| In the Book |
In the TV Show |
|
Beth was home alone when her mother died.
|
Beth was in her mother's car when she crashed it into an oncoming truck. |
|
The girls in Methuen Home were given tranquilizers twice a day
|
They were only shown getting the pills once a day.
|
|
Beth hears a boy named Ralph in the Boys area yelling “you're all cocksuckers!”
|
Jolene says this. There were no boys in the orphanage. |
|
Mr. Shaibel cut Beth's hair.
|
One of the female staff cut Beth's hair. They also burned her old clothes.
|
|
The girls played volleyball in gym class. Jolene taught her how to play.
|
No gym class is depicted. |
|
Beth learns to save the tranquilizer for night time. She needed them to help her sleep. Beth avoids pills and alcohol prior to playing chess.
|
Jolene tells her to save it for the night because they are more fun that way. Beth eventually uses the pills to help her focus while playing chess.
|
|
Beth would play chess for brief periods when sent to the basement after math class. She also skipped Sunday chapel to play for an hour.
|
Few details on how she managed to find time to play chess. |
|
Beth learned how to block the Scholar's Mate while thinking about the game in bed.
|
Mr. Shaibel said he would teach Beth how to defend against it later. Beth figures out how to block the mating move and does so in her next game with Mr. Shaibel.
|
|
Beth also skips lunch on Sundays and is able to play 3 hours in the basement with Mr. Shaibel
|
No details on how long she spends each Sunday playing chess. |
|
Jolene tried to teach Beth how to masturbate in bed at night, but Beth resisted. The next day Jolene called Beth ugly,
|
This did not happen in the TV series.
|
|
Beth could picture five chess boards on the ceiling while in bed.
|
Beth only ever pictured one chess board at a time. |
|
Beth is taken to a hospital for treatment after she steals the tranquilizers, swallows about 30 and then passes out.
|
After she steals and eats many pills, Beth is shown passing out after she is caught. Nothing about treatments for an overdose.
|
|
Beth still had 23 pills in her dress pocket after returning to the orphanage from the hospital.
|
She has no pills left after returning to the orphanage. |
|
Beth is punished for the stealing the pills by being required to set up for chapel, then report on the subject matter present. And no more chess.
|
Beth is punished by not being allowed to play chess.
|
|
Miss Farley and Mr. Fergussen visit Beth and her mother after her adoption for an inspection.
|
This does not happen in the film. |
|
Beth stole $6 from her mom to pay for USCF membership. She needed $5 more for the tournament.
|
Beth only needed $5 for the chess tournament.
|
|
Beth stole $10 from a student's purse in the locker room before she got money from Mr. Shaibel.
|
Beth used the $5 loan from Mr. Shaibel to enter the tournament. |
|
In Beth's game with Cooke, he offers a draw which she refuses immediately.
|
Beth looks over at Townes first, he shakes his head, then Beth refuses the draw.
|
|
Beth did not believe in God, but prayed to God to beat Beltik.
|
Beth is never shown praying after her adoption. |
|
Beth has her first period at her first tournament. Beth never learned about menstruation from the staff at the orphanage; Jolene taught her.
|
The orphan girls watched a film on maturing. The other female chess player (Packer) gave her a sanitary napkin to use in the ladies room.
|
|
Beth considered splitting her Cincinnati winnings, but decided against it. Beth gave her mom (Mrs. Wheatley) 10% after she asked Beth for it.
|
Mrs. Wheatley asked for 10% of Beth's winnings, Beth agreed and gave her 15% instead.
|
|
Beth is invited by the Apple PI's to a meeting, she leaves after a boring evening and she is not invited back.
|
Beth is invited to an Apple PI meeting, she is bored and leaves early after stealing a bottle of liquor from the house.
|
|
Sickness excuses were used to get Beth out of classes at first. After Beth appeared in Life magazine, her mother talked to the school to get her excused for the next tournaments.
|
Sickness excuses were used at first, then nothing is revealed about how Beth was excused from school later on. |
|
The tournament director treats Beth and her mom to dinner after her Kansas City win and tells them about Russian chess.
|
Matt and Mike go to dinner with and discuss international chess Beth and her mom after Beth wins in Kansas City. Mrs. Wheatley pays.
|
|
Townes interviews and photographs Beth for his newspaper in his hotel room in Las Vegas. She wishes he would make love to her. Townes is not depicted as gay.
