Beth asks Mr. Shaibel what the game is called
Skipping chapel, Beth finds the custodian alone at a board in the basement and asks him to teach her; he does not play strangers.
Mr. Shaibel's Best Moments
Every The Queen's Gambit moment featuring Mr. Shaibel, in story order. Played by Bill Camp.
11 moments · 15 min · by Favseen
- 01
- 02
Girls do not play chess: the first lesson
Beth returns with an answer for Shaibel, shows what she has learned by watching, and he grudgingly explains how each piece moves before their first game.
- 03
The Scholar's Mate, three Sundays running
Shaibel beats Beth with the same four-move trap week after week and refuses to show her how it works.
- 04
You resign now: Beth refuses to lose gracefully
Shaibel tells Beth that losing her queen means resigning; she insists on finishing, swears at him and is thrown out of the basement.
- 05
Beth beats Shaibel and learns the Sicilian Defense
After her first win Beth is told not to gloat, then gets her first opening theory: the Sicilian, knight to KB3, and the news that squares have names.
- 06
The Queen's Gambit gets its name
Beth plays an opening Shaibel never taught her; he names it, decides they will take turns with White from now on, and she mates him again.
- 07
Modern Chess Openings and 'you're astounding'
Shaibel shares his whiskey secret, hands Beth the book she needs and, hearing she is only nine, tells her the truth about how good she is.
- 08
Mr. Ganz plays Beth and loses in three
The high-school chess coach visits the basement, lets Beth choose her color, sees mate in three, and learns she plays games in her head on the ceiling.
- 09
The doll, the blindfold mate in three, and 'Say queen!'
Ganz gives Beth a doll she does not want, she calls out a mate-in-three with her eyes shut, and he poses her beside Shaibel for a photo.
- 10
The simultaneous: Beth beats the whole high-school club
Beth walks the boards against a dozen players, then tells Shaibel how badly they played, how she tied up their top boy, and that she has never won anything.
- 11
Beth, banned from chess, plans to play in her head
After the stool incident Jolene teases Beth, who vows to memorize the Sicilian from her book, then begs Mr. Shaibel for help.