Beth Harmon

Beth Harmon
The Queen's Gambit character
File:BethHarmon.jpg Anya Taylor-Joy as Beth Harmon in The Queen's Gambit
First appearance	Literature: The Queen's Gambit (1983) Television: "Openings" (2020)
Last appearance	Literature: The Queen's Gambit (1983) Television: "End Game" (2020)
Created by	Walter Tevis
Portrayed by	Anya Taylor-Joy (teenager, adult) Isla Johnston (eight years old) Annabeth Kelly (five years old)
Information
Full name	Elizabeth Harmon
Nickname	Beth
Gender	Female
Occupation	Chess player
Family	Alice Harmon (biological mother; deceased) Paul Harmon (biological father) Alma Wheatley (adoptive mother; deceased) Allston Wheatley (adoptive father)
Nationality	American

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Elizabeth "Beth" Harmon is a fictional character and the main protagonist in the Walter Tevis novel The Queen's Gambit and the Netflix drama series of the same name where she is portrayed by British-Argentine actress Anya Taylor-Joy.

Beth is a chess prodigy who was orphaned at the age of 9 when her mother died in a car accident but she survived. During her childhood she developed an interest in the game at chess where she was trained by Mr. Shaibel, the custodian of the orphanage. She became skilled at the game and wished to become one of the greatest chess players of the world. She also struggled with drug addiction and alcoholism due to her emotional problems.

Taylor-Joy's performance in the miniseries received critical acclaim from critics. She received a nomination in the Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress - Miniseries or Television Film, as well in the Critics' Choice Television Awards for Best Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie.

Development

It has been suggested that the character of Harmon was inspired by Diana Lanni, a player Tevis probably knew during his time in New York and who represented the United States at the 1982 Chess Olympiad in Lucerne. Other real life chess players said to have inspired her include Bobby Fischer and Tevis himself. Tevis, however, denied any of his characters were explicitly based on any real life people. He also said he found it more interesting to write a female character, and that there was no particular reason a woman couldn't become a world class player. This was before the rise of Judit Polgar.

Television adaptation

In 2007, an adaptation to the The Queen's Gambit was in development and it was originally planned to be a film. Ellen Page was considered to portray the protagonist Beth Harmon, with Heath Ledger set to direct. Ledger died when the project was in its early stages, after which production development was discontinued and then cancelled. However, when the adaptation was revived and Netflix got the rights, Anya Taylor-Joy was confirmed to have joined the cast as the show's lead on March 19, 2019 for a Twitter post by Netflix Queue.

Character biography

Beth Harmon is taken to an exclusively-female Christian orphanage, after surviving an accident where here mother died due to a mental breakdown, possible caused by stress of their living condition. There Beth befriends Jolene, who advises that she take the tranquilizers at night. One day, Beth discovers the home's custodian, Mr. Shaibel, playing chess by himself, and eventually convinces him to teach her the game. She also begins to take Jolene's advice, which allows Beth to visualize chess games on the ceiling, allowing her to learn quickly. Beth is taken to a high school for a simultaneous exhibition against the entire high school club, and she manages to defeat all her opponents. Unfortunately Beth becomes addicted to the tranquilizers, which causes her to be stressed when she do not receive them leading her to suffer an overdose.

Beth, now 15 years old is adopted by Allston and Alma Wheatley, with the former leaving them afterwards. She begins to take tranquilizer pills again, in order to renew her commitment to chess. Beth manages to join the local high school chess tournament, and manages to defeat everyone, including state champion Harry Beltik. Beth also develops a crush on one of her opponents, D.L. Townes. Beth spenda the next two months traveling with her adoptive mother and grows to become a national chess icon profiled in major magazines.

In 1966, now 18, Beth goes to Las Vegas with Alma to play the US Open, where she meets again Townes, now a journalist. The two share a brief, intimate moment, but they are interrupted by Townes's roommate, whom Beth suspects is his boyfriend. Beth leaves abruptly before Townes can give her an explanation. At the tournament, Beth experiences her first defeat agains her opponent Benny Watts, another prodigy and current U.S. national champion, which leads them to finish the tournament as co-champions. Afterwards, Beth begins to indulge herself in alcohol.

Beth's begins learning Russian at a local college. After graduating from high school, she goes to Mexico City, with Alma, to play in an international championship. She competes with many international players, including 13-year-old Soviet prodigy Georgi Girev, whom she manages to defeat in a game that lasts two days. In the finals, Beth competes against Soviet world champion Vasily Borgov, only to be defeated once again by the latter. Beth returns to her room, only to find Alma dead due to hepatitis caused by her alcohol abuse. Allston allows Beth keep the Wheatley estate in her possession for the time being. When she return to Kentucky, Beth reconnects with Beltik, who is now at college and has romantic feelings for her. Beth invites Beltik to live in the house with her, starting a romantic relationship. However Beltik realizes that Beth's obsession with chess will always supersede any relationship they may have, so he decides to leave thus admitting that he is not interested in chess anymore.

