“No Sorcery”: Chess, Artistic Sensibility, and Subjective Development in The Queen’s Gambit

Abstract

In this essay, I claim that The Queen’s Gambit examines the sources of excellence in creative work and describes a practice for organizing a durable selfhood. Following the rise of an orphan (Beth Harmon) in the world of 1960s international chess, the novel suggests, I argue, allegorical correspondences between chess and other forms of artistic and intellectual endeavor. I further contend that in learning to play chess, Beth develops a capacity to live an ethical life in a hostile world.