from Tevis' widow, and wrote a script for an art house film. At different points directors Michael Apted and Bernardo Bertolucci were attached, but financing fell through. In 2007, Scott was working with Heath Ledger on what would have been Ledger's directorial debut, where Ledger wanted actor Elliot Page to star as Beth Harmon. Ledger died in January 2008. Scott co-created and co-executive produced the 2020 Netflix series. In March 2019, Netflix ordered a limited seven-episode series based on the novel, also titled The Queen's Gambit. Anya Taylor-Joy plays the lead role of the series, while Scott Frank serves as writer, director, and executive producer. It was released on October 23, 2020, to widespread attention and critical acclaim. Differences from the novel In the novel, Beth is at home when her mother dies in a pile-up, and is informed by "a woman with a clipboard". There is no indication that she committed suicide, and little back story is given for either of her parents. Her father died a year previously and she has few memories of him; it is implied that he was an alcoholic. In the series, her mother is given a back story as a brilliant but troubled mathematician and frequently appears in flashbacks, while her estranged father is still alive. Jolene's sexual assault of Beth at the orphanage is not included in the series. In the novel, Beth leaves in the middle of the tournament to visit the Moscow park where men play chess, where she is recognized. She later ducks out early from a function at the American embassy to re-visit the park and play chess with them. In the series, she dramatically leaves the car on the way to the airport to visit the park for the first time, apparently unwilling to accept an invitation to appear at the White House. Townes appears only twice in the novel, once as an opponent in her first tournament, and once as a reporter interviewing her. It is only hinted that he is gay, with a reference to not having told her "the full story" about himself in Las Vegas. The character of Cleo does not appear in the novel. An attractive young woman named Jenny Baynes visits her at Benny's apartment along with chess players Levertov and Wexler, but takes no further part in the plot. In the series, Cleo's leading her on a drunken binge during