Episodes 01

“Openings”

Elizabeth Harmon is orphaned at age 9 when her mother dies in a car crash on New Circle Road. She is subsequently taken to Methuen Home for Girls. At the orphanage, the children are given tranquilizing pills to make them more compliant. While dusting erasers in the basement, Beth discovers the custodian, Mr. Shaibel, studying chess on his own. After repeated requests, and demonstrating that she has already learned how the pieces move by observing him, he reluctantly agrees to teach her the game. She improves quickly, thanks to her spatial intelligence and abuse of the mind-altering tranquilizers, which allow her to focus and visualize chess games on the ceiling above her bed. When she is able to beat him regularly, Shaibel introduces her to the local high school chess club teacher, Mr. Ganz, whom she also beats. Ganz invites her to play a simultaneous exhibition against his entire club.

After the state passes a law outlawing the use of tranquilizers on children, Beth begins to suffer from withdrawal. Provided more than one tranquilizer pill by her friend Jolene, Beth beats Ganz’s entire class easily, later commenting to Shaibel on their poor chess skills and how invigorating it was to win. Still suffering from withdrawal, she is caught stealing a jar of the medication and passes out after overdosing by swallowing several mouthfuls of pills.

Episodes 02

“Exchanges”

Beth is adopted as a teenager by Lexington couple Alma and Allston Wheatley. Alma is unhappy, while Allston is emotionally distant and frequently absent for his sales job. At her new high school, Beth is bullied by the popular girls from the “Apple Pi Club” for her drab clothes and obvious intelligence. Beth steals tranquilizers from her mother (the same kind that she was given at the orphanage), and again begins to visualize chess positions on the ceiling. She also steals a chess magazine and learns about the upcoming Kentucky State Championship. Short of money, she writes to Mr. Shaibel, who sends her $5 for the entrance fee. She surprises the organizers by cruising through her early games, and develops a crush on a young man named Townes. After the second day of the tournament, Beth comes home to find that Allston has deserted her and Alma. Beth fears that she will be sent back to the orphanage, but Alma tells her they will lie so she can stay. During her final game of the tournament against state champion Harry Beltik, Beth becomes flustered by his late arrival and runs to the restroom, where she takes a tranquilizer pill to help win the game. Alma plans to take Beth to a tournament in Cincinnati where substantial prize money is up for grabs.

Episodes 03

“Doubled Pawns”

Beth wins the tournament in Cincinnati, giving Alma 15% of the prize money. Beth continues to skip school while traveling to tournaments and quickly gains national recognition for her achievements. She also begins dressing more stylishly as her winnings increase. At school, Beth is invited to a meeting of the “Apple Pi Club” by the girls who had initially shunned her. She soon realizes she has nothing in common with them and, stealing a bottle of gin, escapes back home. In 1966, Beth heads to Las Vegas for the U.S. Open where she is reunited with Townes, now a journalist covering the event for the Lexington newspaper. They return to his hotel room where Townes takes pictures of her. The two play chess and share a brief, intimate moment, but are interrupted by Townes’s roommate, who Beth suspects is also his boyfriend. Beth abruptly leaves before Townes can explain the situation. Beth runs into the current U.S. national champion, Benny Watts, who points out an error in her game against Beltik. Beth is taken aback and replays her earlier game, losing her confidence. She experiences her first professional loss against Watts the next day and they finish the tournament as co-champions.

Episodes 04

“Middle Game”

Beth takes night classes in Russian at a local college. She attends a party where she smokes marijuana and sleeps with one of the students. Left alone in the empty apartment for the weekend, she indulges herself with more alcohol and drugs. After graduating from high school, Beth travels to an international tournament in Mexico City with Alma. Beth competes against several international players, including 13-year-old Soviet prodigy Georgi Girev, whom she defeats in a tough game lasting two days. While in a crowded elevator, Beth overhears a conversation between Soviet world champion Vasily Borgov and two associates discussing her playing style and potential weaknesses. Borgov comments she is an orphan and a survivor like them. Beth then plays Borgov and loses to him in an intense game after he surprises her with an offbeat opening. Back in the hotel room, Beth discovers Alma has died of suspected hepatitis, likely worsened by her excessive drinking. Beth manages to contact Allston in Denver, who wants nothing to do with the burial arrangements. However, he agrees to let Beth keep the house. Beth buys more tranquilizers from a pharmacy before flying home to arrange Alma’s burial, ordering her trademark Gibson as tribute.

