefs related to stomachs? And speaking of stomach, I come to my second question, which thankfully has only one part, but how did these people swallow pills without water?! I learnt to swallow pills so late in my childhood, do these people eat pixie dust or summat to swallow 2 whole pills on one go? I guess these are questions which life feels too lazy to answer.

Having disclosed my deepest darkest secrets to you, I'd also like to share another disappointment- The Queen's Gambit was a mini series. It will have no second season or third to keep us at the edge of our seats. It's over and done with. As ashamed I am to admit that though I was satisfied with her journey, I was still rooting for her to end up with one of the many handsome men that adorned this show. If you want to know who she ends up with, you'll have to watch the show, but for now, I'm greatly content with the series, and there's no other ending I would want than the one it already has.