Book · 1983 · Fiction
The Queen's gambit
- mentions
- 11
- people
- 7
- podcasts
- 5
- episodes
- 8
- critical mentions
- 0
It is one of the most perfect books ever written.
Ken Rogoff · The Ezra Klein Show · May 2025 Listen at 1:01:27 What they say about it
- Author connection“the same guy who also wrote”3
- Television adaptation3
The best things said about it
Walter Tevis, who also wrote The Queen's Gambit about that amazing chess player; she was an orphan.
Joe Rogan The Joe Rogan Experience · Jan 2024 Is she the one who Queen's Gambit is based on? No, I mean Queen's Gambit is a is a fictional story that's like was like a novel that was just I guess loosely inspired by some of these stories.
The original book was written by walter tevis walter tevis is the guy who wrote the hustler.
Joe Rogan The Joe Rogan Experience · Jul 2022 Where and when it comes up
Most mentions, by podcast
7 people who brought it up
Why people recommend it
The Queen's Gambit by Walter S. Tevis is a novel about an orphaned chess prodigy navigating the competitive world of chess. Ken Rogoff recommended the book on The Ezra Klein Show, praising it as one of the most perfect works ever written and noting that many people had seen the television adaptation without reading the original text. Joe Rogan discussed the novel across multiple episodes of The Joe Rogan Experience, mentioning it with guests like Moshe Kasher, Whitney Cummings, and Andrew Santino while highlighting the author Walter Tevis and praising the Netflix series. Colin Quinn also joined Joe Rogan on the podcast to discuss the book and the television adaptation, expressing admiration for the screen version. Lon Harris talked about the novel on This Week in Startups, where Jason Calacanis clarified that the story was a fictional work loosely inspired by real events rather than a direct biography. Additionally, Shaan Puri and Dan Porter discussed the book on My First Million as a major cultural touchstone for chess alongside Searching for Bobby Fischer, demonstrating the enduring cultural reach of Walter Tevis's work across various conversation topics ranging from economics and media to start-up culture.
Every mention
Joe Rogan Walter Tevis, who also wrote The Queen's Gambit about that amazing chess player; she was an orphan. 3
“Walter Tevis, who also wrote The Queen's Gambit about that amazing chess player; she was an orphan.”
“the original book was written by walter tevis walter tevis is the guy who wrote the hustler”
“same guy who wrote the The Queen's Gambit that movie that television show netlix one of my favorite shows ever great [ __ ] show”
Colin Quinn And it’s by the same guy who also wrote The Queen's Gambit! Amazing show! 2
“and it's by the same guy who also wrote uh the Queen's Gambit do you ever see that show on Netflix amazing show”
“And it’s by the same guy who also wrote The Queen's Gambit! Amazing show!”
Ken Rogoff Another book that I think uh is I just love and people have seen the series but haven't read the book is th… 1
“Another book that I think uh is I just love and people have seen the series but haven't read the book is the Queen's Gambit by Walter Tavis. It is one of the most perfect books ever written.”
Lex Fridman um maybe i was again influenced by queen's gambit what do you actually visualize when it's in your head so… 2
“is there some factual um hallucination like uh to the uh queen's gambit like those scenes”
“um maybe i was again influenced by queen's gambit what do you actually visualize when it's in your head so for magnus it was a boring 2d board right”
Alexandra Botez it's the trap that – queen's gambit beth harmon falls for nerf like first game versus the janitor she gets… 1
“it's the trap that – queen's gambit beth harmon falls for nerf like first game versus the janitor she gets all mad because she gets checkmated very early that's the one she gets checkmated with”
Lon Harris Is she the one who Queen's Gambit is based on? No, I mean Queen's Gambit is a is a fictional story that's l… 1
“Is she the one who Queen's Gambit is based on? No, I mean Queen's Gambit is a is a fictional story that's like was like a novel that was just I guess loosely inspired by some of these stories.”
Shaan Puri I was like, "Yeah, Queen's Gambit, right? That kind of started before that searching for Bobby Fischer." Ye… 1
“I was like, "Yeah, Queen's Gambit, right? That kind of started before that searching for Bobby Fischer." Yep. Yep. He's like, "Yeah, those are probably the two most relevant things in culture. What do they have in common?"”
Other mentions (7: passing, ad reads, own books)
“Has she seen The Queen's Gambit yet? Uh, no.”
“Since the pandemic and Queen's Gambit, millions of new players who have never touched a physical chessboard play and follow chess entirely online.”
“So that's another great things that it brought like Actually, another developer who also watched the Queen's Gambit and got into chess.”
“It's the trap that Beth Harmon falls for in the Queen's Gambit during her first game against the janitor. She gets really mad because she gets checkmated very early.”
“[Laughter] So what is it, Queen's Gambit on the ceiling?”
“And I would say that about chess, you know, as well, gone crazy during the pandemic. Probably because of, probably because of Queen's Gambit.”
“and because i saw this in the queen's gambit right they all went and analyzed the games all right”