|
He photographs and interviews her. They play some chess but are interrupted by Townes' gay boyfriend. |
|
Beth drinks 3 beers in the Vegas hotel room with her mom, she gets sick and throws up in the toilet. The beer affects her like the pills she takes, but faster.
|
Beth's mom lets her have a beer, she does not get sick.
|
|
Beth's thoughts are depicted during the games as an inner monologue.
|
Beth's thoughts are replaced by the comments of tournament officials and other people. This is done very effectively. |
|
Beth's adoptive mom has a piano, but is never depicted as playing it.
|
She plays piano at home and at the hotel during one of Beth's tournaments.
|
|
After Beth's mom dies, Beltik lives with Beth in her house for a while to teach her better chess. He moves out after several weeks and does not see or talk to Beth after he leaves.
|
Harry Beltik continues to be associated with Beth periodically throughout the series. |
|
Beth joins Benny in his New York City apartment where they study chess and she learns much. Benny plays backgammon and poker with others for money; his winnings help pay the rent on his apartment.
|
Beth studies chess with Benny in NYC. Benny does not play poker.
|
|
Beth plays her best game (while sober) against Borgov in Paris, but loses.
|
Beth drinks excessively the night before the Borgov game and sleeps with Cleo. She oversleeps, takes her pills and has another drink before the Borgov game which she loses. |
|
After a three week drinking binge, Beth appears at the Kentucky Championship, loses her first game then quits citing her poor health.
|
Beth shows for the Kentucky Championship, speaks with Ms. Packer briefly then leaves without playing any chess. Beltik confronts her about her drinking outside and says she needs to stop. Beth looks and feels terrible.
|
|
Beth contacts Ms. Deardorff at the orphanage to obtain Jolene Dewitt's phone number and address then calls her.
|
Jolene shows up unannounced at Beth's house in Kentucky. |
|
Mrs Deardorf calls Beth to inform her of Mr. Shaibel's death after her tournament in San Francisco.
|
Jolene informs Beth of Mr. Shaibel's death when she first arrives at Beth's house.
|
|
Jolene helped Beth recover from her drinking, encouraged her to eat properly and put her on an exercise program including handball.
|
They're shown playing racquetball once. Jolene encourages Beth to stop drinking. |
|
Beth got $400 from the US Chess Federation for her trip to Russia. Beth uses her own money to get to Moscow.
|
Beth asked the USCF and the State department for help and got nothing. Jolene gave Beth the money she needed.
|
|
After playing several games at the Moscow tournament, Beth walks in the park and sees old men playing chess, she admires how good some of them play. She is recognized and the men eagerly greet her.
After the tournament, Beth goes to the park and asks to play a game.
|
Beth wanders over to the park and sees old men playing chess, she does not disturb them. It is not until after the tournament that she goes to the park, is recognized, and plays chess with the old men.
|
|
Beth is interviewed in her hotel room after the tournament. She says the orphanage was cruel and stopped her from playing chess after Mr. Shaibel trained her. |
Beth is interviewed after the adjournment of her game with Borgov. She insists that the reporters print that Mr. Shaibel taught her how to play. Townes is present and joins her in her room to talk.
|
|
Beth talks on the phone with Benny, Levertov and Wexler to discuss strategy during the Borgov game adjournment.
|
Beth talks to Benny, Mike, Matt, Beltik, Wexler and Levertov about her game during the adjournment. |
|
During the endgame Borgov makes an unexpected move. Beth relaxes, closes her eyes for an hour and visualizes the game prior to making her next move.
|
Beth looks at the ceiling, concentrating on her imaginary chess board as she did from the past. This takes only a short time, but attracts the attention of Borgov and several other observers.
|
|
Beth loses to Borgov twice and Benny once. She also loses or draws at tournaments on occasion, but does well most of the time and earns a decent living for herself and her adoptive mother. She also lost a game before withdrawing from the Kentucky state championship two years after winning it the first time.
|
Beth is shown losing once to Benny and twice to Borgov; she is not shown losing any other games. Overall there are few details on her development as a chess player after her 1st Kentucky State Championship win other than practicing with Harry and Benny |
|
When finishing her game with Luchenko after their adjournment the previous day, Beth notices that Luchenko is exhausted and completely rumpled in appearance. |
Luchenko looks tired, but smiles with relief when he resigns the game.
|
|
After defeating Borgov at the Russian invitational tournament, Beth plans on playing Borgov for the world championship in about two years. She thinks she will win. |
No details on her future plans. |