The Queen’s Gambit: Hong Kong-raised grandmaster Anya Corke Allen hopes show can inspire more women to play chess
- Like fictional character Beth Harmon, Anya Corke Allen learned chess at a young age, beat older men and went to Russia
- ‘I spent more time playing chess with old men than socialising with people my own age,’ says the Yale Law School JD candidate
They are both named “Anya”. One is an American actor who portrays a young chess prodigy in the hit Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit, in which her character plays against and beats older men, and eventually travels to Russia.
The other is a Hong Kong-raised, real-life child chess prodigy who also played against and beat older men and travelled to Russia – embracing its language and culture.
Anya Corke Allen, though, is no real-life Beth Harmon, played by Anya Taylor-Joy. Their childhoods cannot be more different but Allen can relate to some aspects of the fictional Harmon’s life, particularly the feelings of alienation when playing in tournaments against men – some of whom resented her presence.
“I started playing chess at the age of nine, and I won my first ‘open’ championship at the age of 13, so those aspects of Beth’s story resonate with me,” said Corke Allen, a grandmaster at 14 who was born in California and grew up in Hong Kong, winning four Hong Kong Championship titles between 2004 and 2008.
“I also had the opportunity to travel to chess competitions in Russia at a young age, leading to a lifelong fascination with the Russian language and culture, so I particularly enjoyed the final scenes set in Moscow.