Good & realistic series: - Pine Gap --> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_Gap_(TV_series) - Designated Survivor --> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Designated_Survivor_(TV_series) - The Americans --> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Americans
“ For anyone who has watched "The Queen's Gambit" on Netflix, here's the interesting, but little-known story of Cuba’s chess champion, Maria Teresa Mora Iturralde, 1922. 》The fictional story [The Queen's Gambit] is based off a 1983 book of the same name by an American writer named Walter Tevis. Was it based on anyone in particular? The official answer is no. The New York Times‘ chess expert surmised that [ the character] was probably inspired by Bobby Fischer, the US child prodigy who defeated a Russian grandmaster during the Cold War. In all the reviews I’ve read on the show and the book, not one person mentioned the Cuban female underdog, Maria Teresa Mora Iturralde. She was a woman who beat all her male competitors during the Cuban National Championship in 1922, but was never allowed to compete with men globally during those years. There is no specific story of someone holding her down, but rather Maria Theresa is an emblem of a brilliant woman lost in the shuffle of a mans sport, lacking any career development, or international competitions that could have allowed her to reach her potential. To put it short, this is what people mean when they use the word “systemic” means of sexism. Perhaps, in a perfect world, Maria Theresa would have defeated Bobby Fischer *AND* the Russian champions of the world — had she been given the chance. If this seems far fetched, consider the fact that she was also the only woman to beat José Raúl Capablanca. Who is Capablanca? He was considered one of the best Grandmasters in the world, and a founder of modern chess. Did we mention that Capablanca is also Cuban? If you think I am name-dropping too many obscure Cuban references, look no further than the Netflix show itself for the cinematic nods. As Beth Harmon enters high school, she strolls into the library to ask if they have any books on chess. The librarian offers her the first book that she should gobble up — by José Capablanca. To understand the importance of Maria Theresa defeating Capablanca in a tournament, one first needs to understand the legend of Capablanca. In 1921, the World Chess Championship was held in Havana, and Capablanca won the title, thereby putting Cuba on the world map for the game. By four years old, Capablanca was beating his own father. By 12 years old, Capablanca became the champion of Cuba, and by 29 years old, he became champion of the world. He held the title of World Champion from 1921 to 1927. ... Capablanca is buried at the Colón Cemetery and is respected worldwide as one of the beloved grandmasters of the game. ... Just like Capablanca, Maria Theresa Mora grew up beating her own father at the game, and was entered into a youth tournament at 11 years old — which of course, she won. In 1917, American Chess Bulletin published an article entitled Havana Has Another Prodigy. The article claimed that she began playing at 8 years old. By the age of 14 years old, Maria Theresa was known as the only person to ever have studied under Capablanca. He never bestowed that honor to anyone else. She was special to him, and he nurtured the curious girl for just a moment. In 1922, she exceeded all expectations. Maria Theresa became the only woman ever to have competed with men in the Cuban championship and won. After that, the only World competitions she entered were women only. When Capablanca and Maria Theresa finally competed against each other, it was a three game series. She won twice and had a draw for the third game. Nobody could have imagined the pupil would beat the teacher. In typical early 1900’s fashion, she was remembered to have said “¡Ay qué pena, le he ganado!” (“oh how embarrassing, I’ve won”). .... I suppose you can project whatever qualities onto Harmon’s character from any past chess giants, however, I will hold on to my own illusion, that Maria Theresa lives inside this character, and that Netflix finally allowed her to win the World Championship she deserved. Mentored for a tiny moment in her life, Maria Theresa’s rough diamond shined just enough for a genius to take note. One of the most beautiful cerebral exchanges I found between a man and a woman comes from Capablanca’s book, My Chess Career, of which he writes about the lessons he gave Maria Theresa Mora as a child: “There was in Havana a young girl of from 12 to 14 years of age who interested me a great deal. Not only was she intelligent and modest in every respect but, what is more to the point, she played chess quite well (I believe that today she probably is the strongest lady player in the world, though only 15 or 17 years old). I offered to give her a few lessons before I sailed. Thus it happened that I actually learned more myself than my pupil, though I hope that my young lady friend benefited by the dozen or so lessons that I gave her. It came about that I thus strengthened the weakest part of my game, the openings, and that I also was able to prove to my own satisfaction the great value of certain theories which I had evolved in my own mind.” It takes a real man to admit that a 14 year old girl upped his game. Still, I find it curious why Capablanca did not mention Maria Theresa Mora’s name in the book, just listing her as “a young girl."》 “ Link to full article: https://havana3am.com/2020/11/11/the-queens-gambit-of-cuba/amp/