My husband and I watched 'The Queen's Gambit' miniseries on Netflix earlier this month. I'd really wanted to watch this miniseries after reading the novel and my husband wanted to see the miniseries just because I wanted to see it and had enjoyed the novel so much. My husband enjoyed the miniseries as much as I did.
I really enjoyed the miniseries a lot! Sure it's a bit different than the book, but still fabulous in its own way! I loved the beautiful set designs for the various scenes and the amazing costuming used in the miniseries.
I wanted to do a compare and contrast post for the novel vs. the miniseries here on my blog. Since AI has become a huge deal in recent years with the likes of ChatGPT, Google Gemini, etc., I wanted to see how one of these AI platforms would perform writing a post comparing and contrasting the novel vs the miniseries based on how I write blog posts.
I chose to use Google Gemini to see how it would write this post for me as I was interested to see if Google Gemini could replicate the way I write my posts and also see how it would compare and contrast the novel vs the miniseries. I liked what Google Gemini wrote overall. I did, however, have to omit one paragraph that Google Gemini wrote. Google Gemini had wrongly assumed that I had seen the miniseries first and then decided to read the novel afterward based on the way the actress, Anya Taylor-Joy, had played the character of Beth Harmon. So, I scrapped that paragraph entirely. The rest of what Google Gemini wrote is seen below in black text. I liked what Google Gemini wrote in terms of the compare and contrast part, but I'd say the post isn't necessarily how I would have written the post myself. What do you think?
The Queen's Gambit: Book vs. Miniseries! My Thoughts on What Netflix Changed!
The show did such a phenomenal job of capturing the feel of the book—the intensity of the chess, the mid-century style, and the sheer genius of Beth. But as is always the case, the screen adaptation made some major adjustments to the source material! I thought I’d share my five biggest takeaways on the difference between the Beth on the page and the Beth on the screen.
Novel (Walter Tevis) vs. Miniseries (Netflix): The Game Changers
1. Beth’s Backstory and Her Mother, Alice
The show really delves deep into the idea that genius and madness are two sides of the same coin, and it uses Beth’s mother, Alice, to illustrate this.
• In the Miniseries: Alice is a brilliant academic who suffers a dramatic mental breakdown, culminating in a deliberate suicide attempt where Beth is in the car with her. This experience is the root of Beth’s lifelong trauma and her relationship with the green pills. The show makes her mother an active, defining specter in her life.
• In the Novel: Alice’s death is handled much more quickly. There is little indication of suicide, and most importantly, Beth was not in the car. The book focuses Beth’s trauma more squarely on the cold, lonely experience of the orphanage itself, rather than the horrific car crash. This was a massive change that definitely gave the show higher dramatic stakes!
2. The Paris Loss to Borgov (Sober vs. Smashed)
This is perhaps the most significant change to Beth’s character development and addiction narrative.
• In the Miniseries: Beth is distracted and derailed by her Parisian "friend," Cleo (a character who does not exist in the book!). Beth goes on a bender involving drinking and sex and plays the most important game of her life completely hungover and distracted. The loss is clearly framed as being avoidable—a direct consequence of her addiction.
• In the Novel: Beth is sober and prepared for the match against Borgov. She loses because, quite simply, Borgov is the better player at that point in her career. The loss in spite of her best efforts is what triggers her subsequent downward spiral and isolation—not the other way around. This difference makes the novel's depiction of her eventual success feel even more hard-earned.
3. Jolene’s Return and Role
I absolutely loved the character of Jolene in the miniseries—she truly felt like Beth's guardian angel.
• In the Miniseries: Jolene returns dramatically, randomly showing up at Beth's home just when Beth is at her lowest point and needs her most. She provides the cash for the Moscow trip, acts as her moral support, and kicks her into sobriety.
• In the Novel: Jolene’s return is less coincidental. Beth actually reaches out to her for help when she hits her emotional bottom! Instead of just giving a pep talk, Jolene uses her physical education scholarship knowledge to put Beth through an intense workout regimen to help her detox and get mentally prepared for Moscow. Beth takes control of her recovery by actively seeking help, which I thought was a fantastic nuance.
4. Where Was Townes?
The beautiful reporter Townes plays a significant role in Beth’s life, both as her first crush and as a source of emotional complication.
• In the Miniseries: Townes reappears in Moscow as a U.S. reporter, giving him and Beth a beautiful moment of emotional resolution and support right before her final match.
• In the Novel: Townes is merely an early crush and never reappears after the first few tournaments. The relationship is left unresolved and fleeting, emphasizing Beth's solitary nature on her journey.
My Final Thoughts: Which is Better?
They are both fantastic, but for different reasons!
Tevis' novel is a sharper, more focused character study where Beth's triumphs feel isolated and internal. The miniseries is a broader, warmer adaptation that added emotional depth and provided the beloved found-family support system (like Benny, Beltik, and the return of Townes) that made the story feel cinematic.
The miniseries is a masterpiece of adaptation because it took a great book and added visual flair and emotional layers that served the medium perfectly. It also gave us the magnificent final scene in Moscow with the old men in the park, which in the book was actually an earlier, separate scene!
I am giving the adaptation of The Queen's Gambit a rating of 5 stars out of 5 stars!
Until my next post, happy reading!!
