7 BEST Games in Netflix's The Queen's Gambit

listen to me you have got to watch the queen's  gambit on netflix it's an amazing limited series   about elizabeth harmon who rises as a chess  star in the 1960s and 70s from the united states   everything about the series is amazing in  particular how detailed and refined the chess   scenes are bruce pandelfini and gary  kasparov were both consulted for the show   and in this video i'm gonna break down  those chess scenes in all of the big moments   i'm just gonna say right now there are as little  spoilers as possible if you haven't seen it   it's still going to be okay for you to watch and  i'm going to be showing exclusive clips sent to   me by the team at netflix before we jump into  anything i just want to thank john hartman for   putting me in touch with those people and olympia  han who dug through these games and connected them   to games from history all of their information and  relevant projects will be in the description below   let's jump into it we're going to kick things off  in episode 2 when beth is playing the final round   of the kentucky state championship her opponent is  harry beltic the actor by the way is also dudley   from harry potter so beth has the white pieces  uh and starts out with a two nights caro khan   against harry beltick harry thinks for  a little bit and then plays the move   bishop to g4 if we take a look at the big  board this game is based on nesh medinov   versus kasparian from the early sorry the mid 20th  century and we obviously see the first few moves   uh in in the game itself we got h3 attacking this  bishop a trade and black reinforces the pawns on   the light squares this is very standard uh  this is played a lot in the two nights car con   we get g3 g6 both players fiance  getting their bishops like this castles   knight d7 from harry beltic or kasparian whoever  you're cheering for queen e2 and here we get d4   now this does attack the knight but the problem  is that here uh nesh medina for elizabeth harmon   knight b1 played by uh played by her and the  problem for black is that closing the center   so early allows the possibility for white to open  up an attack later in the game and a close center   benefits the attacking player so that's exactly  what happens knight e7 f4 as i said queen c7 a4   to try to take away a potential expansion playing  on both sides of the board here by white and after   castles f5 f6 knight d2 bishop h6 we have another  moment from the show the camera now pants to beth   who is contemplating the position and she  plays the move king to h2 beltic responds   basically immediately with the move king to h8 and  now is really the moment both players are about to   have the king side opened up so beth thinks a  little bit and decides to take the pawn on g6   and that's exactly what happens in the game now  we get hg6 knight f3 the trait of the dark squared   bishops removing a very important defender uh  from near baltic's king knight comes out to c5   uh and here elizabeth is trying to play on both  sides of the board opening up this position but   also maintaining that this attack is possible in  the future we get knight b3 rook comes to d1 rook   moves to d8 knight h4 what this move does is it  doesn't quite threaten this pawn but it opens up   lines g4 g5 is a possibility and this knight was  never going to go forward this way so it comes out   like this queen c8 bishop out to f3 forcing the  queen back here knight 2 f3 is a threat on this   pawn because if pawn takes you get an attack on f7  all these things happening in the game queen g8 h4   and really the game blows up about six or seven  moves later white brings all of the pieces to   the king side and finally launches out the  move h5 here black plays c5 and the center   absolutely explodes we get h takes g6 d takes c3  bc3 c4 d4 and now another moment from the show so   here fearing that the central pawn was too strong  harry took on d4 initiating a sequence of traits   after pawn takes from beth knight takes  and knight takes we go to our movie clip   harry pensively plays rook takes default with  music on this time beth responds with a central   break e5 you can't take because you're going  to lose your rook harry thinks a little bit   and plays the move f5 at this point that snatches  that pawn and we get this look of utter shock   from harry beltic after bishop takes pawn but he  didn't really have anything else and the actual   game the historical game here i won't spoil the uh  how the how the scene in the uh series ended but   the actual game itself features a glorious  discovered attack on the queen and if rook   takes her queen takes and the queen comes down  and the game actually the historical game ended   with an amazing queen sacrificed by nesh medinov  black takes back and here is leading to force   checkmate after rook takes oh sorry rook  f6 king h5 and the king is absolutely stuck   rook check king to h7 the rook no longer pins  the bishop to the king and bishop f5 mate i'm   not going to spoil too much about harry beltic but  he's a very important character in the show let's   look at the next one in episode 3 we're introduced  to benny watts who's an important character and   the first big rival that elizabeth harman has  they're playing a game at the u.s championship in   las vegas which begins with a night or sicilian  an open sicilian first knight f6 knight c3 a6   and bishop to c4 