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"Queen's Gambit" - What if Bobby Fischer had been born a girl ?

#1

I'm only part way through the series - but it seems like the writers posed the question : "What if Bobby Fischer had been born a girl ?"

Why do I say this ?

  1. Beth is an American chess prodigy growing up at the same time as Fischer did.

  2. Broken family situation, biological parents were scientists.

  3. Obsessive and cold personality - abandoned University prospects to focus only on chess.

  4. Character Beth is told by a chess friend that she is doomed to madness and early burnout, like Paul Morphy.

  5. She is told that she plays like the new Paul Morphy.

  6. She learns Russian ( like Fischer ) because she sees that her destiny is to go to the USSR and defeat their system.

  7. Other chess players are talking about 1960s famous players : Spassky, Reshevesky, Petrosian, etc. But never Fischer.
    Since Fischer does not exist in this fictional world.

I'm only part way through the series - but it seems like the writers posed the question : "What if Bobby Fischer had been born a girl ?" Why do I say this ? 1) Beth is an American chess prodigy growing up at the same time as Fischer did. 2) Broken family situation, biological parents were scientists. 3) Obsessive and cold personality - abandoned University prospects to focus only on chess. 4) Character Beth is told by a chess friend that she is doomed to madness and early burnout, like Paul Morphy. 5) She is told that she plays like the new Paul Morphy. 6) She learns Russian ( like Fischer ) because she sees that her destiny is to go to the USSR and defeat their system. 7) Other chess players are talking about 1960s famous players : Spassky, Reshevesky, Petrosian, etc. But never Fischer. Since Fischer does not exist in this fictional world.
#2

Isn't this all based upon an ancient book by Walter Tevis?

Isn't this all based upon an ancient book by Walter Tevis?
#4

@MrPushwood "Isn't this all based upon an ancient book by Walter Tevis?"

The point being... ? That reading the book would settle the question ? I presume you are very familiar with the book then ?

@MrPushwood "Isn't this all based upon an ancient book by Walter Tevis?" The point being... ? That reading the book would settle the question ? I presume you are very familiar with the book then ?
#5

Then there would be a movie "King's Gambit" about it.

Then there would be a movie "King's Gambit" about it.
#6

The point being that perhaps "the writers" are basing their production on an earlier source.

And around here, 2019 is ancient. ;)

The point being that perhaps "the writers" are basing their production on an earlier source. And around here, 2019 is ancient. ;)
#7

Did fischer ever say that he wants to defeat the ussr? He only cared for chess, also he wasn't cold. He is a very charismatic person.

Did fischer ever say that he wants to defeat the ussr? He only cared for chess, also he wasn't cold. He is a very charismatic person.
#9

#7
Yes, in interviews Fischer used to fulminate against the USSR. He complained about collusion of USSR players against him in the Curacao candidates' tournament. Fischer hesitated about playing the 1972 match against Spassky, and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger called him personally to persuade him to play in the interest of the nation "The worst chess player in the world calling the best chess player in the world".

#7 Yes, in interviews Fischer used to fulminate against the USSR. He complained about collusion of USSR players against him in the Curacao candidates' tournament. Fischer hesitated about playing the 1972 match against Spassky, and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger called him personally to persuade him to play in the interest of the nation "The worst chess player in the world calling the best chess player in the world".
#10

I'm only part way through the series - and while the absence of Fischer is noticeable - I don't see it as an underlying premise. To me, it just seems more like a parallel universe without a Fischer than a story about a female Fischer.

She isn't nearly as dominant as Fischer. By the late 1960's, her best performance was a loss to the world number two, she had yet to play in the Soviet Union, nor had she dominated in the US championships like Fischer. She is also a passionate character who has love affairs and an obsession with tranquilizers which is hardly Fischeresque.

At first, I assumed it was the writer's snub on Fischer due to his absurd political and social opinions... or at the very least an attempt to escape the overplayed tendency to associate every story about chess with Bobby Fischer. But if the original book was written in 1983, that was before Fischer went public with most of his controversial comments and a decade before Searching for Bobby Fischer, so who knows?

I'm only part way through the series - and while the absence of Fischer is noticeable - I don't see it as an underlying premise. To me, it just seems more like a parallel universe without a Fischer than a story about a female Fischer. She isn't nearly as dominant as Fischer. By the late 1960's, her best performance was a loss to the world number two, she had yet to play in the Soviet Union, nor had she dominated in the US championships like Fischer. She is also a passionate character who has love affairs and an obsession with tranquilizers which is hardly Fischeresque. At first, I assumed it was the writer's snub on Fischer due to his absurd political and social opinions... or at the very least an attempt to escape the overplayed tendency to associate every story about chess with Bobby Fischer. But if the original book was written in 1983, that was before Fischer went public with most of his controversial comments and a decade before Searching for Bobby Fischer, so who knows?

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