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.
S1E3 · Doubled Pawns
18 moments · 24 min of essential viewing in a 46-minute episode.
Moments, in order
Beth looks for weaknesses and finds none
Alma asks why Beth is replaying her own games; Beth's deadpan verdict on her play earns a proud 'good girl'.
Alma meets Matt and Mike after Beth's win
Thrilled by her first live chess game, Alma is introduced to the twins and immediately starts sizing them up.
Dinner talk: the US Open, Europe and the Soviets
Beth asks how to get invited to play abroad; the twins explain that the Soviets are paid professionals who eat Americans alive.
Alma negotiates her agent's commission
Counting the prize money, Alma proposes a cut for herself; Beth does the arithmetic and offers a bigger one.
Alma's scheme: a fake cold and Christmas in Houston
With clippings piling up, Alma phones in Beth's 'relapse' to the school and plans a holiday tournament trip dressed up as a spa vacation.
Best Christmas ever: Gibsons and Russian lessons
Over a hotel Christmas dinner Alma explains her cocktail preference and Beth decides she needs to learn Russian.
Life interview: a whole world in 64 squares
A reporter pushes the orphan-girl angle; Beth answers with why the board, not the pieces, is where she feels safe and in control.
Apophenia: the reporter asks if genius is madness
The interviewer floats pattern-seeing and psychosis; Beth asks if she is being called crazy and Alma ends the interview.
The Life article: 'out for blood' and a toast to motherhood
Alma reads the magazine profile aloud; Beth is annoyed it is all about her being a girl, and calls out Alma's drinking.
Pledge party: 'trade rooks with, or whatever?'
The Apple Pi girls grill Beth about boys on the circuit and get a literal chess answer; the party moves on without her.
Townes finds Beth in Las Vegas
At the US Open Beth runs into Townes, now a chess journalist; he urges her to go world-class and invites her up for a photo.
Photo shoot in Townes's room: 'you've grown up, Harmon'
Townes photographs Beth by the window and over a board; the mood shifts as he tells her she has grown up and she asks his first name.
Roger walks in on Beth and Townes
The near-kiss is cut short when Townes's friend Roger lets himself into the room; the two retreat to a game of chess.
The one player who scares Beth
Beth recaps her Open wins and Benny Watts's legend to Alma, then admits the only name that frightens her is the Russian, Borgov.
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.
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.
Co-champion: Alma knows what losing feels like
Alma tries to frame the shared title as normal; Beth snaps that she knows nothing about chess, then brushes off Townes's goodbye.
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