the sozen very popular and  seen throughout the show e6 bishop b3 and now   we start the clip i'll play it with sound just  so you feel the intensity and the emotions again   this is from the show and hopefully it  convinces you to watch or watch again so b5 from benny watts elizabeth  castles very intense opening bishop to d7 not the most accurate move and here bishop to g5 with pressure i  thought he could see what i was planning this should be seven i thought he could hear  my heart beating and know how panicked i was   now a choice for him how does he take back  looks like he's gonna take with this guy   i still had time to get out of it so what  does he take with ah but he took the piece   just as i planned so that's an interesting  one this one is interesting this one's   interesting because he takes and she says  he he took the piece just as i planned so she obviously had some sort of preparation here  with g takes f6 now in a lot of these positions   the bishop should probably go here uh or just not  go to d7 very early i'm not going to bother you   with the extent and the intensity of the theory  but here uh what beth in the in the actual show   she plays f4 uh the known approach here now for  white is to play queen to h5 a beautiful square   for the queen where it can't be touched and to  play knight f5 but i won't spoil the result of   this game you should just watch the show and  if you haven't and if you have already then   well great let's keep going in episode 4 beth has  her first international test against all of the   talents around the world in one of the rounds  she sits down to blagan's georgie gidev young   super talent from eastern europe and  this is how their introduction goes   i'm george beth hermann he tells her he's  honored which is very cool i've never done that they start clocks and beth plays the move e4 now  this game is actually based on a game that was   played in 2007. uh that game was very long and  the game in the show goes so long that at some   point uh georgie offers an adjournment which is  something that they used to do back in the day   which is when they settled the game came  back the next day earlier than the round   after analyzing there was no computers back  then and they kept playing so watch what happens   when they come back so this is the position  the following morning and here on rook five beth harmon plays pawn to rook five which is  really the move h5 now the amazing thing is   this did not happen in the real game in the real  game white took on b7 and after a long struggle in   the end game the game ended in a draw that game  went rookie 2 and the real reason it ended in a   draw is because of the opposite colored bishops  they negate each other and the pawns basically   all got chopped off both players lost as many  pawns as they could and despite white having a   pawn advantage black was able to stabilize because  these pawns run into this and the winning chances   are slim the move pawn to h5 is an improvement  forcing a breakthrough on this side of the board   for example if black takes like this white takes  on g6 threatening rook to h7 checkmate and black   cannot play rook to h1 because of the coverage  like this so this shows you how much work went   into the analysis and the improvements on these  games i don't know what the logic was for picking   the game specifically but it's just very cool  to see something like that in episode four   beth also for the first time takes on the russian  vaisili borgov this is the point in the show where   we're introduced to elizabeth's biggest rival and  that is the russian player vasily borgov loosely   based on boris spassky they sit down they've  already shaken hands start your opponent's clock   that takes a moment to pause starts the clock   and after some thought vasily  plays the move pawn to e4 on c4 and beth responds with c5 we are  at this point noted that her opponent   is considered the master of her opening and that's  demonstrated very quickly as a few moves later   we are seen that he plays and the point here is that beth is so used to  the open sicilian that's what they're calling   it here the rossolimo sicilian uh is an opening  that keeps the position a little bit more close   and this is also this game is based loosely at  least throughout the opening because you can see   where the clip ends that uh beth plays the move  queen to b6 immediately the actual game um doesn't   feature this particular move order but features  this one which kind of transposes back to the game   and the whole point here is that white waits a  very long time makes this trade and then keeps   the center more closed and this ends up serving  uh in borgov's favor and he continues to apply   pressure throughout the game and the game ends  basically with this scene we don't get to see   a tremendous amount of the game but we do get  to see the final move when there's a head shake an intense stare up at the board and down at  this one and uh competitive chess players know   this feeling all too well queen two of three  leaves the king on v6 in a state of peril   the queen is coming the rook is coming uh and uh  it is not a good situation for elizabeth harmon   throughout the show uh she aims to out-compete  vasily borghoff to outdo him but he is the senior   by many years he has a lot more experience and  he's playing under the soviet chess regime well   let's see what we're able to do episode 