The Queen's Gambit

Jolene DeWitt is Beth’s best friend at Methuen and an influential person in Beth’s childhood at the orphanage and her teenage life later. When they are at the orphanage, Jolene and Beth bond over not being adopted: Both are considered too old to be ideal candidates for adoption, and Jolene is Black, leading many prospective parents to reject her out of racism. They grow to like each other, and Jolene begins looking out for Beth. It begins with Jolene, a star volleyball player, instructing Beth on how best to play to avoid injuries: “The week after Beth hurt her finger, Jolene stopped her when gym ended and the others were rushing back to the showers. ‘Lemme show you something,’ Jolene said. She held her hands up with the long fingers open and slightly flexed” (5). Jolene takes the time and care to show Beth how to improve, which in turn makes volleyball more tolerable for Beth and brings the two closer together. Jolene continues to look out for Beth even after this, warning Beth that she will go through withdrawals when the green pills disappear. To stave this off, Jolene gives Beth a few extra tranquilizers she has.

Even as an adult, after years of not seeing or hearing from each other, Jolene continues to play a supportive role in Beth’s life. Jolene is a static character, not changing much over the course of the novel in how she interacts with Beth. Though Jolene is confident in her future, making plans to move out of Kentucky, she does not hesitate to help when Beth asks. She also advises her on how to deal with her doubts: “‘Quit giving me that,’ Jolene said. ‘Can’t spend your life in front of a mirror. You ain’t ugly anymore anyhow. What I’m talking about is your talent. I’d give my ass to play tennis the way you play chess’” (205). Jolene reminds Beth that she has outgrown her childhood awkwardness and that her appearance is not what matters. She reminds Beth that her talent is astounding and enviable, and she must use it. It is through Jolene’s support that Beth stays away from tranquilizers and alcohol and can prepare for her match against Borgov in Russia.

Mr. Shaibel is the janitor at Methuen and the man who teaches Beth how to play chess. He is a guide of sorts for Beth and even acts a bit as a father figure to her. After Beth discovers Mr. Shaibel playing chess by himself, he teaches her the basic rules and plays with her. As they play more and she becomes more curious, Mr. Shaibel begins teaching Beth more about the intricacies of the game: “He showed her the Levenfish Variation and the Najdorf Variation and told her to go over them. She did, without a single mistake” (12). Beth respects Mr. Shaibel and looks to him as a guide as he teaches her chess. It is through him that she discovers her talent, and it is only through playing with him that she feels comfortable at Methuen. This is what makes her loss of their weekly games so traumatic to her. Mr. Shaibel is quiet and does not protest Beth’s punishment. It is clear, however, that Beth has an impact on him just as he does on her.

After Beth leaves Methuen, she never sees Mr. Shaibel again. When she enters her first tournament, she writes him for money for the entrance fee, and he sends the money without a note. After this, Beth does not encounter him or any aspects of his life until after he dies. When she and Jolene go to the funeral, Beth stops in Methuen and goes to Mr. Shaibel’s room in the basement, where she discovers that he followed her career: “They were pictures of her. There were printed games from Chess Review, and newspaper pieces...Filling in the smaller spaces were newspaper pictures, some of them duplicates. There must have been twenty photographs” (207-08). Though the two rarely spoke, their connection was strong, and Mr. Shaibel was proud of Beth’s accomplishments. He never forgets her and keeps a record of her many triumphs, all of which stem from the first time she played chess with him in that very basement.

Alma Wheatley is Beth’s adoptive mother and supports Beth’s early chess career. Alma adopts Beth with her husband Allston, but after Alston leaves her, she acts as a single mother to Beth, not wanting to send her back to Methuen. She often struggles to be present in the moment for Beth, seemingly somewhere else in her head: “She walked over and sat on the edge of Beth’s bed, smiling at her distractedly, as though she were thinking about something else. Beth had lived with her a week now and she noticed that Mrs. Wheatley was often that way” (46). Mrs. Wheatley can be distant, but she cares for Beth and finds her chess playing a lucrative opportunity. It becomes the primary way in which the two make money after Allston leaves, and Alma makes each trip like a vacation. She does not follow Beth’s actual chess games, but it is through her support and encouragement that Beth builds a career in chess.

The split from Allston impacts Alma emotionally, making her appear distant and hopeless at times. It also drives her toward substances, as she drinks frequently and takes the same tranquilizers that Beth did at Methuen. It is through Alma that Beth sustains her substance use after Methuen and discovers the power of alcohol to dull her pain. When Alma and Beth go to a tournament in Mexico, though, Alma changes, meeting an old pen pal there and becoming romantically involved: “Back in Lexington, Mrs. Wheatley’s voice would sometimes have a distance to it, as though she were speaking from some lonely reach of an interior childhood. Here in Mexico City the voice was distant but the tone was theatrically gay” (116). Alma is still distant, but she seems happier now that she has a companion to spend time with. The relationship does not last, and in many ways, Alma’s failed and detached relationships with men serve as an example for Beth just as her substance use does.

Townes is a fellow chess competitor that Beth meets at her first tournament. He does not play a significant part in The Queen’s Gambit and is not much of a competitor for Beth. However, he does represent the first time she truly feels an attraction for someone else. It is through Townes that Beth discovers an interest in boys, and her feelings toward him foreshadow her relationships with Harry Beltik and Benny Watts. As Beth plays Townes, she cannot help but admire him: “‘Jesus Christ, Harmon, I’m going to drop a rook!’ She loved his voice; she loved the way he said it. He shook his head in mock bafflement; she loved that” (71). Beth finds herself liking everything that Townes does. She likes his voice and his movements, demonstrating how chess and attraction become mixed.

