The Queen’s Gambit's ending may have brought the miniseries to a conclusion, but many viewers still had questions about what happened to Beth in the final moments and her fate after the show. The Queen’s Gambit chronicles the tale of chess prodigy Elizabeth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy), who takes it upon herself to navigate the male-dominated world of chess during the Cold War era while struggling with addiction, deep-rooted emotional trauma, and loneliness.

To understand the ending of The Queen's Gambit, the events of the climactic 1968 Tournament of Champions in Moscow, as well as the strategies employed by Beth that mapped her path toward victory, are important to consider. The Queen’s Gambit explained a few details about the ending of Beth's journey, but many of the thematic details were ambiguous, including what happened to Beth after that final matchup.

What Happens In The Queen's Gambit Ending

Despite Last-Minute Setbacks, Beth Becomes A Chess Grandmaster

The finale of The Queen’s Gambit, “End Game,” marks the ultimate success for Beth, along with the inception of a new beginning. Haunted by her mother’s suicide and addicted to tranquilizer pills since a formative age, Beth, by the end of The Queen’s Gambit, is able to seemingly get to a happy and healthy place. The events preceding the finale, as chronicled in “Adjournment,” follow Beth’s journey to Paris for her match with Vasily Borgov (Marcin Dorocinski), also a chess prodigy, and one of the best players in the field.

The Queen's Gambit won 11 Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series.

The night before the match is a drunken haze for Beth, who is unable to resist temptation in the form of the attractive Cleo. As a result, Beth effectively sabotages her chances. After attending Mr. Shaibel's funeral and discovering that he followed her career, she breaks down. Then, with the of Jolene (Moses Ingram) and a fitness regimen, Beth quits drinking and travels to Russia, intent on a rematch with Borgov, and fulfilling her lifelong ambition of becoming a Grandmaster.

Elizabeth Harmon & Vasily Borgov Final Game Explained

The Final Match In The Queen's Gambit Was Also An Intense Awakening For Beth

The inspiration for the moves of the final games in The Queen's Gambit was drawn from a specific match between Vassily Ivanchuk and Patrick Wolff at the 1993 Biel Interzonal. Beth chooses to open with The Queen’s Gambit, hence the title of the series. This is a classic chess move that dates back to the Göttingen manuscript of 1490, and starts with d4 d5 c4, which is an unconventional beginning move for Beth, as she typically opens with e4 in most games.

As the game progresses, Beth appears to be holding her own. Then Borgov proposes an adjournment, which requires him to write his next move on a piece of paper and seal it within an envelope. The next session is kicked off with the prepared move, ensuring that neither player has an advantage. The reason why Borgov requests an adjournment could simply be chalked up to a long game and fatigue, as hinted by an interview tape in which he says, “I can fight against anyone but time.”

An adjournment is also an opportunity to reevaluate one’s strategy and approach the game with a fresh perspective, which makes sense from a practical standpoint. During this time, Beth comes to the realization that she is, in fact, not alone in her endeavors. Everyone around her, including Townes, Benny, and Harry, along with others, helps Beth control her substance abuse and work round-the-clock to find weaknesses in Borgov’s game.

While Borgov offers a draw, as losing is not an option for him, Beth refuses, as a draw is not an option either.

The next day, Beth is finally able to access a mental chessboard without the aid of sedatives, an indication that she has finally overcome the obstacles that limit her as a chess player, and as a person. While Borgov offers a draw, as losing is not an option for him, Beth refuses, as a draw is not an option either. Having envisioned a winning strategy in 19 moves, Beth beats Borgov, winning the tournament.

Harmon Vs Borgov's Real-Life Inspiration

The Queen's Gambit Ending Was Inspired By Multiple Real Chess Players And Matches

The inspiration behind the Harmon vs Borgov match is a defining game between American chess prodigy and grandmaster Bobby Fischer and Russian Boris Sky during the World Chess Championship in 1972. Fischer beat Sky in the game and later went on to invent a chess variant named Fischer random chess, or Chess960.

The creators of The Queen’s Gambit also based the story on chess Grandmaster Bruce Pandolfini, who lent his expertise in the depiction of believable high-level chess moves in the 20th century. Apart from this, Beth’s character is loosely based on the autobiography of Garry Kasparov, who also offered guidance in of the show’s worldmaking.

Queen's Gambit's Final Scene (Does Beth Stay In Russia?)

It's Unlikely Beth Didn't Return To The U.S.A

After winning the tournament in The Queen's Gambit ending, Beth leaves the U.S. government-mandated car that is bound for the airport and walks towards a park in Moscow. There, she finds dozens of older men playing chess, who are spellbound by her talent and flock to congratulate her. An old man who remarkably resembles Mr. Shaibel, the first person to introduce Beth to chess at the orphanage, challenges her to a game.

The Queen's Gambit won two Golden Globe Awards, one for Best Limited Series and one for Anya Taylor-Joy for Best Actress.

She accepts, and the show ends at this juncture, bringing Beth’s narrative arc and character growth to full circle. As an orphan, and someone who hailed from a turbulent household, Beth had immersed herself in the wonderful world of chess, which was introduced to her by Mr. Shaibel, who can be likened to a surrogate father figure for Beth.

Now, she sits opposite a similar elderly figure, ready to engage in a game outside of competitive chess, which is a sign of emotional maturity and the willingness to open up to people. While Beth opts to stay in Russia for the moment, it is not unlikely that she will travel back to the U.S. in order to reunite with her friends, especially now that she realizes that some people in her life are genuinely invested in her happiness and well-being.

