i have a love/hate relationship with chess that's quite difficult to articulate. on one hand, it's a beautiful game and, intellectually, it's very appealing to me in the sense that it's all there, like puzzle pieces waiting to be solved; on the other, i'm so horribly inept at it that the game almost cost me my university career and my attainment of magna cum laude. i took chess just to fill up some credits in my last year and i discovered to my horror that i just couldn't win, no matter how hard i tried.

so naturally this book called to me.

of course, let's talk about the elephant in the room: most of us here have been probably drawn in because of the netflix show. it was certainly my reason for noticing this book's existence. now, let's be clear, i didn't read this because i'm the type to read books before watching their adaptations—i may have been once but i simply don't have the time anymore—but the show being about chess made it personal in a way i couldn't quite articulate.

and so here i am, gobbling up this book in a matter of a few hours. it's very tightly written, don't get me wrong, and i absolutely adore how tevis made chess games more thrilling than most action-packed thrillers. written in the pages is evidence for the beauty of chess, perhaps even a strong argument of the game as an art form; but within it as well is a study on genius and expectations, the crushing loneliness of prodigiousness, the unexpected sources of inspiration where we might least expect them.

that being said, it is also horribly dated and it's characterisation of other people aside from beth was... questionable. they felt more like props for beth than real people. this would have been all well and good if this was some sort of characterisation from tevis, evidence that beth just chooses to see other people as pieces for her to move around to procure advantage for her, but there are certain lines that would say otherwise, hints of a deeper characterisation that could have been delved into but weren't.

yes, i'm talking about jolene—brilliant jolene who could have been a good character if we were ever actually shown more of her rather than the way the narrative treated her as nothing more than a tool.

that being said, it's mildly entertaining for what it is. the bits about the forced anti-communism upon a non-ideological sport was particularly funny. beth harmon was also pretty compelling as a main character, and it's all too easy to root for her over the course of the narrative. all in all, this was a good read.

it may have even convinced me to just get over my collegiate trauma already and finally learn how to play chess properly.