Walter Tevis · 1983 · coming-of-age

Walter Tevis's novel, later the acclaimed Netflix series, follows the orphaned chess prodigy Beth Harmon from a Kentucky children's home to the pinnacle of the game, battling brilliant rivals and her own addiction as she rises through the tournaments of America and Europe toward a final reckoning with the Soviet masters in Moscow.

1. 1
   Mount Sterling

   Orphaned as a child, Beth Harmon learns chess in the basement of the Methuen Home from the janitor Mr Shaibel, and discovers a genius that will define her life.

2. 2
   Lexington

   Adopted by the Wheatleys, she enters her first tournament and, unknown and untested, sweeps the Kentucky State Championship.

3. 3
   Cincinnati

   At the Cincinnati open she announces herself to the chess world, a teenage girl demolishing seasoned men.

4. 4
   Las Vegas

   At the US Open she meets the swaggering champion Benny Watts, and suffers her first defeat.

5. 5
   Mexico City

   At a Mexican invitational she faces the Soviet world champion Vasily Borgov and loses, as tragedy strikes her adoptive mother Alma.

6. 6
   New York

   In Benny's Greenwich Village basement she trains obsessively, sharpening her game for the battles ahead.

7. 7
   Paris

   At the Paris tournament Borgov beats her again, and she spirals into drink and pills.

8. 8
   Moscow

   At the Moscow Invitational, clear-eyed at last, Beth defeats Borgov and the assembled Soviet masters to become champion of the world.