Episodes 05

“Fork”

Beth returns home to Kentucky and reconnects with Harry Beltik, who is attending college and has romantic feelings for her. At Beth’s suggestion, he moves into Alma’s house to accompany the now lonely Beth. The two spend time training and sleep together a few times until Beltik realizes Beth’s obsession with chess will always overshadow any relationship they may have. The two part ways, as Beltik admits his passion for the game has waned. Beth meets her former high school tormentor Margaret in town now married soon after graduating. She now has a baby daughter and is fast becoming an alcoholic. Beth travels to the 1967 U.S. Championship in Ohio, where she reunites with Benny Watts. The evening before they are scheduled to face each other in the final game, Benny challenges Beth to several rounds of speed chess for five dollars each. An experienced speed chess hustler, he beats her consistently and cleans her out of all her cash. The next day, however, Beth defeats Benny to become the U.S. champion. The two discuss Beth’s future in international competition. Benny, recognizing that Beth needs both a role model and a trainer, invites Beth to train for the Paris Invitational with him in New York City.

Episodes 06

“Adjournment”

Beth travels to New York with Benny, where he trains her for the Paris Invitational. He invites two strong players, Hilton Wexler and Arthur Levertov to assist, along with a mutual friend, a French model named Cleo, who quickly befriends Beth. Beth repeatedly beats Benny, Wexler, and Levertov at simultaneous speed chess, winning back more than Benny took from her in Ohio. Beth and Benny sleep together, but Benny ruins the mood by talking chess strategy for Paris afterwards. At the Paris Invitational, Beth advances to the finals against Borgov. Cleo, who is also in Paris, invites Beth out for drinks. Beth hesitantly joins Cleo at the bar, resulting in a late-night bender. Hungover, Beth oversleeps for the final and is unable to focus, losing once more to Borgov. Devastated, Beth declines Benny’s offer to continue staying with him in New York to prepare for the Moscow Invitational. Instead she returns to Kentucky.

Upon her returning home, she is contacted by her lawyer stating her estranged adoptive father, Allston Wheatley, now has issues with her living in his house. He demands she vacate, insisting he did not give her the house, despite her protestations. Beth buys the house from him, agreeing to pay the equity of $7,000 but subtracting the burial arrangement cost for her adoptive mother, Alma Wheatley. Alone, she removes all his belongings from the house and redecorates the house. Soon after, she plunges into a days-long drug and alcohol binge, ignoring phone calls and the outside world. Reluctantly honoring her commitment to visit the Kentucky State Championship, she blows off her first-ever tournament opponent, Annette, before Harry confronts her about her alcoholism. The next day, Beth finds her girlhood friend Jolene at her front door.

Episodes 07

“End Game”

In a flashback to the beginning of the series in 1957, Beth and her mother visit a person, who is revealed to be Beth’s father. Beth’s mother begs Beth’s father to take in their child, but he rejects her, saying that it is too late. In the present of 1968, Jolene and Beth attend Mr. Shaibel’s funeral. Afterwards, Beth revisits the orphanage and breaks down when she discovers Shaibel had followed her career up until his death. Jolene helps her quit drinking with a physical fitness regime. Beth rejects funding from the Christian Crusade to travel to the Moscow Invitational. She asks Benny to help fund her, who refuses. Jolene loans her the money, and Beth arrives at the Moscow Invitational. Beth wins several games, gaining many fans from the Russian public. In the final game against Borgov, Beth plays the Queen’s Gambit; the game is adjourned after forty moves. Beth reconnects with Townes, who is covering the tournament for the Lexington Herald-Leader. Beth receives a phone call from Benny, who has assembled Harry, Matt, Mike, Wexler, and Levertov to analyze her game with Borgov. When play resumes that evening, Beth is able to visualize the game without tranquilizer pills and eventually beats Borgov following her refusal of a draw offer. Beth is celebrated widely by the locals gathered outside the venue. On the drive back to the airport, Beth exits the car and heads for a park where local men play chess. They recognize her and greet her warmly, inviting her to play.