What The Queen's Gambit's Ending Really Means

Beth Finally Finds Her Place In The World

The objective of the chess move, Queen’s Gambit, is to temporarily sacrifice a pawn to gain control of the center of the board. This choice on Beth’s part in The Queen's Gambit ending ties directly to her past, as the gambit is a sacrifice that one is required to concede an integral piece early on in order to win the final game. Every person who cares about Beth, including her adoptive mother Alma, Harry, and Jolene, makes sacrifices for her. They have all made their own Queen's Gambit to get Beth to where she is.

Beth realizes she has to do the same, and the most difficult trade was to overcome her drug abuse. Chess, along with an addiction to pills, was a form of escape for her, and the game acted as a safety net. If left unchecked, her addiction would have transformed into a deadly spiral. However, now that she is free of her dependencies, she is left with a sense of contentment. This spurs her to play chess in the park, which is an instinct purely based on ion, and not an obsession.

After years of pushing people away to protect her space, Beth welcomes love and iration as something she is worthy of receiving.

Now that Beth is finally able to establish a healthier relationship with the sport she excels at, she is able to let go of her pain, at least momentarily, and takes the first step out of her comfort zone by deciding to open up as an individual. An almost-perfect narrative symmetry is established by the end of The Queen’s Gambit. No matter where Beth chooses to reside or travel, she has finally secured a feeling of homely comfort within herself.

After years of pushing people away to protect her space, Beth welcomes love and iration as something she is worthy of receiving. And that, in itself, indicates a road to recovery and happiness, which results in a cathartic ending for the show.

How The Queen's Gambit's Ending Compares To The Book's

The Netflix Show Closely Mirrors The Source Material

Walter Tevis’ 1983 novel, The Queen’s Gambit is as fierce and hopeful as the show’s, as it celebrates Beth’s journey into a person who embraces her own power. Tevis’ novel ends on an optimistic note, and the final game is immensely tense and climactic, especially the point in which Beth visualizes her victory in 19 moves, while it takes Borgov 15 moves to realize that he has been bested.

As realization dawns on Borgov, he stands up and holds his king to her, and says, “It’s your game. Take it.” Before heading home, Beth stops at a Moscow park, much like the show's ending, and plays a game of chess with an elderly man who is not aware of her fame as World Champion. Both in the novel and the show, Beth Harmon emerges victorious, feeling safe, loved, and contended, as she immerses herself into the world of knights, pawns, and rooks.

The Queen's Gambit Ending Makes It Perfect As A Miniseries

There Were No Expectations For Added Drama

Many miniseries released on Netflix tease a potential season 2 but by setting things up as a finite story, The Queen's Gambit avoids those trappings. As a result, it can tell its story and let fans know this is the beginning, middle, and end, and there are no worries if nothing else ever comes out of it. This story of Beth's journey in the chess world is better off for it.

The best thing about Beth's story is that viewers see her come out of the miniseries with her full character arc, which means a satisfying conclusion to her tale. The creators didn't need to rely on Netflix to renew them to finish the story. This story was never meant to continue, so the creators finished it however they wanted, without any worries. There are ways The Queen's Gambit could continue, but the story's ending, as told, never needs any of those. It is like a six-hour movie; the story was over when the season ended.

How The Queen's Gambit Ending Was Received

The Final Moments Were A High-Quality Piece Of An Even Higher Quality Puzzle

The Queen's Gambit arrived on Netflix in 2020 to critical acclaim, and won multiple awards, including the coveted Golden Globe for Best Limited Series or Television Film, as well as a Best Actress award in the same category for Anya Taylor-Joy. The miniseries still holds a 96% Tomatometer rating (critical score) and 94% Popcornmeter rating (audience) on Netflix's most streamed shows in late 2023 despite releasing 3 years prior. Almost every aspect of The Queen's Gambit was praised by critics, including the ending.

Netflix released all 7 episodes of The Queens Gambit in a single batch, so reviews tend to be of the entire story rather than focusing on the finale of the series, "End Game", specifically. Rather than single out the ending, many critics instead comment on the overall quality of the narrative - which they almost universally praise - from start to finish. For example, critic Lucy Mangan writing for The Guardian had the following to say about the gripping plot, and how it keeps viewers hooked and eager to find out how Beth Harmon's story ends:

The Queen’s Gambit functions best and for the most part as a wish-fulfilment, rags-to-riches fantasy. Will she win again, this 64-square hustler? Yes! Will she learn and grow from her (board-based) mistakes before a Soviet superplayer and show him the color of her money next time? Yes! What would it be like to be that good at something that young? To be born – fall to earth, you might say – with the kind of mind that vaults you immediately, unstoppably into a tiny elite and brings you global glory? Unlike chess, The Queen’s Gambit is slightly less than the sum of its parts, but you will have a great deal of fun watching them at work.

This sentiment is echoed in many other reviews, including Allison Shoemaker writing for Roger Ebert. Just like Mangan's review, Shoemaker focuses on Beth's story as a whole, commenting on just how satisfying a narrative it truly is. As with most reviews, the end of The Queen's Gambit or the final episode, "End Game", aren't singled out, but instead included in a broader commentary on the plot:

Every truly great sports story has not one, but two beating hearts. There’s the sport itself, a game or competition in which the viewer becomes undeniably invested. And then there’s the player or players, someone whose life is much bigger than the game, yet is nevertheless somewhat consumed by it. “The Queen’s Gambit” has both those hearts, and both are racing. Frank, Taylor-Joy, and company never stop telling both those stories at once, and the result is a fascinating portrait of a young woman fighting to become the person she wants to be, battling for victory and for peace. When her journey brings her to Paris, she re the words of a woman who loved her and spends some time wandering museums, feeding her soul with something more than chess.