In Netflix's critically acclaimed show The Queen's Gambit, Beth Harmon proved herself to be one of the best chess players in the world. After having lived as an orphan for much of her childhood, Beth still managed to do what she loved and competed in several tournaments, starting from her time in state competition to international masterclass tournaments.
For Beth, winning means everything to her. She is tough on herself to pinpoint every move and prevent her opponents from receiving any advantages in play. Beth had several games, where she easily defeated her opponents with many in just record short time or short turns. Despite her outstanding record, Beth also had her low moments in tournaments, where she lost to many world-class players who outsmarted her and were a real challenge.
All The Students At Duncan High School
Though her chess matches against students at Duncan High School are not official, it is the first time that Beth got a taste of chess competition. Without any surprise, Beth singlehandedly and effortlessly defeated all her opponents.
She was so proud of her feat that she is described most of her opponents as unskilled chess players while sharing her chocolates with Mr. Shaibel.
Annette Packer
Beth's first official tournament took place at the 1963 Kentucky State Championship. Her first official competitor was against Annette Packer, who appeared to have some experience with this chess competition.
Though Beth did not have any experience with the rules at the tournament, including the use of a chess clock, she was a quick learner. She quickly and easily defeated Packer, which began her record as a talented chess player.
Danny Weiss & Dave Friedman
After going through a stumble from her competition in Paris, Beth hoped to take the title as a U.S. Champion at the 1967 Ohio U.S. Champion. Before meeting Benny in the final, Beth fought through her earlier matches with little trouble against Danny Weiss and Dave Friedman.
She likely annihilated her earlier opponents, given her status as a Grandmaster chess player. Regardless, her matches were some good practices to beat Benny.
Cooke
Her early record is outstanding with how she easily overcame many of her experienced opponents in her first real chess competition. While still considered an unrated player, Beth took on her second opponent, Cooke.
Like Packer, she easily defeated Cooke, who thought he had it in the bags. However, it does not go without saying that Beth did get a small and distinct help from Townes to further her undefeated record.
D.L. Townes
Little did a 15-year-old Beth know that her next opponent happened to her crush. Considering that Townes had a rated score of 1724 and was ranked 5th at a Las Vegas chess tournament, most people did not think Beth even had a chance.
Not only did she prove her peers wrong, but she managed to once again impress Townes with her talent in chess. He eventually became one of the biggest supporters for Beth as a result of this tournament.
Harry Beltik
At one point, Harry Beltik was one of Beth's toughest opponents when she competed in her first competition at the 1963 Kentucky State Championship. Beth was so close to losing that she had to cool herself down in the girl's bathroom. She eventually regained her confidence after taking her tranquilizer and shockingly defeated Beltik.
While Beth continued her career as a chess player, Beltik eventually sidelined his hobby to focus on his education. Beltik even stays with Beth while he tries to help her find strategies to defeat Borgov. However, Beth gained so much experience since their last game and was effortlessly beating Beltik with little progress in her training.
Master Rudolph
Having just won from her tournament in the state competition, Beth continued her winning streak with a strong and poised mentality at the 1963 Cincinnati Tournament.
Not only did she manage to defeat her earlier opponents, but she also defeated National Master Rudolph. While this match was tough as Rudolph played defense, Beth even had the intelligence to realize his position and eventually solved her final play with an endgame trick.
Octavio Marenco & Diedrich
As she slowly became an established Grandmaster, it also meant that she was facing several Grandmasters at the 1966 Mexico City Invitational Chess Tournament. Despite the tough competition, Beth was not afraid of playing against opponents like Octavio Marenco and Diedrich.
She was able to cruise through several of her early games without feeling too tense from the outcome. Beth defeated Marenco on the 31st turn by leaving Marenco's king on a mating net. As for Diedrich, Beth was able to attack the 23rd move, leaving little room to recover.
Georgi Girev
As Beth was close to facing her real challenger Borgov, she competed against a 13-year-old Russian Grandmaster Georgi Girev. Unlike some of her earlier tournaments against Grandmasters, Beth initially started her play with Georgi in a tough position. After playing for five hours, both players agreed to an adjournment.
Despite her rough first half, Beth managed to get back on her feet. With a few practice sessions the night before, Beth comfortably finished the rest of the match to defeat Georgi. Regardless, Beth had some respect for Georgi considering his young age and his talent in chess.
Benny Watts
Benny Watts was perhaps one of Beth's toughest competitor in her early career as a chess player. Her first match against Benny was at the 1963 Cincinnati Open. Because of Beth's impulsiveness to win, Benny found her mistakes and put Beth's undefeated streak to an end.
She once again faced Benny at the 1967 Ohio U.S. Championship. Before the official final match, Beth played a series of speed chess in which she constantly lost to Benny. However, she learned Benny's tricks in the process that finally led to her success against Benny and had since continued her winning streak against him, especially in speed chess.
Laev, Duhamel, Hellstrom, & Shapkin
After finally achieving her dreams to receive the invite from Moscow, Beth had one last chance to beat Borgov. However, this meant that Beth first needed to defeat other talented players, such as Laev, Duhamel, Hellstrom, and Shapkin.
Of course, these players had to be the world's best since getting an invite from Moscow was hard and rare. Fortunately, Beth was able to speed through her first few matches. Some like Hellstrom left the game as sore losers while others like Shapkin and Duhamel paid their respects to a talented Beth.
Flento
In her final match before Borgov, Beth came across one of her longest games that lasted four hours without an adjournment.
Even though the Russian pro-Flento appeared to have little chance of winning, he managed to standby as much as he could and still put up a great fight. Unfortunately, Beth made a quick decision against Flento's attack, which eventually caused Flento to resign.
Luchenko
Beth faced another former World Champion and knew that beating Luchenko was not going to be easy. It was her first game in the Moscow Invitational that led to an adjournment. After seeing Luchenko and Borgov strategizing to take down Beth, Beth had her plans as well to defeat Luchenko in just 25-minutes.
Unlike Luchenko's colleagues, he showed his admiration towards Beth and even called her one of the best opponents that he had ever played.
Vasily Borgov
Ever since she started playing chess, her main goal was to one day defeat the World Chess Champion Vasily Borgov. Beth admitted that the one chess player that she was afraid of was Borgov, and she had every right to feel that way.
Her first match against Borgov was at the 1966 Mexico City Invitational Chess Tournament, where Beth heartbrokenly lost to him. She once again lost to Borgov at the 1967 Paris Remy-Vallon Invitational, although she was very much under the influence. Her losing streak against Borgov even played a role in her psychological state. Eventually, Beth had her last chance to defeat Borgov and does so at the 1968 Moscow Invitational after playing the Queen's Gambit.