The Queen’s Gambit was THE show of 2020, and the fact that we’re still talking about it years later shows how much we were impacted by Beth Harmon’s fictional rise to the top of the chess world.

When we last saw Beth, she was contentedly playing chess with an old man in a Moscow park after finally defeating her greatest foe, Russian grandmaster Vasily Borgov.

Although the finale was a satisfying climax to a universally-loved mini-series, fans and chess players the world over have just one question…

“Will there be The Queen’s Gambit Season 2?”

Image courtesy of Netflix.

The Queen’s Gambit took just four weeks to become Netflix’s most-watched scripted miniseries at the time. It took home 11 Primetime Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Grammy Award to name a few, and today, it enjoys a near-perfect 96% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Back in the summer of 2020, we would have scoffed at the idea that a series about chess would win all these accolades and have us perched on the edge of our seats for seven thrilling episodes.

Usually, a show or movie centred around a niche pastime will attract the attention of its ardent fans only – along with fierce critiques.

But The Queen’s Gambit did something different. Not only did the show’s accurate depiction of high-level chess gain praise from the chess community, but it also single-handedly made a centuries-old game a must-play again.

The show’s irresistible charm ignited and reignited passion for the game, and this combined with the lockdowns caused by the pandemic, caused a perfect storm for chess retailers worldwide. 

In the three weeks following the show’s debut, research firm NDP reported a jump in unit sales of chess sets by 87% and chess book sales rose a whopping 603%.

Will there be The Queen’s Gambit Season 2?

There’s no doubt that fans would eagerly receive a second season – but at the time of writing, the prospect seems unlikely.

Firstly, The Queen’s Gambit was faithfully adapted from a 1983 book of the same name, and the writer of which, Walter Tevis, sadly passed away a year after the book was released. 

Of course, there’s nothing to stop today’s writers from picking up the baton where Tevis left off – after all, Eric Van Lustbader went on to write 11 more books of the Jason Bourne series after original author Robert Ludlum died and a host of writers have written James Bond novels after Ian Fleming passed. 

Secondly, the show was always meant as a mini-series and some fans would prefer it to remain that way. The story progressed at a steady pace for 7 enthralling episodes with a finale to satisfy even the fiercest of fanbases.

Again, this does not mean it won’t happen. In 2017, HBO surprised fans by announcing a second season of Big Little Lies – despite being billed initially as a 7 episode mini-series.

Does the cast want a second season?

In nearly every interview with a cast member, the journalist jumps at the chance to ask what we’re all wondering, “Will there be The Queen’s Gambit Season 2?”

When Ana Taylor-Joy, who played Beth in the series, was asked by Town & Country about a second season, she replied, 

“If I’ve learned anything from being in this industry, it’s never say never. I adore the character, and I would certainly come back if I was asked to, but I do think we leave Beth in a good place. I think the rest of her life will surely be an adventure as well, but in the quest that she goes on in this to find some form of peace, just some form of being able to be happy with who she is. I think it ends in a nice place.”

Harry Melling, who played Harry Beltik, Beth’s former rival/love interest, is certainly not opposed to the idea of a second outing.

“It’d be good, right, a Queen’s Gambit part two? The place we end in the limited series is the place we end in the book. I don’t know if there can be another one, but stranger things have happened.”

Why Netflix needs The Queen’s Gambit Season 2

In April 2022, it was reported that Netflix had lost subscribers for the first time in a decade and for the second quarter of 2022, the streaming giant revealed that its subscriber count had dropped by 1.28 million in the United States and Canada.

Now, Netflix is by no means struggling – it remains USA’s number one streaming service and the drop was way less than forecast – but with Disney Plus, Amazon Prime, et al. snapping at its heels, what better way to lure wayward subscribers than with a second season of one of its best-watched miniseries of all time?

The Queen’s Gambit Season 2: What can we expect?

Although nothing has been confirmed, we fans (and even the cast) can’t help but speculate on what might happen in a hypothetical second season.

The series ended with Beth rising to the pinnacle of chess when she defeated the Russian grandmaster Vasily Borgov. A second season might find Beth fighting off challengers to maintain her position at the top, she might even get toppled by a younger, more driven player – as was alluded to in episode 4 when she almost loses to the 13-year-old Georgi Girev.

In the last scene, Beth was seen playing chess with an old man in a Russian park. We could see Beth return to the USA to a heroine’s welcome or she might choose to stay in Russia – she took the time to learn the language after all!

Beth’s dependence on alcohol and drugs was a key component of her success and although she seemed to have her issues handled when we left her, the pressure of being grandmaster could reawaken her old demons.

