The Queen`s Gambit

Discuss anything you like about chess related matters in this forum.
Post Reply
James Plaskett
Posts: 362
Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2009 10:36 pm

The Queen`s Gambit

Post by James Plaskett » Mon Sep 14, 2026 4:38 pm

My wife said that when she saw the ratio of men to women in the chess world it made her wish she had played chess in her youth.
"All these blokes!"
The Queen`s Gambit affected that.
I have never seen this Netflix thingie The Queen`s Gambit. Just a few snippets.
However, just now I logged on to Twitter and found this on the page for The Queen´s Gambit handle -
https://x.com/NetflixTheQG/status/2099005302544777271

It had only been uploaded the day before - September 13 2026.
And it`s not anything at all by way of a difficult problem. Nor even a serious one!
The position stems from a book which a guy approached me with last year at a tournament in IBI and asked me to sign for his son.
It`s by John C. Murray, translated into Spanish, and is entitled
Estrategia De Ajedrez Britanica
Juego como el campeoon ajedrez James Plaskett

It`s got a pic of me from 1983 on the cover.

And the combo (well, just the check, really!) is from my game at an event in Lorca of December 29th 2017.

User avatar
Jon Mahony
Posts: 757
Joined: Sun Jun 14, 2009 10:47 pm
Location: Leeds

Re: The Queen`s Gambit

Post by Jon Mahony » Fri Sep 18, 2026 9:01 pm

I read the novel when I was 16 and I'd been thinking for years, it will make a great film / series :) Ok through older eyes the story is slightly far fetched. Heath Ledger had secured the rights before he passed and was going to direct and star in it - presumably he would have played Beltik or more likely Benny Watts.

Walter Tevis the author was a hobby Chess player and so didn't know a great deal about the world, but he used to work in a Pool hall and so his other famous works "The Hustler" (which was adapted into the famous Paul Newman film) and "The Colour of Money" (Adapted into the less famous Tom Cruise film - but the book is a lot better) are superior.
"When you see a good move, look for a better one!" - Lasker

User avatar
Joey Stewart
Posts: 2173
Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2007 2:35 pm
Location: All Of Them
Contact:

Re: The Queen`s Gambit

Post by Joey Stewart » Sat Sep 19, 2026 5:04 pm

Fun fact about the queen's gambit I discovered recently - heath ledger was a very keen chess player and after playing the joker in the dark Knight was in negotiations to direct his first movie which was going to be an adaptation of the queen's gambit, so if not for his unfortunate demise we would have had the queen's gambit chess boom a full decade earlier!
Any opinions expressed will not be held to account.

User avatar
JustinHorton
Posts: 10494
Joined: Mon Aug 04, 2008 10:06 am
Location: Somewhere you're not

Re: The Queen`s Gambit

Post by JustinHorton » Sat Sep 19, 2026 5:14 pm

Joey Stewart wrote:
Sat Sep 19, 2026 5:04 pm
Fun fact about the queen's gambit I discovered recently - heath ledger was a very keen chess player and after playing the joker in the dark Knight was in negotiations to direct his first movie which was going to be an adaptation of the queen's gambit
I also discovered this recently, by reading the posting directly above yours
Jon Mahony wrote:
Fri Sep 18, 2026 9:01 pm
Heath Ledger had secured the rights before he passed and was going to direct and star in it
"Do you play chess?"
"Yes, but I prefer a game with a better chance of cheating."

Post Reply