5 has a  lot of plot development in it but not a tremendous   amount of chess so we jump ahead to episode  6 which features the end of beth's training   and the beginning of a new tournament in this  clip uh some friends are invited over uh by one   of the characters and beth is training and trying  to solve a puzzle what is white winning three and this is the puzzle on the big screen some  distractions occur in the background beth looks   at it and she says king to queen seven white  has to win in three moves king to queen seven   is the move king to d7 and black doesn't have a  whole lot of moves here right so if black plays   king g7 the point is that after knight t6 there's  nothing that black can do if black goes to f8   knight e6 is made if black goes to h6 knight f5  is made and if black goes to back to f6 98 is made   and of course the bishop can move but the  point is that the solution is the same   that solves this puzzle about 10 seconds now  puzzles are an important way of training they   help you visualize calculation but puzzle this is  actually a study this is not a real game this is   an invented position and that solved it basically  instantly further demonstrating her you know raw   ability her talent even though she doesn't  usually train this way at the end of episode   six beth sits down and meets once again with  vasily borgov in the tournament in paris she's   obviously under a lot of stress i'm gonna play the  full clip so you experience the emotions the game   is based on the game between migueranto and lenin  dominguez perez from 2006 played at the olympia so first things first before uh we have a  dramatic grab of the glass we see an open   sicilian played by the players this is actually a  very similar position as we saw in episode three   with benny watts except it's played correctly  by borgov who plays the move bishop to e7 see that's obviously dramatically  filling up the water and drinking it   or giving her a little eyebrow game continues  and now we've we see toward the end of this clip   as borogov's pawn start coming down the queen side  and if you notice if you compare the position in   the clip with this position and knight back to e2  it is everything that happens in the actual game   which is pretty incredible and the  game obviously is fast forwarding   these moves are being played a lot faster in the  show but they're taking a lot of time in real time and now the moments kind of which  deviates from the actual game   you'll notice that this is the position this is  the actual position i've changed the big board   and here beth plays the move queen to d4 this is  the only move here that doesn't basically lose   immediately and even though the material is equal  borgov is putting very serious pressure on her   position the bishops from the corners are doing  stuff the rook has vision on these pawns and these   pawns are going to be targets and that is why  the clip ends with vorgov kind of giving her this   you know inquisitive look like really and this is  actually not how the real game went they branched   off from the real game at a certain moment to  make beth's position under a degree of pressure   where she has to defend against borgov for  the second time and now we are going to look   at games from episode 7 the final episode of the  series when both beth goes to moscow to take on   all the best players in the world primarily those  from the soviet union in the final episode beth   goes to battle against as i said some of the  best players in the world including luchenko   who's an older player but a former world champion  and i just included the start of their game for   the dramatic effect luchenko begins with  d4 that thanks for bit plays knight f6   and luchenko plays pawn to c4 very  classical opening presses the clock   and gives her a look the game is a battle based  on petrossian versus a copian played in armenia   in the late 1980s the game goes on for a long  time is adjourned and the players go back to   their rooms to prepare for an improvement the  next day so the players adjourned in this position   and that night you discover something shocking  which i won't mention that puts beth at a serious   disadvantage going into the next day and it's at  this point that we are infused the brilliance of   gary kasparov who as i said did work on the show  in the actual game we see the move rook f7 played   but here gary infuses home cooked preparation  a gorgeous move instead of rook f7 pawn to h5   sacrificing the pawn and then king  back to h8 which is what beth plays   which leads after h takes g6 rook takes h4 to  actually not black having the king under attack   but white having the king under attack punctuated  by the amazing defense of her source rook c   to h7 and you cannot take the rook because of  queen g7 check leading to a devastating checkmate   on the white pieces so i'll show you the clip  from the show which starts around this moment luchenko thinks and realizes that he's in some  serious trouble this put three things against   her place queen to e3 having the white pieces rook  down to d1 he's still he blocks attack and that ex   and here beth looks at him the commentator  says that three things go against her   including a massive allotment of time but  beth plays bishop to d4 hitting the queen   with the pin rook guards this is coming  in and last but not least this on this   at this point luchenko realizes that