The Queen's Gambit - Episode 7 review

Episode 7 - End Game

End Game has to be one of the most overused chess term which is well known to almost everyone. It means exactly what it sounds, the final part of the game.

Beth had hit her rock bottom. So to find inspiration once again, Beth takes a trip down her memory lane on her way to attend her first chess coach’s funeral. What hits her hard is when she sees that Mr.Shaibel kept track of all of her performances, especially triumphs. She also finds the letter she had written asking for her debut tournament’s entry fee.

The series shows a brilliant part that sponsors almost always want something in return, money generally doesn’t come alone without having any strings attached. When the church group asks Beth to write a few things according to their wish, Beth refuses as it is against her belief and hurriedly decides to return all their money which she later regrets. I think players from every corner of the world will attest to the fact that more often than not they might have to do something for the sponsor for receiving the benefits they get for playing tournaments all across the world, sometimes even if they are unwilling to do so. It is true that the scenario has changed a lot, but you know what they say, the more they change, the more they stay the same. Eventually her childhood friend comes through. One thing non-chess players and enthusiasts need to understand is, although chess is an individual sport but it takes an entire support system including a team for a player to be successful at any level. Talent can take an individual only to a limit.

Here is the diagram:

Mate in three

It is quite an easy one.

The first game we see of Beth from Moscow Invitational against Hellstrom (a typical German name?) is a replay of a game between Topalov and Kasparov from Euwe Memorial in 1995. Beth walks past three boards and sits on the fourth one which implies the tournament is in knockout format since it was already mentioned in an earlier episode that this tournament consists of four top Russian and four champions of their country from across the world. If you are familiar with how brackets work then you know why Borgov was playing on board no.1 and Beth on board no.4

Although we hear the commentator mentioning about Nona Gaprindashvili who is a women's world champion but has never faced men. Factually that has to be incorrect because while she was world champion, she won Hastings Challengers in 1963-64 competing against men. This is a huge error but I guess it was done to dramatize Beth's feat more as she is the protagonist and the series often mixes the real players with the fictional ones.

After the initial 1.e4 c5, we only see the final winning move of the game which of course Kasparov won, means Beth too. Although the commentator mentions that Beth won against Laev (catchy version of Topalov?) in 27-move. However the actual game in reality was of 28-moves.

Topalov - Kasparov, Euwe Memorial 1995

For a chess player to accept Beth getting applauded by the crowd with a loud clap while other games are on including tournament favorite Borgov was a little difficult to accept but then again if you have attended Tata Steel India in either 2018 or 2019 then you know crowd applauded many times when Anand won while the rest of the games including Carlsen's (in 2019) was on. It's true that Anand is the favorite in India while Beth is an outsider to the Soviet, but you get my point.

The next game we see Beth winning is a replay of a game between Gyula Sax and Viktor Kortschnoj from Lugano Open 1986 which was won by Sax. We only see a move each from the final part of the game before the scene transitions to Beth taking a stroll in the city of Moscow.

Sax - Kortschnoj, Lugano Open 1986

While taking a stroll in Moscow, Beth came across an area (probably a park) where she witnessed people playing chess outdoors against family, friends and strangers. In India, we get to see something like this only in Kolkata at Gariahat Chess Club which has been visited by Wesley So, Ding Liren and Hikaru Nakamura among the best of the best of the world.

In the next game, we see Beth’s opponent getting up and leaving the table without signing scoresheet. With a careful inspection I found that Beth once again replayed another Kasparov win against Robert Huebner played in Hamburg 1985. We only see the final position, no moves. Eventually the arbiter/tournament director comes to congratulate Beth for the win by shaking her hand.

Here is the final position from Beth's third round win

Huebner - Kasparov, Hamburg 1985

Commentator mentions that Hellstrom took it rather hard, but Beth had defeated him before in the first round of the event, how did she win against him again? In the next scene it is shown Beth winning another game against Shapkin but we do not get a clear view of the entire board. Thus it implies that it was not a knockout event.

