Eight-year old Beth Harmon is quiet, a bit shy and in all ways very normal, apart from the fact that she is an orphan. That is until she plays a game of chess. When Beth is sitting in front of a chess board, for the first time in her life she feels in control and serene. Beth starts participating in tournaments and as her ELO grows, so does her ambition and will to be the best.

At 16 Beth finds herself competing in the US Open, against men twice as old as her. Winning game after game she becomes more isolated and starts to search for answers to her misery in drugs and alcohol.

The Queen’s Gambit won’t be ridiculously entertaining for only those that are interested in chess. This novel is interesting for anyone who has competed and has felt that kind of burning sensation of hunger to win. But Walter Tevis also manages to weave in details about chess for instance information about what opening Beth plays, that make it fascinating to read for those that play chess.

I think this novel compares well to Taylor Jenkins Reid’s “Carry Soto is Back.” Both have a very ambitious and highly competitive female main character who wants desperately to be the best. Although The Queen’s Gambit is also about addiction to alcohol and drugs, both novels are entertaining and fast to read as well.