Like thousands of other kids, I learned to play chess during the Fischer boom, the craze that grew around his ascent to world champion in 1972. Nona Gaprindashvili became the first female grandmaster in 1978, and many other women have achieved that title since. It’s impossible to overstate the effect Fischer had on American chess — so large and so lasting that in the universe of “The Queen’s Gambit,” Fischer does not exist. Who knows what might have happened if they’d had the chance to be inspired by even a fictional female Bobby Fischer? I loved “The Queen’s Gambit” so much, I watched the final episode three times.

Source: Los Angeles Times November 20, 2020 15:02 UTC