In an interview with Deadline, the show’s star Taylor-Joy hinted at exploring a new side of Beth’s character.

  “It would be very interesting to see how Beth would be as a mother, now that she’s sober and more cognizant of the demons that pull her down.” 

The Queen’s Gambit is far from jumping the shark. We’ve just scratched the surface of potential storylines and themes that the writers could explore in that elusive second season.

“Never say never…”

As much as fans, the chess community, and the cast would love a second season of our favorite chess-and-drugs series, at the time of writing, it doesn’t look like it’s happening any time soon.

But in the meantime, we might get The Queen’s Gambit The Musical.

In 2021, the rights to the novel were bought by a New York production company known for its Broadway adaptions, including a musical based on Alanis Morissette’s album Jagged Little Pill.

So, maybe it’s not checkmate for The Queen’s Gambit just yet.

Chess has been played for 1,500 years, but since a certain Netflix show emerged last year, the game has reached explosive levels of popularity.

There’s no doubt that we have The Queen’s Gambit to thank for putting chess back on the map – but there are other factors that are causing chess retailers to buckle under the strain of newfound demand.

When it debuted in late October 2020, The Queen’s Gambit quickly became a monster hit in an already bumper period for Netflix. In a year that was dominated by bread-baking, TikTok dances and tiger botherers, along came a show based around chess – that amazingly, enthralled players and laypeople alike.

The show was universally applauded for its performances, the most notable being from Anya Taylor-Joy who played the celebrated antagonist Beth Harmon – an orphaned chess prodigy striving to reach the top in a male-dominated world.

Oh, and all the time battling a pretty severe drug and alcohol habit.

The unique thing about a show focused on a past-time people devote their lives to, is that it won the approval of the chess community. Players of all levels praised the attention to detail and realism put into the characters and the moves – Woman Grandmaster Jennifer Shahade said that the series “completely nailed the chess accuracy.”

The aftermath of The Queen’s Gambit

The Regency Chess Company has been selling fine chess sets for over a decade – it’s a market we know very well. It’s a fairly small industry but it sees stable and consistent demand.

But, as you can see in the graph below, sales in late 2020 went nuclear.

Of course, it’s not just us. eBay.com reported a 215% increase in sales of chess sets and accessories since the show debuted.

eBay and Regency Chess aside, the surge has proved devastating for smaller, less established retailers, many of whom have crumbled under the pressure of so much unexpected demand.

Although we were swamped between November and January, we managed to clear the backlog within 4 weeks. 

Fast forward to today (end of May), and things are looking much healthier –  but stocks of some of our chess sets are still low.

Is all this due entirely to The Queen’s Gambit?

Other notable factors: Lockdown

Even before The Queen’s Gambit hit our screens, 2020 saw a spike in demand for chess sets, board games, jigsaw puzzles, etc. as the world did all it could to stay entertained during the lockdowns prompted by the perceived COVID-19 pandemic.

The streaming platform Twitch noted a renewed interest in chess during the first few months of the pandemic. Data from Sully Gnome, a Twitch analytics site, showed that between March and August 2020, people watched 41.2 million hours of chess – 4 times as many hours as the previous six months.

International supply

India is the leading producer of fine, hand-carved chess pieces. And as you can imagine, the painstaking work involved in hand carving chessmen is anything but quick.

 

In a bid to compensate for the lengthy production and shipping times, The Regency Chess Company and other retailers will order large numbers of chess sets so that we have healthy levels of stock at all times. Ready for anything…or so we thought!

 

As soon as The Queen’s Gambit struck a chord with latent chess players, our stockpile soon dwindled until we were left with nothing but a long list of backorders.

And, as India solidifies its reputation as skilled craftspeople of chess pieces, more and more retailers are placing orders with Indian manufacturers. Further expanding those lead times – as well as prices.

What about chess boards?

One of the world’s most respected makers of chess boards is a Spanish company called Rechapados Ferrer. As a result of the global chess boom, the Barcelona-based company is operating around the clock and has been forced to suspend sales to new clients while introducing a strict ration policy to existing ones.

Can we also blame Brexit?

Although it seems like the fashionable thing to do, we can say that situations arising from Brexit have been problematic for UK-based chess retailers like Regency Chess Company.

The start of 2021 saw mountains of new red tape and a non-existent, six-month ‘grace period’ which meant widespread confusion and of course, HUGE delays on imports coming in from Europe.

