her. Beth returns to Kentucky where she begins binge drinking. After attending a tournament to defend her Kentucky state champion title and losing badly in the first game, Beth realizes she is an alcoholic. She reaches out to her old friend from Methuen, Jolene, now a phys ed teacher who is getting a master's in political science. Jolene helps Beth get clean, and Beth triumphs at her next tournament. Beth prepares to go to the Moscow international tournament, desperate for revenge against Borgov. Benny offers to go as her second, i.e. as a player who will strategize with Beth and help her prepare. While there is not much money available through the U.S. Chess Federation, a Christian organization offers to pay for everything as long as Beth is prepared to promote anti-communist propaganda. Declining, Beth ends up returning their money and is left without Benny. She continues to Moscow alone. In Moscow, Beth successfully defeats her opponents though she fears her final game against Borgov. She also comes to realize the Soviets help each other strategize for games while she is mostly alone. Her final game with Borgov is . That evening, she finds it difficult to analyze the game but is saved by Benny, who calls her from New York and offers her his analysis. Once the game resumes, Borgov offers Beth a draw. She declines, going on to win the game. Beth makes plans to beat Borgov in the next two years to become world champion. At the embassy party celebrating her win, she feels uncomfortable and leaves early, going to play chess in the park against a group of local men who play for love of the game. Literary significance and reception The novel is a thriller, a sports or game novel, and a bildungsroman. It is also highly praised for the technical accuracy of its depictions of chess: Tevis based the chess scenes on his own experience as a "class C" player and on his long study of the game. He elaborates on this in the Author's Note for the novel: Some criticisms from Edward Winter: Screen adaptation Prior to the 2020 Netflix miniseries, there were several unsuccessful attempts to adapt the book. In 1983, The New York Times journalist Jesse Kornbluth acquired the screenplay rights but the project was called off when Tevis died in 1984. In 1992, Scottish screenwriter Allan Scott purchased the rights