The Queen's gambit

Name: The Queen's gambit
ISBN: 9781400030606

by Walter S. Tevis · first published 1983

4mentions

1recommended by

3HN commenters

2017–2025first – last mentioned

33% recommend67% neutral

Fiction & Literature

Beth Harmon, an orphan by eight years old, is unremarkable. She is plain and she knows it. In the Kentucky orphanage, she hordes the tranquilizers handed to the children daily to quell the ache of dullness and routine. A formidable math student, she is allowed to clean the blackboard erasers in the basement where she find the janitor playing chess daily. He is a sour old man and pays her no mind until she suggests a move he could have made. She learned the basics of the game by watching and he slowly teaches her the intricacies as she earns the right to learn them. Throughout the process he

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What Hacker News says

carlosgg · Nov 28, 2017 · Recommends

The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in 2017?” ↗
nicwolff · Feb 19, 2022 · Mentions

…after humanity delegated even intellectual labor to robots; and the last robot overseer, suicidally bored with his assignment. Tevis also wrote The Man Who Fell To Earth – and, somewhat surprisingly, The Queen's Gambit and The Hustler. The Shipkiller, by Justin Scott – dated but a great revenge adventure. And of current releases I really enjoyed Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
on “Ask HN: What is your favorite fiction book?” ↗
0x000000001 · Sep 17, 2021 · Mentions

…that wasn’t unique in Russia. There was Nona Gaprindashvili, not up to the level of this tournament, but a player who had met all these Russian grandmasters many times before. ” Excerpt From The Queen's Gambit Walter Tevis This material may be protected by copyright. Looks like Netflix changed the description of Nona from how she was depicted in the book.
on “First Female Chess Grandmaster Sues Netflix for ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ Insult” ↗
nicwolff · Oct 14, 2025 · Mentions

Mockingbird, by Walter Tevis (who wrote The Hustler and The Color of Money, and Queen's Gambit, and The Man Who Fell To Earth – quite an oeuvre!) has long been one of my favorite books and it's been eerie to see how right he was about how eager mankind is to hand over all intellectual labor to…
on “America Is Sliding Toward Illiteracy” ↗