SERIELAND COULISSE - At the end of 2020, "The Lady's Game", a series that tells the story of a young chess prodigy created a surprise on Netflix, appealing to neophytes as well as followers of the discipline.

And for good reason, the creators made sure that the strategy game is presented as realistic as possible on the screen.

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A strategy game, a heroine addicted to drugs and a palpable tension ... This week, in SERIELAND, Clémence Olivier takes you behind the scenes of the series "The Lady's Game".

In October 2020, a series broadcast on Netflix created a surprise.

The public devours it and we did not expect it.

It tells the story of a young chess prodigy in the 1960s in the United States.

This series is "The Lady's Game" or in English "The Queen's Gambit".

In this fiction in seven episodes, adapted from a novel by Walter Travis published in the 80s, we follow the young Beth Harmon who thus discovers a passion and a talent for chess.

We see her stringing tournaments together with flying colors.

She moves the pieces flexibly and each of her strokes leaves us speechless.

What is amazing is that the series manages to fascinate us even if we know nothing about chess.

But what is undoubtedly just as strong is that the chess professionals were also amazed, because all the game scenes in the series are totally believable!

It's not me saying it, it's Dylan Loeb McClain, an expert chess journalist.

In the

New York Times

, he claims the series is one of the best adaptations of the game to the screen.

And he is not the only one to have been seduced.

Chess champion Mitra Hejazipour is also convinced.

She tells it in the columns of Ouest-France. 

Chess sizes 

To make the series realistic, the creators called in consultants! And not just any: chess hitters like Bruce Pandolfini, one of the most famous teachers of this discipline. On the set, he takes care of the orientation of the game board (there must always be a white square in the lower right corner), he takes care of the positions of the pieces (The queen and the king must not not be reversed on their starting squares) and he teaches comedians to move and manipulate the pawns in the most natural way possible, he confides in an article published on IndieWire.com. There was no question that they would be doubled by professional players! 

To help actors retain the movements of their pawns, Bruce Pandolfini has several tips.

He sends them videos of players playing the same moves as them.

He gives them mnemonics and, we do not see it in the series, but he also makes annotations on the game boards. Finally, he suggests that the directors shoot the chess games in short sequences, to avoid holes. in memory of the actors ... 

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Games inspired by real competitions

But Pandolfini was not the only one offering his advice. Russian Garry Kasparov, world chess champion and considered one of the best players on the planet, also took part in the series. He notably helped the creators on the episodes in which the heroine confronts Soviet characters. It is Kasparov who recalls in particular that in the 1960s, Russian players never traveled without a member of the KGB during international tournaments. 

It is also the world champion who suggests certain parts of chess visible in the series. And that's what also makes the game scenes look realistic: they're all inspired by real competitions. For example, the game Beth plays for the Kentucky State title was originally a game played in Riga, Latvia, in 1955. And the last game, where Beth faces Russian Borgov, she is inspired by a competition played in Switzerland, in Biel, in 1993. And if Kasparov chose it, it is because it starts with the voluntary sacrifice of a pawn. This movement is called "gambit" ... And that explains the name of the series in English

The Queen's gambit.

However, in the series everything is not completely faithful to reality.

For example, in the series, players chat during the game.

It is however prohibited in tournament.

They move their pawns very quickly after their opponent, which the pros don't do… Finally, they take much less time to think than real chess players.

And it makes sense,

The Lady's Game

remains a fiction.

The goal is to keep the spectators in suspense.

And with a subject as sharp as chess, the challenge was great.

He was raised hands down.

Lady's Game

broke an audience record on Netflix.

In 2020, she was the platform's most-watched miniseries in a month.  

The Lady's Game

It's a mini series in 1 season, 7 episodes

It is available on Netflix