Consultant Bruce Pandolfini explains how the smash-hit Netflix series brought chess to the screen with unprecedented accuracy.
Even more impressively, it’s done so while portraying chess with an unprecedented level of accuracy on screen.
“But they did like the title I suggested.”
KEN WORONER/NETFLIX
“I could provide a lot of firsthand reinforcement, and I did,” Pandolfini says.
That anecdote epitomizes the show’s meticulous approach to chess, which manifested at every stage of production.
“Sometimes the words have to be slightly modified, and that can’t be helped at points.
PHIL BRAY/NETFLIX
Taylor-Joy’s Beth, for instance, “is a very intuitive player,” he explains.
“She just kind of senses what’s right.
And so you want positions that reflect that.
Anya Taylor-Joy in ‘The Queen’s Gambit’.PHIL BRAY/NETFLIX
You see that creativity, that flair for tactics, and the attack; she loves to attack.
I tried to think up and look for positions that indeed showed that, lots of aggressive positions.”
I’m not going to question the greatest chess player of all time.”
“You have to make the actors feel comfortable,” he notes.
“But preparation is the key.
Not all the actors liked to be so prepared ahead of time, however.
Luckily, “Anya is really brilliant,” Pandolfini says.
“I thought it worked really quite nicely.
She didn’t have any screw-ups.”
Of course, “Things have to be done much more quickly on screen.
But you do see little nuances and subtleties come through.
Facial expressions are important.”
“Really, overwhelmingly, the series is loved in the chess community,” Pandolfini says.
And it’s a very critical audience.
Every little thing that’s wrong, they will jump on.”
“It was remarkable.
I’m thinking, ‘What do these guys do?
Do they have a life?'”
Pandolfini is even more thrilled by the response outside of the chess world.
“I think it’s going to be great for the game,” he says.
“Something like 10 million games a day are played online now.
Who knows where this is going to lead.
I’m very excited about the future of the game.”
Ultimately, though, he knows chess isn’t the only reason for the show’s massive success.
“What you have here is an extraordinary role model in Beth,” Pandolfini says.
And she surmounts it all to become the best chess player in the world.
That is an extraordinary character for our time.
Not just for girls and women, but for boys and men, too.
It’s really someone we can look up to and identify with.
I think that’s what’s moved the show and attracted so many people to it."
