The True Story Behind The Queen’s Gambit and Beth Harmon

Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit made chess cool, something most of us didn’t see coming. At the centre of it all is Beth Harmon, a chess prodigy with a complicated past. Naturally, people started Googling if Beth Harmon was a real person. Let's find out.

Was Beth Harmon a Real Person?

No, Beth Harmon wasn’t a real chess champion. She was created by author Walter Tevis, who wrote The Queen’s Gambit in 1983.

Tevis pulled inspiration from the chess world and his own life, creating a character that shows the struggles of real Chess players.

Beth’s journey from orphanage basement Chess to international Chess tournaments shows obsession!!! Yes, that's needed to be a World Chess Champion.

Bobby Fischer: The Real-Life Influence

If anyone in chess history is relatable to Beth Harmon, it’s Bobby Fischer. In 1972, Fischer’s legendary game against Soviet grandmaster Boris Spassky during the Cold War turned a board game into a political war.