Beyond creating a renewed sense of appreciation for the game, the show also has many people wondering how lead actress Anya Taylor-Joy was able to pretend to play like such a pro.
As it turns out, she's not a chess prodigy like Beth, but she is a dancer. The 24-year-old said in a recent interview with Collider that interestingly, her former dance training (ballet to be precise) "actually really helped" her film her chess scenes.
"My training as a dancer actually really helped me because I saw it as like dance choreography for your fingers, and I’m good at remembering steps," she said.
She clearly has no issues with short-term memory either, because Anya also only briefly practiced her matches before filming.
"I would learn all of the matches like five minutes prior to doing it and then just use all of my short term memory to figure that one out and then just like spin that game and learn the next one."
Of all the chess playing in the show (which is like every other scene), Anya said her favorite scenes to film were the ones with "speed chess."
"The amount of intricate signals — like little moves that you are making on three different boards — and the fact that you are trying to do it as fast as possible, it really fired up my competitive streak with myself and I don't think I’ve ever been more proud."
She goes on to add that filming the speed chess scenes were moments "where I was genuinely like... [I] don't know how that happened but it did, and it’s captured on film and I can sleep well tonight!"
You can catch the full Collider interview below and learn more about Anya's preparation to play Beth:
