I saw that there is a new series on Netflix called “The Queen’s Gambit” but ignored it. It’s something about chess players. I’m not overly interested in chess although I know the basic rules. Then the book appeared in Amazon’s English Kindle deal of the month for just 0.28 € and I bought and started reading it on a whim.

The author — Walter Tevis — tells the story of the orphan girl Beth Harmon, who discovers her talent and passion for chess while living at an orphanage.

It’s a coming-of-age story with an emphasis on dealing with the pressure to strive for ever greater successes and the fear of failure. There are phases of drug and alcohol abuse, of desperation and of again finding the power to keep going.

Even though the book is full of chess technicalities — a great part of the book is about people playing chess and trying to predict the next moves of the opponent — it turned out to be very engaging and fun.