Beth out-analyses a hustler's Caro-Kann lecture
In the Cincinnati lobby a cocky player dismisses the Caro-Kann; Beth names the 1935 game he is showing and finds the win he missed.
Beth Harmon & Benny Watts
The two best players in America, across a board and a bed. 19 scenes together, in story order.
19 moments · 33 min · by Favseen
- 01
- 02
Benny Watts: 'you shouldn't have castled'
The US Champion introduces himself and, from a printed game alone, points out the flaw in Beth's win over Beltik before walking off.
- 03
Beth loses to Benny: the exchange of queens
Beth narrates the final game move by move: the captured center pawn, the forced queen trade and the mating net she never saw coming.
- 04
Beth meets Benny Watts again: get past me first
At the US Championship, Benny greets Beth over her Borgov loss, rails against cheap plastic boards, and promises he stands between her and Moscow.
- 05
Benny's interview and the knife
Benny tells a reporter to read his book and get in shape, then invites Beth to speed chess; she asks why he carries a knife. For protection.
- 06
Five bucks a game: Benny's speed chess hustle
Benny sends Weiss for coffee, orders apple juice in a milk glass, and beats Beth at blitz again and again at five dollars a game.
- 07
You attack like Alekhine: Benny and Beth before the final game
Benny apologizes for the hustle, calls Beth the best player here, and the two trade notes on playing whole games in their heads.
- 08
Raging inwardly: Benny loses in thirty moves and mentions Moscow
Beth has beaten Benny and can outdrink him too; he says the US winner goes to the Moscow Invitational, which she never knew.
- 09
Come to New York: Benny offers to train Beth
Benny warns Beth she'll be washed up by 21 if she keeps drinking, offers his living room and a drive to New York, and settles the sex question.
- 10
Beth and Benny play blind chess on the drive to New York
Benny and Beth call out a Sicilian line from memory in the car and bicker about reading footnotes while Beth starts to feel carsick.
- 11
Benny's crash course: workmanlike chess and the Soviet team
Benny diagnoses Beth as bored by ordinary chess, she spots an error Reuben Fine missed, and he explains why the Soviets win: they help each other.
- 12
Beth solves Hilton's favorite problem in seconds
Benny's friends arrive with Cleo in tow; Beth, who says she finds chess problems irrelevant, cracks a mate-in-three almost instantly.
- 13
Beth beats Benny and his friends in a speed-chess simultaneous
Benny proposes a simul with speed chess to get an edge; Beth bets ten dollars on every board, wins, and makes them go again and again.
- 14
Nobody has done that to Benny in fifteen years
After the guests leave, a stunned Benny admits not even Borgov has beaten him like that, and Beth asks whether he still likes her hair.
- 15
Pillow talk: Benny tells Beth to play the Sicilian against Borgov
In bed, Benny's mind goes straight back to chess: play your own line, never his, and nobody says check at the big tournaments. Beth is unimpressed.
- 16
Benny calls after Paris and Beth says she wants to get drunk
On the phone Benny begs Beth to come to New York instead of being alone; she thanks him for everything and admits she does not know what she is doing.
- 17
Christian Crusade's letter and Benny's advice to take the money
A religious group offers to fund Beth's trip to the USSR; Benny tells her they want her to beat Communists for Jesus and says he misses her.
- 18
Benny hangs up on Beth: maybe is a loser's word
Beth phones Benny for Moscow money and company; he explodes at her for choosing drink over him and tells her never to call again.
- 19
Benny, Harry, Matt and Mike call from New York: go beat him
The morning of the adjourned game, Benny's crew has worked the position all night and phones Moscow with variations, ending with Benny's send-off.