Beth's next opponent Luchenko is introduced as the oldest player in the tournament. He was a world champion before Beth was born, he defeated Alekhine in an exhibition match when he was a boy, drew with Botvinnik and crushed Bronstein in Havana. Can you guess which player Luchenko was modeled after? We only see 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 before the scene changes. After returning back to her hotel, Beth finds Luchenko analyzing a game (probably their adjourned game) with Borgov and another player.

We see both Beth and Borgov arrive early to continue their adjourned games.

In case you are wondering, yes this is also a replay of the game between Arshak Petrosian and Vladimir Akopian from Petrosian Memorial in Yerevan 1988.

Arshak Petrosian - Akopian, Yerevan 1988

Beth deviated from the actual game and played 38...h5 here. We see one more move 39.gxh5 Kh8 and the scene transitions to the final position of the game.

Luchenko - Beth, Moscow 1968

Luchenko resigns gracefully and says a lot of nice things to her opponent, finishing with, "I may have just played the best chess player of my life".

Beth defeats Flento in the next round but we do not see any position from the game. Her final round game is against the obvious Borgov where Beth plays the Queen's Gambit which Borgov declines by opting for Albin Counter gambit.

Beth - Borgov, Moscow 1968

In the next frame, it is shown 7...Ng6 is being made on the demo board.

This game is also a replay of the game between Vassily Ivanchuk and Patrick G Wolff from Interzonal 1993. Only a different move order was used in the episode, but that doesn't matter much. The game fast forwards by 25 moves and we see the following position:

Borgov played the same move as Wolff in this position 32...Kh7. After a few more moves, Borgov calls for 'adjournment' after Beth's 36.h3

Beth's manager explains her how important it is to handle journalists by facing and answering their questions. The series established the fact behind Beth's reluctance but players need to understand that it is important and beneficial for them only to answer a few questions asked by the media because no one stays at the top forever and there is always another better player in the universe. By now Beth understood the necessity of having a team after observing Borgov discuss an adjourned game with Luchenko and others previously.

Before the advent of ChessBase software, players had only one option to record the analysis - by writing them down. On the following day, we are shown the adjourned sealed move written as 36...Qg6

So far the game is replayed the same as the game between Ivanchuk and Wolff. However Beth deviated here with 37.Ne6 when the game move was 37.g4.

For dramatization purpose, commentators and Borgov look at the roof with a doubtful surprise, but we all know many chess players especially top players either look at the side or the top where they project their visualizations. So I wouldn't call it a mistake but it was done just for the general audience to create a more intriguing scene.

Borgov made the first blunder in the entire series with 42...Qe8

The last few moves of the game was shown completely but what bothers me is sometimes Beth making a move like a complete amateur, someone who just started playing chess. Now this wouldn't have bothered much but Benny himself mentioned this a few episodes back. Anyway I guess some scenes were shot before and some after Anya Taylor Joy perfected the movement of pieces. Anyway this is not important, so we can let it slide. After a couple of moves we see Borgov making a draw offer for the first time in the entire series. which of course Beth declines as it is completely winning for her.

Beth does a combination which allows her to promote a pawn into a queen which symbolizes Beth's arrival to the big leagues.

Borgov resigns by handing over his king while shaking Beth's hand is another symbolic 'passing the torch' moment.

One of the best scene of the entire series is the epilogue where Beth on her way to the airport, gets down to the cab and walks toward the area where she several chess enthusiasts playing chess relentlessly. All players were excited to see her when one of them recognized who she was. She gets ready to play by taking her gloves off and says 'let's play' in Russian and the end credits roll.

Conclusion

Episode 7 - 'End game' is a no-brainer title. There is no better title for a chess mini-series and you certainly cannot go wrong with it. The episode was good with a few negligible mistakes but the best part of the episode is the finish. Beth might have beaten the world champion, but she did not forget her support system especially her roots as she learned chess from her school's janitor Mr. Shaibel, a common man. So she returns to the park to play against the common folk.

Episodic review concludes in this article, however we will bring another article where you will see how the chess and non-chess universe reacted to this critically acclaimed mini-series.

Watch the entire episode of The Queen's Gambit Episode 7 - End Game on Netflix. The series is meant for adults only. So kids, if they want to watch the episodes for chess purpose, they can take an adult's help in watching only the chess elements of the mini-series.

Links

The Queen's Gambit on Netflix

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