Back in January 2021, DB Schenker, one of the world’s largest shipping firms, suspended all road freight services from Europe to the UK for 3 weeks in response to the “enormous bureaucratic regulations”.

Despite the massive stress this put on UK businesses, the storm eventually passed and the goods began to flow nicely once again.

Other factors

It’s also worth mentioning the rising cost of importing in general which has a knock on effect on global demand. For example, container imports have gone up by a factor of at least 4 which has proved too much for smaller businesses.

Where are we at now?

As I write this, summer is around the corner and lockdowns are easing in the UK and Europe. But, the demand for fine chess sets is still very much thriving.

Despite working our socks off, everyone at Regency Chess is enjoying the renewed interest in our favourite game and think it will last for a few years to come.

And if they decide to do a second series, we’ll be ready for that spike in demand!

One last thing…

We want to thank our customers who’ve been incredibly understanding and patient with us during this extraordinary time for chess.

Now, anything else worth watching on Netflix?

The subject of ‘The Greatest Chess Player Ever’ will always be a subjective one for the simple fact that there is no perfect system for comparing them.

Statistical methods of ranking chess players do exist, the most famous being the Elo system. But, they’re not perfect – ‘rating inflation’ makes it impossible to properly compare players of different eras who never had the chance to play each other.

So, with that being said, this is our list of the 5 Greatest Chess Players Of All Time, and our justification for why they should be there.

Feel free to disagree!

#5 Emanuel Lasker

We’re going way back now with our number 5. Emanuel Lasker was a German World Chess Champion who held the title from 1894 to 1921 – the longest reign in history – and is still considered to be one of the strongest players of all time.

Lasker was only the 2nd World Champion since the competition began in 1886 and he successfully defended his title for the next 27 years. His career lasted an astounding 5 decades until he retired in the ’30s.

His novel-at-the-time flexible approach tied with his longevity at the top makes Lasker one of the greatest.

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#4 Bobby Fischer

American-born Fischer became the youngest Grandmaster in history when he won the title aged just 15 in 1958. During 1970-1971, he won 20 straight matches and in 1972, became the first American to become the World Chess Champion after defeating the Soviet Union’s Boris Spassky in ‘The Match of the Century’.

The match brought about a level of publicity unknown to the chess world at the time and has been the subject of many books and movies.

Fischer gave up his title in 1975 after refusing to defend against Anatoly Karpov and apart from winning a rematch with Spassky in 1992, he lived the rest of his life in relative obscurity and controversy. He died in Reykjavík, Iceland, in 2008 after being exiled from his home country. 

Many rank Fischer as the greatest of all time with no noticeable weaknesses in his game.

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#3 Magnus Carlsen

Carlsen is the current World Chess Champion and earned his first grandmaster title in 2004 at just 13 years old. In the same year, the Norwegian prodigy defeated Anatoly Karpov and drew against Garry Kasparov. 

He became the world’s number one in 2011 and hasn’t shown signs of letting it go. He’s also achieved the highest Elo rating of all time.

Despite being under thirty (at the time of writing), we consider Magnus to be among the very best thanks to his tactical style of play and his magnificent achievements. 

And he’s only just getting started!

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#2 Anatoly Karpov

Whenever Garry Kasparov comes up in conversation, Anatoly Karpov is usually mentioned in the same breath. Aside from both of them being Russian, Karpov held the title of World Chess Champion for ten years before losing to Kasparov in 1985 and the two went on to have one of the most intense rivalries in chess.

He became World Champion once again in 1993 after Kasparov was stripped of the title by FIDE and won the 1994 Linares tournament – considered to be the strongest chess competition in history.  

We’ve ranked Karpov as our number two because of his solid, positional playing style and his lengthy tenure at the top of the chess world. 

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#1 Garry Kasparov

Ask any non-chess enthusiast to name a chess player and they’re likely to say, Garry Kasparov. 

Why do we think Kasparov is the best? Simple. He brimmed with confidence and his determined, aggressive playing style took the game by storm. He dominated the chess world for two decades by becoming number one in the world in 1985 and holding the accolade until his retirement in 2005.

In 1985, the Russian became the youngest ever undisputed World Chess Champion at 22 by defeating our number 2, Anatoly Karpov. He holds the record for the most consecutive professional tournament victories, coming first in 15 tournaments from 1981 to 1990.

Although he retired from serious competition in 2005, he’s still passionate about the game – writing articles and giving talks about chess. In 2017, he also emerged to play the St. Louis Rapid & Blitz tournament as a wildcard.

 

Do you agree with our top 5? Who’s your greatest of all time?