The story begins in Kentucky, where the nine-year-old Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy) losing her mother in a car crash. She is taken to an orphanage where she learns how to play chess with the orphanage’s custodian, Mr. Shaibel (Bill Camp). It was common during the 1950s for the orphanages to dispense daily tranquilizer pills to the girls, which turns into an addiction for Beth. She quickly becomes a good chess player due to her visualization skills, which are enhanced by the tranquilizers. A few years later, Beth is adopted by Alma Wheatley (Marielle Heller) and her husband, Allston Wheatley (Patrick Kennedy), from Lexington. As she adjusts to her new home, Beth enters a chess tournament and wins the Kentucky Chess State Championship beating the previous Champion Harry Beltik (Harry Melting) despite not having any previous competitive chess experience. She develops friendships with several people, like former Kentucky state champion Harry Beltik. She met at the Kentucky Championship, chess genius Benny Watts (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), and journalist and fellow player Townes (Jacob Fortune-Lloyd). As Beth continues to win games and reaps the financial benefits of her success, she becomes more dependent on alcohol and other drugs. Still, all that increases when her Adoptive Mother Alma dies of Hepatitis in Mexico. After that, she hits a real low. But during that period, a ghost from the past comes back. Harry Beltik comes to help her through it and trains her for her upcoming match with USSR champion Vasily Borgov (Marcin Dorociński). After many other games, she becomes USA champion and goes off to the USSR to fight for the World Title. But before the goes, Benny helps her prepare. Will she be the Champion?
