Who is Beth Harmon in The Queen's Gambit?

The orphan who sees the board on the ceiling · Beth's Corner

Beth Harmon (The orphan who sees the board on the ceiling) is a character in The Queen's Gambit, part of Beth's Corner. Beth Harmon arrives at the Methuen orphanage at nine, sole survivor of her mathematician mother's deliberate car crash, and finds two things in the basement: a janitor with a chessboard, and the green tranquilizers the home dispenses like vitamins. At night the pieces assemble on the ceiling. Beth's gift is total and her inheritance double-edged — genius and addiction braided together — and the series follows her from basement prodigy to the one stage that matters: Moscow, against the man nobody beats.

When does Beth Harmon first appear?

Beth Harmon first appears in Season 1, Episode 1 (“Openings”) of The Queen's Gambit (2020, Netflix).

Who is Beth Harmon connected to?

Relationships already established when Beth Harmon first appears — nothing from later episodes.

• Mr. Shaibel — The basement lessons
• Jolene — 'We're family.'

Who else is introduced in this episode?

• Jolene — The Methuen survivor with the long memory
• Mr. Shaibel — The janitor with the basement board

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