Later, when she is older, Beth meets Townes again at another tournament, although this time he is a reporter rather than a player. When they go up to her room so he can take pictures of her and write about her, they play chess. As they do, Beth feels an attraction like the one she felt before, though more intense: “She did not want to play this game with him. She wanted to make love with him. […] She held her breath for a moment and began to play chess” (101). This moment signifies Beth’s growth from a child into an adult, as her focus is not merely on chess, and she feels attraction and desire for another. Again, the chess and her desire come together as she plays, her focus not entirely on the board, but on Townes.

Harry Beltik is a competitor turned love interest for Beth. At first, she knows him as the Kentucky Champion, and he is in many ways her first real test as a chess player. He is a confident player who does not take Beth seriously at first. She realizes this when she plays him, his calm looks and seeming disregard for her strategy suggesting his game with her is routine: “She looked over the board at Beltik. He seemed completely at ease; he was looking at the game going on next to them” (78). This look of ease and even boredom is one that Beth encounters a lot from male opponents. Many seem calm and prepared at the beginning of the game, expecting an easy match from a girl, only to lose their cool and panic midway through the game as Beth picks them apart. Harry is Beth’s first real introduction to this attitude, as he is a good enough player to present a challenge, but not so good that she cannot defeat him. During this first game, they are opponents, and as they leave, Beth carries no desire for him.

Later in The Queen’s Gambit, Harry and Beth’s relationship changes. Harry introduces Beth to more of the game, encouraging her to train and even living with her after Alma dies to help her prepare to face better opponents. Harry has come up in chess in a more traditional way than Beth has, and he is more familiar with the many strategies of the game. Though they start on fairly even footing, Beth soon surpasses him in talent, and he cannot keep up. During the time they live together, they also become romantically entangled, and Beth’s surge in skill impacts their relationship: “That night he did not come to her bed, nor did he the next. She did not miss the sex, which meant very little to her, but she missed something” (143). Harry cannot cope with Beth’s explosive talent and soon leaves once it is obvious that he will never be able to beat her again. Once it is clear that she is the better player, his confidence dips and his commitment to her evaporates, unhappy with no longer being in control of the chess they play.

Benny Watts is the best American chess player that Beth faces in The Queen’s Gambit. He is also a child prodigy who plays in tournaments across the world, and after Beth beats him in a major tournament, he invites her to his apartment in New York City to train. Beth follows him, and their relationship closely mirrors Beth’s relationship with Harry. At first, Benny outpaces Beth, but she soon develops the skills and strategies to leave Benny behind. During this training, they also become romantically involved, but when Beth surpasses Benny, tension grows: “It was quick sex with her, and then off to the boys. He had probably planned it that way for a week. Tactics and strategy. She could have killed him” (170). Beth sees Benny’s attitude toward their relationship as one linked to the strategies and tactics of chess. He nurtures a dependence in Beth and then turns around and essentially ignores her to give himself power. The better Beth gets, the colder Benny becomes.

Despite their relationship fizzling out and their feelings for each other growing cold, Benny proves to be a dynamic character in Beth’s life. Even though the two are not speaking, Benny follows Beth’s match with Borgov in Russia and calls her to talk her through her next moves after their adjournment. Beth is surprised by Benny’s help, particularly after the way things ended between them, but cherishes his coaching abilities: “Benny was amazing. He had worked out everything; she began to see ways of crowding Borgov, finessing Borgov, deceiving him, tying up his pieces, forcing him to compromise and retreat” (237). Though Beth is the better chess player, Benny is more tactical, and his ability to approach the game from another angle provides Beth with new ways of looking at the match with Borgov. Benny cares too much about chess and defeating Borgov to abandon Beth because of their relationship. His call to Beth demonstrates his true feelings and gives Beth the support she needs.

Vasily Borgov is the primary antagonist of The Queen’s Gambit, though he is rarely seen and almost never speaks. Much of his antagonism stems from the rivalry Beth perceives between herself and him. He is the world champion and the best player in Russia. He is the only player to defeat Beth multiple times in such crushing fashion on the international stage, and his mere presence terrifies her: “She glanced at him, at his well-shaven, imperturbable Russian face with the tie so finely knotted beneath his heavy chin, and the fear she felt almost froze her muscles” (132). Beth believes that Borgov is nearly infallible, incapable of losing or making a mistake. In her eyes, he is a ruthless player who will destroy his opponent in calculated and calm ways. When she first faces him, and each time after that, his attitude and appearance are enough to throw Beth off her game and make her doubt her abilities. She grows to fear him and sees him as her ultimate enemy.

Borgov, however, proves to be nothing like Beth believes he is, and becomes a dynamic character. His antagonistic identity is rooted completely in Beth’s imagination, and when the two interact after Beth defeats him in Russia, Beth sees a different man from the one she created in her mind. Borgov does not take his defeat like so many men before him, but actively celebrates Beth and her talent: “And Vasily Borgov was standing beside her, and a moment later to her complete astonishment he had his arms spread and then embracing her, hugging her to him warmly” (242). Borgov treats Beth as an equal in this moment. He celebrates her as the talented winner who brings joy by playing good chess. This is what Beth craves throughout her career, to be treated as an equal in chess, and not as somehow lesser because she is a woman. Beth finds this support in the last place she would expect.