We all love looking for Lithuanian details in big Hollywood productions – and there are several to be found in Netflix's recent hit show The Queen's Gambit.
In the very last scene of episode seven, the protagonist, chess prodigy Beth Harmon, is walking in Moscow and comes across a group of ordinary people playing chess in a park. One of them recognises Beth and challenges her to a match before the end credits roll.
The character, identified in the credits simply as ‘Old Man’, is played by Juozas Budraitis, a legendary Lithuanian stage and film actor known for his numerous roles in Lithuania and Russia.
While his appearance on screen in The Queen's Gambit is short, it took a week to shoot the scene in Berlin, Budraitis recalled.
He said he was glad to see a Netflix production from within and work with Hollywood people. In particular, he was impressed by the Oscar-nominated director Scott Frank, one of the creators of the series.
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“I am very happy to have had an opportunity to talk to a person from a different cinema world. [...] Scott Frank is a talented person who has worked with many famous directors. Now, he has written the screenplay and filmed the series himself,” Budraitis said.
“I was pleased and surprised that even when filming a small scene, the director was standing next to the camera and not at the monitor a kilometre away, as usual. He was right next to the camera and looked at me in a way that helped me know if I was doing well or not,” he added.
According to Budraitis, he did not have many opportunities to interact with the star of the show, Anya Taylor-Joy, who played Beth. But while filming the final scene, she was very nice, he said.
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“During the time that was allotted to us, she willingly spoke with me and I was happy that she wasn't scared of an old man,” Budraitis mused.
While The Queen’s Gambit revolved around chess, Budraitis said he played the game in childhood and as a young man, but “never achieved mastery”.
“Eighty-year-olds are rare in cinema. Usually, they play only secondary roles. But a time comes when you have to step aside and give way to younger actors. It’s natural,” he told LRT TV on his birthday earlier in November.
Mikenas System
Budraitis’ performance was not the only Lithuanian detail in The Queen’s Gambit. In episode five, another character mentions a game variation named after the Lithuanian chess player Vladas Mikėnas.
Born in 1910, Mikėnas was the first professional Lithuanian chess player, an international referee, journalist, and author of books about chess.
Mikėnas became the Lithuanian champion several times, won the Estonian Championship in 1930, and played in the finals of the USSR chess championship 10 times.
In 1987, Mikėnas was awarded the title of Honorary Grandmaster by the International Chess Federation FIDE. Mikenas System, also called Flohr-Mikenas System or Mikenas-Carls System, is named after the Lithuanian player. The defence of the queen’s horse is also called Bogoliubov-Mikenas defence.
The Queen’s Gambit is a Netflix miniseries based on Walter Tevis’ eponymous novel. It tells the story of a chess prodigy, Beth Harmon, who is battling drug and alcohol addiction.
The chess scenes in the series have been praised for their authenticity. The chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov, as well as chess coach Bruce Pandolfini, consulted the filming crew.
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