It is Anya Taylor-Joy, playing Beth from the age of 13 to 22 in a seemingly effortless metamorphosis, who makes Frank’s film work, particularly in the way she beautifully articulates the inwardness, the fury, and the intelligence of Tevis’ creation. ... The drama that matters most is played out not on a board but on Beth’s face and in her body language, and in her heart. And thanks to the stunning collaborative skill of Scott Frank and Anya Taylor-Joy, there’s never any doubt about what that heart holds.

It absorbs the viewer into the rarefied realm of world-class competition and acquaints the nonplayer with enough of the mechanics to make the outcomes accessible and meaningful. ... If there are awards to be had, Ms. Heller and Ms. Taylor-Joy should get them. ... Ms. Taylor-Joy is really the beginning and endgame of “The Queen’s Gambit,” and gives a performance that is as precisely physical as it is emotional.

Anchored by a magnetic lead performance and bolstered by world-class acting, marvelous visual language, a teleplay that’s never less than gripping, and an admirable willingness to embrace contradiction and ambiguity, it’s one of the year’s best series. While not without flaws, it is, in short, a triumph.

It is very good — thoughtful, exciting, entertaining.

“The Queen’s Gambit” becomes very shrewd about its choices and keeps the narrative going at an impressively fast clip — making it a sharp, welcome contrast to the all too many lethargic streaming dramas out there.

“Gambit” never quite gets back to the charm of its Dickensian opening chapter, though, and it gets thinner as it goes along. Frank pulls off his combination of themes with a lot of old-Hollywood-style skill, but in the mix, neither the sports nor the personal-demons story line hits the levels of visceral excitement or emotional payoff that you might want. In the end, it was an admirable package that I wanted to love more than I did.

It is one of those expensive-looking period pieces that Netflix and Amazon money can do so well – swoon at the costumes and cars, purr with pleasure at the soundtrack. But the heroine at its centre is other-worldly to the point of annoyance.

Amazing show. Great script, incredible acting and gorgeous set designs and clothes. perfect escape from COVID hell.

Like others have said, could have done better as a movie. There wasn't enough meaningful content to cover 7 episodes. I very much enjoyed how the series was filmed as well as the costumes and decor. The camerawork during the chess matches plays with lots of suspense and makes something like chess far more intriguing than I thought. It came out of the gates strong but towards the end I found I was finishing it just to finish it and the last few episode became quite predictable. It's good enough to give it a watch, just don't expect to be blown away.

At first I was glad that they didn't depict the orphanage as a hellhole, but then it was a little bit too much in the other direction, with all nice and diverse people. Also Beth's chess skills are a way over the top which makes this rather a fairy tale than a real life story. Towards the end it got a little too cheesy for my taste. This is a pity because the young Beth is absolutely lovely and also the grown up actor really good (would like to see more of her). After all it was all nice to watch, but (despite the sex & drugs content) rather a childish entertainment.

The allegory is just too heavy handed for me. We get it, your chess playing has a connection to your life.

The only question that arises after watching this series is who in it was most insulted - the men or women who believe that marriage and family are important? Almost all the men here are worthless, weak and certainly not equal to the main character. At the same time, her personality is not revealed - just a character-function with sterile traits. All married women in the series are deeply unhappy - they are all abandoned by their traitorous husbands, and now they are forced to die in a traffic accident or from alcoholism. Most young girls are also empty and mediocre - they are only interested in men and clothes. What does this show teach? In fact, nothing, absolutely. Many chess games of the first series do not stand up to any criticism - supposedly professional players build the game worse than beginners. Key takeaway: This show is a complete disappointment with wasted time.