Without a doubt, Beth's biggest weakness is her perfectionism. She simply cannot accept defeat, and while her persistence may be an admirable quality, stubbornness is not.
One of Beth's biggest weaknesses is her extreme desire for perfectionism. When she loses a chess match, Beth falls into a downward spiral of self-destruction.
Harmon graduates from Fairfield High School with the Class of 1966 and receives a Bulova watch from her mother. Harmon loses against Vasily Borgov in Mexico City, and her mother dies in bed from uncertain causes but probably related to her alcohol abuse.
Personality… confident, determined, and hot-headed. Harmon is witty, intense, and self-reliant. She is a passionate chess player, though otherwise mysterious.
In The Queen's Gambit, Beth Harmon's crush on Townes goes unrequited, which intrigued audiences expecting a more straightforward romance arc.
The Queen's Gambit
As much as this authenticity fuels the story's relatable legitimacy however, it is the Netflix adaptation's portrayal of the main character that makes it truly powerful. Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy), whilst not declared autistic, was heavily coded as such.
First, she believes Townes is the only person she's ever been in love with, but Harry becomes the person to treat her the best, and Benny is the only one she truly understands and feels compatible with. In the book, Beth spends far more time with Benny in New York.
Abandoned by her biological father, Beth went to an orphanage after her mother had died in a car accident. While living there, the orphanage's janitor taught her how to play chess, and she quickly became obsessed with the game and embarked on a trip to take on the World Champion Vasily Borgov.
Beth Harmon is orphaned at age eight when her mother dies in a car crash. Growing up in an orphanage in Kentucky, she is taught chess by the custodian Mr. Shaibel, and soon becomes a chess prodigy. While at the orphanage, she struggles with an addiction to tranquilizers.
The Queen's Gambit Accepted is a rare guest to top tournaments and most elite grandmasters opt for either the Slav or the Queen's Gambit Declined.
Even though Beth is a better player than Benny, his support still proves crucial to helping her beat Borgov.
“Let's play,” she says in Russian directly to the camera, ending The Queen's Gambit for good. “Every time we finished that sequence, I would just burst into tears. because I was so happy for her,” Beth's portrayer Taylor-Joy told Refinery29 over the phone.
Benny was first introduced into the show in episode 3. At the time he was 23 and visiting the U.S. opening in Cincinnati where he met Beth. She was 15 when they met and had just won the Kentucky State championship.
Feminism in the show
In the most simple way, Beth Harmon wants to play chess, so she plays chess. Anything to do with her being a woman is simply irrelevant to her. She is naturally a feminist, a fact unusual in that time.
Beth Harmon from The Queen's Gambit is the perfect example of the hero archetype. She sets out on her quest to become the best chess player in the world, and becomes almost blind to everything and everyone else around her.
Then, whether or not her mother intended it, Beth herself emerged from the charred morass of the collision physically unscathed, but with deep psychological scars that contributed to her proclivity to addiction and substance abuse, mental illness, and rejection of any tenderness in personal relationships.
To her surprise, Beth saw Mr. Shaibel had been keeping track of her chess endeavors and upon seeing the picture of them Mr. Ganz took, she became overwhelmed with emotions and grief and cried after leaving the orphanage.
Although a work of fiction, The Queen's Gambit is littered with real-life elements and inspiration from the greats of chess. This 'true feel' has no doubt helped the show and its stars enjoy the enormous success it has achieved.
Beth Harmon is a fictional character.
The Hungarian chess champion Judit Polgár could have done the trick, but she didn't become a Grandmaster until 1991. (Her sister, the Susan Polgar, received the title the same year.)
And, there is another problematic aspect in the relationship that Beth shares with Beltik and Benny. Both the men end up sleeping with Beth either during or after the chess training.
After this loss, Borgov smiles warmly at her and hugs her, illustrating how Beth's doubts about him and fear of him are primarily internal and borne of her own sense that she doesn't belong in the chess world.
Beyond his role as a coach, Mr. Shaibel truly cared deeply for Beth, making him the closest thing she ever had to a supportive father.
In the series, her mother is given a back story as a brilliant but troubled mathematician and frequently appears in flashbacks, while her estranged father is still alive. Jolene's sexual assault of Beth at the orphanage is not included in the series.
Beth And Benny's Relationship Failure Explained
It's as much of a rejection of chess as it is a rejection of Benny and his fixation on Beth's chess playing instead of her whole self. Beth's choice clearly hurts Benny.
So besides the fact that Cleo has slept in Beth's bed (without Beth sleeping next to her), there are no other proofs that would say that they had sex. Most likely, they got drunk, went to Beth's room, got drunk more and eventually passed out.