The Queen's Gambit FINALE "End Game" Reaction

Check out my full-length reaction and get early access to future videos on my Patreon: / ylvav
Special thanks to my editor: / blixx_
What an absolutely perfect ending to a perfect show!! From beginning to end, each episode had something unique to offer. We saw such great filming, editing, storytelling, acting, ALL OF IT, and it has now come to a close! I'm sad to see it over but happy to have been on this journey with all of you. This show is so well tied up at the end that I can't help but feel happy and satisfied! Thank you all so much for your support and for joining me on this journey, I hope you've liked my reactions, if you did please leave a like, sub, comment and reply! I'll see you soon for yet another TV show journey!
Music Credits:
Zakhar Valaha pixabay.com/users/daddy_s_mus...
Oleg Fedak pixabay.com/users/soulprodmus...
Sound FX Credits (Pixabay):
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[@willcine5174]

Beth's only real enemy throughout the series is herself. His addiction, his trauma from the past, his psychological defenses. beltik, benny, the russians none of them are bad people, it's the great positive point of this series, the absence of stereotypes.

[@charlize1253]

Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov was a consultant on the show and he designed the chess matches based on historical matches. The final match against Borgov was copied move for move from a famous championship match in the 1990s (purposely selected because it opens with white moving the queen's pawn: the Queen's Gambit), until Borgov adjourns (current world champion Magnus Carlsen has a funny video on KZbin on how Borgov would never have adjourned at that point if it were a real match, but Kasparov needed it for the transition). From that adjournment on, Kasparov redesigned the game so that it climaxes in a series of moves in which Beth sacrifices her queen and then, a few moves later, uses her pawn to get a new queen. Beth trades her old queen and then uses the lowest piece on the board to get a new queen, mirroring her journey from orphan to champion, and from her old drug-addicted self to her new independent self

[@Madagon367]

Well the obvious omission in the book and the show is that irl you draw all the time but that is not very exciting.

[@charlize1253]

@@Madagon367 It's actually amazing that this show made chess look as exciting as it does!

[@Thepirireis]

$3,000 in 1968 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $26,217.84 today.

[@Yggdrasil42]

This episode never fails to make me cry. From Jolene's truth bombs to Mr Shaibel's photo wall to her friends and the Russian players encouraging her.

[@rumrunner23]

You did a really great job commenting on this series. Fun watching it again with you. Thank you

[@steved1135]

Love it. The respect shown to Beth by the players here pulls on heartstrings. And Beth honouring Mr. Shaibel to the reporters brought me to tears. But the best is how at the end, she sits down to play with the street players. Magic. By the by, although officially outlawed during the Soviet period, most Russians would have been Christian...

[@rg3388]

Yes. Via sacrifice/promotion, you saw the metaphorical death and resurrection of the White Queen, which is how Beth is dressed at the end. This is why my motto for the series is the line casually tossed off in episode 5: "I'm on my way to the Phoenix Hotel."

[@Bengtsson1742]

"The Queen's Gambit" is a phenomenal story and beautifully done. I really want to read the book now. I also enjoyed your reaction to it.

[@joegaspard9762]

Thanks for doing Queen’s Gambit. We cried at the same spots.

[@charlize1253]

Very subtle point but interesting that the director included it: at 9:47, on the plane when Beth asks the State Department guy which part of the State Department he works for, he doesn't answer and just looks at her. It's a hint that he's actually CIA.

[@izzonj]

Really love your reactions to this series. I just binged them and forgot to give each episode a thumbs- up!

[@greysongreyhater7667]

I'm happy that you were "late for the party" :). KZbin was blazing with reactions on this series, then there was nothing for a long time (I kept looking). So thank you for reacting to this true milestone of a series. I totally enjoyed your reaction! I never thought I'd see any movie (or series) that could beat the highly-rated movie, "Searching for Bobby Fischer" ... a film based upon the young life of a 7-year old child chess prodigy, Josh Waitzkin, which was amazing. But Queen's Gambit did that (but just barely). So thanks again for your reaction.

[@strawpaladin213]

Great reaction to the series. I really enjoy your point of view and your commentary. I’ve been subscribed to you for quite a while now and although I don’t watch everything, this was truly a great series and I’m glad you reacted to it.

[@BigMike246]

I binged your reactions tonight. I love this series. Your reactions were great! Isn't this just the perfect show from the moment Jolene is at the door? All her friends love her, Borkov is a good man with a stern face and, of course, Mr Shaibel. The entire last episode is always tears and chills for me.

[@Thepirireis]

The only time Beth cried was for Mr. Shaibel😭

[@YlvatheViqueen]

😭😭😭

[@kallreader7376]

Such a great show and really enjoyed your reactions, well worth the journey!

[@markgleahy21399]

Awesome

[@blakewalker84120]

Just to put this in perspective. When a great player loses, they almost never stand up and applaud their opponent. It basically never happens. To see Borgov clapping for Beth is incredible. This calls back the famous game 6 of the match between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky where Fischer played so well that Spassky stood up and applauded him. It's such a rare thing in chess that that famous game is commonly known as "The Applause Game". I would have loved it if the two actors were actually making the moves of that game but, alas, their moves were from a much less famous game.

[@alanFconrad]

and its fiction

[@blakewalker84120]

@@alanFconrad What are you saying? Queens Gambit is fiction? Yes, of course. Or did you mean the Fischer Spassky game? No, that really did happen. The clapping moment in this fictional story was very likely inspired by the real event.

[@marksullivan7766]

dig the reaction

[@cajunsushi]

I very much enjoyed your reaction and commentary, thank you.

[@alanFconrad]

One of my favorite series (movies) of all time

[@t0dd000]

There has been speculation about continuing this series, but I really hope they don't. It's wonderful as is.

