A ruled orphan Beth Harmon is quiet, sullen, and by all appearances unremarkable. That is until she plays her first game of chess. Her senses grow sharper, her thinking, clearer, and for the first time in her life, she feels herself fully in control. By the age of 16, she’s competing for the US open championship. But as Beth holds her skills on the professional circuit, the stakes, get higher, her isolation, grows more frightening, and the thought of a scape becomes all the more tempting