he's in  grave danger and uh we see the full power of   the gary kasparov analysis on display in the  show which leads to the final round matchup   with vasily borghoff in this matchup we get to  see the namesake of the show on full display   the clocks are started and elizabeth  doesn't play e4 like she did last time but d4 the queen's gambit pawn to c4 now  godmotor has made a video on this game   but actually it's loosely based on a real  game that did occur uh between evan chuck and   wolf in 1993 but in the show workoff starts with  e5 which is actually the albin counter gambit the   players have a very tense struggle that results  in this position a lot later on in the middle game   we see pawn to h3 and borgov at this point does  the following he decides that he's had long enough looks at her and says which means that he  now has to seal his move which is going   to be queen back to g6 the players will  go back to their rooms and analyze this   is also the first time that a live  game has concluded between these two   within a german session so let's see what  happens the next morning now this is the part   of all of this analysis work that i'm probably  most proud of myself if you look at the actual   game here the move g4 was played but if you look  at where our clip starts you'll notice that that   those two pawns are still on g3 and h3 so how  did this happen i had to recreate the process   well we get knight to e6 and we got rook coming to  a4 attacking the pawn on e4 defended by the knight   math played b3 and here we got rook takes e4 and  knight takes d6 and rather than taking the knight   which would result in a fork for borgov he plays  the move bishop takes e6 let's watch the clip   a flurry unfolds bishop e6 d  takes c6 cd6 beth pushes the pawn   but here vorgov plays a move that holds everything  together and is a shock [ __ ] we hear an audible   expletive and it's becomes evident that this is a  move that was not prepared for the move d6 to d5   black seems to hold everything together the e8  square is under protection the rook is covered   the rook also defends the central pawns so how  on earth does beth harmon break through here i'm   about to show you the final sequence of moves in  the final clip that i have see if you haven't seen   anything yet you can get out while you can this  is your spoiler warning but i'm about to go in   this position beth played bishop to c5 defending  her pawn and borghoff played back with the queen   covering promotion that swung the queen over to  f3 vorgoff played queen c6 attacking the bishop   and beth locked it in with pawn to b4 queen  e8 was played borghoff looked at elizabeth   and offered her a draw this caused an audible  murmur in shock people were saying that you know   she probably should take the draw would still  be a stellar result she triumphantly shook her   head and played a glorious combination she gave a  check king went back to h8 and she sacrificed her   queen after pawn takes f6 rook f6 the undeniable  check is coming extracting the queen from the   where it is and the pawn is going to promote so  borghof brings out the queen all of that happens   and rather than taking and being a bishop  down in an endgame he goes all in he plays   rook to e2 check king f1 sacrifices the rook to  give one more check and we have our final clip the rook slides back to f2  the queen comes out to e4 and the very gracious king to d2 which is  exactly what happens in the game elizabeth harmon   has a rook and bishop up borghoff resigns  stands up and applauds his opponent   which is what they say boris spassky did when he  played against the genius who was bobby fischer   and that my friends is how the final game of the  queen's gambit concluded an original piece of   analysis and variation i was able to reconstruct  for all of you resulting in the triumphant victory   of elizabeth harmon over vasily borgov and with  that my friends we've come to the conclusion of   this recap video if you're a longtime subscriber  and you've seen some of my other videos   let me know how you enjoyed the analysis of the  chess and definitely make sure to check out the   show if you haven't already if you're brand new to  the chess world welcome to you as well uh there's   a lot of videos here on youtube for beginners for  you to get especially on this channel to get your   openings and tactics sorted out there's a lot  of different chess websites you can check out   to play on many of them are free and uh yeah chess  is pretty cool but you're gonna need a little bit   of advice you're not just gonna be able  to jump in and play like elizabeth harmon   anyway that's uh that's it i worked hard  on this and uh i do appreciate all of your   support if you made it this far drop a comment  drop a like and i'll see you in the next video

Channel: GothamChess

Views: 1,330,951

Keywords: beth harmon chess, beth harmon, elizabeth harmon, the queens gambit, queens gambit, queens gambit netflix, the queens gambit netflix, the queen's gambit trailer, the queen's gambit review, the queen's gambit reaction, the queens gambit beth, anya taylor joy, queen's gambit, queen's gambit netflix, queen's gambit netflix review, the queen's gambit games, beth harmon final game, final game, beth harmon vs vasily borgov, elizabeth harmon vs vasily borgov - final game

Id: Inmcb_k7dig

Length: 25min 18sec (1518 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 04 2020