Addiction, obscurity and how Walter Tevis’ childhood experience at Stanford shaped Beth Harmon’s backstory. (Original 650 illustration by Kaz Palladino / Awkward Affections) If you’re having a hard time purchasing a chess set for Christmas this year—blame Walter Tevis. Yes, the surge of interest in the age-old game (and the ensuing retail run on chess sets) has been squarely attributed to the recent success of the Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit, which is based ...

Read More