In 1967, now 19 year old Beth attends the US championship in Ohio, where she again meets Benny. The two become closer friends when Benny challenges Beth to several rounds of speed chess for five dollars each. The following day Beth finally defeats Benny making her the new U.S. champion. Despite Beth's intelligence, Benny knows that she needs a role model and a trainer, which leads him to offer her to come with him to New York to train her for the international championship in Paris. Benny begins to train Beth, to prepare her for the international tournament. To assist her, Benny invites two friends and strong chess players Hilton Wexler and Arthur Levertov along with Cleo, a French model. Beth manages to beat them all at speed chess. Beth also begins to have a sexual relationship with Benny, which the latter ends up sabotaging.

Beth goes to Paris and manages to beat all of her opponents as she makes her way up to the final game with Borgov. However, the night before her match with Borgov in Paris, Cleo contacts Beth to tell her that she's also in Paris and invites Beth out for drinks. Although first hesitant, Beth later agrees, but unfortunately the two of them end up drinking more than expected resulting in a late-night bender. The next day she rushes to compete with Borgov, unfortunately she is unable to focus and loses once more, which devastates her. She declines Benny's offer to continue staying with him in New York to prepare for the Moscow Invitational, and goes back home in Kentucky instead. Allston decides to break his deal with Beth, which forces her to spend her savings to pay for equity in the house.

Depressed and lonely, Beth spends the next days engaged in an extreme drug and alcohol binge ignoring phone calls and the outside world, which culminates when she passes out. Beltik confronts her and tells her that she needs help and treatment to her addiction, but Beth angrily tells him to leave her alone. She is visited by her childhood friend Jolene for the first time since leaving the orphanage to inform her that Mr. Shaibel has died. The two attend Shaibel's funeral, and Beth revisits the orphanage, where she discovers that Shaibel has followed her career all along. Encouraged, Beth decides to participate in the Moscow invitational with the help of Jolene, by covering Beth with the necessary money, after Benny refuses to help her.

Beth finally travels to Moscow accompanied by Booth, a minder from the State Department. Beth manages to beat all of her opponents, earning the love and admiration of the Soviet public, asking her for autograph requests every time she exits the playing venue. She begins to remember more about the accident and realizes that her mother deliberately crashed the car to the truck on New Circle Road. She finally overcomes her alcoholism and drug addiction and begins to play sober, flushing her stash of tranquilizer pills. Before the finals, she sees Townes for the first time following her abrupt departure in Las Vegas. They reconcile, and Beth receives a phone call from Benny, who has assembled Harry, Matt, Mike, Wexler, and Levertov to analyze the adjourned position of her game with Borgov. That evening during the finals, Beth finally defeats Borgov and wins the tournament, at the same time gaining his respect and admiration. On her way to the airport she decides to go to a local Moscow park where the locals play chess. Beth is recognized and greeted by them, inviting her to play.

Reception

Anya Taylor Joy performance as Beth Harmon has received universal acclaim from critics. Caroline Framke from Variety commented "In Anya Taylor-Joy, a lead actor so magnetic that when she stares down the camera lens, her flinty glare threatens to cut right through it". Alison Herman of The Ringer praised Taylor-Joy's performance, lauding her character development, and considered her to represent the feminism in chess. Mike Hale from The New York Times give a positive response about Harmon's development and praised the central theme of how she struggles with alcoholism and drug addiction. Patrick Cremona from the RadioTimes, called Taylor-Joy's performance, an impecable and a brilliantly acting for a captivating miniseries. Allison Shoemaker from RogerEbert.com considered Taylor-Joy's performance the one who creates energy around a room full of cameras and crew members and remarkable, particularly when her character is alone and commented "Playing Beth from 15 onward, Taylor-Joy gives the kind of performance that only becomes more riveting the longer you sit with it." Robert Daniels of IGN praised her performance as a complex and well developed character, comparing it with the supporting characters from the miniseries.

For her performance, Joy has received some awards nominations. She received a nomination from the IGN awards in 2020 for Best Dramatic Performance in a TV Series. For the 25th Satellite Awards in 2021, she was nominated for Best Actress in a Miniseries or TV Film. She also received a nomination by the Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress – Limited Series or Television Film for the 78th Golden Globe Awards. At the 11th Critics' Choice Television Awards she was nominated for Best Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television. She was also nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Awards in the category of Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series for the 27th Screen Actors Guild Awards.

References

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