[@KevinLyda]

I'd love to see a sequel where we see Jolene being a law student and lawyer in Civil Rights cases of the late 60s through the 80s just as Beth navigated a vaguely historical yet fictional chess world of the 50s and 60s. I think that would be an amazing watch.

[@lechat8533]

I enjoyed this journey with you,Yliva! Thank you❤ It`s interesting how difficult it is to find intelligent reactors on YT. I`m very glad I found Your channel :)

[@YlvatheViqueen]

Thank you for watching! 😊

[@blakewalker84120]

Beth got a protection detail in Russia because of the Cold War. The U.S. government and the Soviet government were almost constantly on the brink of WWIII and had zero trust for each other. The real chess player that Beth Harmon's character is most inspired by is Bobby Fischer, the 1972 world champion. Poor Bobby Fischer had "state department" bodyguards everywhere he went. They checked his hotel rooms for bugs. He constantly feared assassination. He quit chess shortly after winning the world championship, mostly because of the pressure of representing the U.S. during the cold war and living with the constant daily fear that the Russians would kill him. Bobby Fischer's story is a fairly tragic one, how all that pressure basically drove him crazy with fear and paranoia.

[@frozenlightfilms]

She knew she had him before she refused the draw.

[@artboymoy]

Yup. This show is epic. What a great story and characters and launching ATJ into the spotlight. For some reason there was talk of a season 2 but I don't see why. Let it be Netflix. Love when she went back to the basement and saw Shaibel's collection of paper clippings and her breaking down. All that pent up emotion and she had to let it flow. I'm with you on the tears in that scene. Great that the boys got together to be in her corner at the end. But you're right. Where does she go from here? She has nothing left to prove. Enjoy her life in a more healthy fashion, hopefully.

[@t0dd000]

Where does she go from here? She lives a life. Someday, she'll become that crazy-haired older player offering encouragement to the next young player who needs to hear it.

[@peteralexander5744]

Interesting how they spell her neame in Cyrillic, with an "X", which is a hard "ch" as in Scottish "loch" - there being no single letter H in Russian. I was always told to use G.

[@aresee8208]

The chess community can be very welcoming. And it is very meritocratic. But it also includes all the usual human flaws. I gave chess a shot in my youth. But I couldn't handle the competitiveness. Even today, many years later, I still get a knot in my stomach thinking about it.

[@jackransom8502]

great show.. I tried Chess with the nerds in my early high school years.. The nerds beat me every time.

[@Tagraff]

With many open interpretation -- I see it as she found out that she's not alone -- she found the people that also have the love of chess. If she's back at USA, there aren't a lot of people that share the same interest as her...But if she stay at Russia, then she's among with the like-minded people who love chess.

[@MikkoRantalainen]

It's also worth checking the video where Magnus Carlsen (probably the best chess player ever) analyses the final game shown in the show. You can find it with title "World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen breaks down Beth Harmon's Final Chess Game".

[@chriscma1]

By beating Borgov Beth freed herself from her personal demons. She knows she's the best player in the world but will have to prove it in the world championships down the line

[@celinel9750]

She wanted to stay true to herself and refuse the christian money, and wasn't playing ''for'' USA on a politic cold war, she was plating for the love of the game. Thank for that serie 🙂

[@Madagon367]

So young is right. Look at Magnus and what he's doing now. Must be weird to be the best so early.

[@meg41322]

💚

[@duellsmoot4180]

3 grand then is close to 30 grand today

[@blakewalker84120]

Borgov didn't adjourn to get help. Well, maybe he wanted that too. Chances are that they had been playing for a full day already and it was getting late. The mental exhaustion of playing tht long is grueling. And at the end of a long tournament of doing that every day, it's even more grueling. Both players need a rest. Also, both players are going to NOT rest as much as they should. Instead, they're going to study the position and plan as many moves for tomorrow as possible. It's almost required to do that - your opponent will do it so if you don't, you'll be massively disadvantaged.

[@blakewalker84120]

$2,000 in 1968 is equivalent to $18,000 today.

[@blakewalker84120]

You asked what to do when you reach the top. Same as Tom Brady or LeBron James or Serena Williams or any other great player at anything. You keep playing. The greatest chess player in the world today is Magnus Carlsen. 32 years old, world champion for nearly 10 years, holds numerous titles. He's been the top player in the world for a decade and he just keeps playing and keeps winning (or almost winning) tournament after tournament. His prize winnings total just over 9 million over his career, and I'm sure he's earned more money from endorsements. Chess doesn't pay as well as Football or Basketball but most great players can earn prize money well into their 50s or 60s, so they have that over Tom Brady (although I did think he was gonna hang around into his 60s, too).

[@Calers-gu1ib]

I love how Hollywood uses nutty Evangelicals to portray Christianity. "Why are all the older men terrible in this." Lol. Older men have been kind to her in this series. I got the impression the guy her mother was talking to may have a family in that house. Maybe Beth was the results of an extramarital affair. Is she going there to get financial support, is the mental problems because she went from being a University Prof to a destitute single mother living in a run down trailer or is she in that trailer because of mental problems? Is she trying to dump Beth on him? Did you forget that Benny said the Russians basically cheat by working together to defeat good opponents?

[@cshubs]

I wonder how much Benny's phone bill to Russia was! ... I googled it. The equivalent of $4/min!!! Have you seen Thelma & Louise? It's the ultimate buddy movie for chicks!

[@celinel9750]

😉 It' Telma and Louise.

[@cshubs]

@@celinel9750 Right, Thelma & Louise. I stand corrected.

[@YlvatheViqueen]

Thelma & Louise is actually my favorite movie!! So great, I watch it every year for my birthday