The title was probably meant as a play on words and concepts, as in Beth was the queen of chess and her life story was a series of sacrifices which she had to struggle through to maintain any advantage she might have gained from them. It seemed like Beth Harmon's go-to opening response was the Sicilian Defence - although she did open with the Queen's Gambit sometimes. Now, as for the Netflix series title, that's another story altogether. That's the most likely reason it's called the Queen's Gambit. Instead of everything playing out kingside, all the initial action is queenside. The Queen's Gambit is a mirror of the King's Gambit. Thus, thinking about the Queen's Gambit being so-named because the queen's pawn is the first to move makes far more sense than it being named after any female sovereign such as Queen Boudica.īesides, although chess is a millennia-old pastime, the gambit doesn't date as far back as Queen Boudica's reign, at least as far as we know. It may have something to do with the king's pawn making the first move, too.īy contrast, queens seldom ventured into battle and, should any battle be at hand, queens were hardly the primary concern. It was meant to replicate two armies, facing off across the battlefield and ready to fight to the death for the honour and glory of the king. The King's Gambit name is pretty easy to explain we only need to think about the game's origins. Fewer speculate on the queen specifically, why is the most valuable piece on the chessboard invoked? When it came to war, queens were seldom at the battlefront. When the chess-curious ponder this question, their focus is usually on the 'gambit' portion of the phrase, as we've pointed out in this article's introduction.

Let's go Why Is It Called The Queen's Gambit?

How to play queens gambit