Thread by @SlavaMalamud

Back to "The Queen's Gambit", which is still great. I am on the last episode, and I am still not sure I have learned how the horse, the officer or the lady move, but... WOW, this is a hard no!!!!

OK, I get the ominous darkness and the soldiers. If it weren't dark and there weren't any figures in peaked hats, how would American audiences know it's set in Russia?!
But "introduces excitedly"? Slava's Collective Farm Bull Shit Detector is going off!..

No, no, no, no, no! While Soviet TV announcers could occasionally be either excited or exciting, venue announcers had to maintain Sphynxian utmost dignity. None of your pro boxing theatrics, no long vowels or rolling consonants, all of this was waaaay beneath their dignity...

And definitely no screeching. This was just such a no-no, and someone should have told this post-Soviet-born actor to tone it down. Or, maybe, just go with the cadence of a poetical recital.
Also, "ehs-ehs-ehr" is definitely a "collective farmer" way of pronouncing USSR...

It's pronounced "ehs-ehs-ehs-ehr", which is, of course, terribly inelegant, which is why Soviet announcers invariably went with "Sovyetskiy Soyuz" (Soviet Union).
Also, are they playing inside the Glorious Shock Worker Death Star or the S.M. Kirov Red Banner of Labor Warehouse?

Laughs in Stalingradian.
Great move! Now, THIS is how the horsey goes?! Or is it the lady? Either way, yeah, this funny.

Liza hates borscht. Understandable, because she is an America, and it's in your defective genetic code. But also, the borscht depicted lacks sour cream, which is a crime. Also, it looks like the production crew got it from a store and dumped it on the plates cold.

Accurate. Your standard Alexander Pushkin Culture and Recreation Park Chess Championship Among Dedushkas. Some of the Soviet Union's strongest pro-government political opinions were voiced in these circumstances.
(The strongest anti-government ones were delivered in kitchens)

And in other news, Stalin has died!
(Love this scene. Yes, Soviets were obsessed with chess. I was probably the only Jew who didn't know how to castle. I am still hazy on this.)

Also, none of the Russian players mentioned have obviously Jewish last names. Clearly, the USSR wasn't fielding its A team at that particular tournament.

I really enjoyed this whole line with the CIA spook shadowing Beth. Not sure if this was an actual practice in America, but it definitely was in the USSR. All Soviet athletes and artists visiting the West had KGB escorts who endlessly drilled them on what to say and where to go.

All Soviets visiting the West knew that every person they meet who was not carrying a Communist Party ID was surely a spy, a prostitute or, most likely, both. They were instructed on how to answer political questions, how to decline invitations etc.
Nice to see this reversed here

Yes, all world-class chess matches were announced in the streets by the Lazar Kaganovich Glorious Socialist Hobos Trade Union. All of them were named Kuzma and wore standard issue uniform ushankas and fingerless gloves.

A much better ending to Rocky IV.
I'd lose the two tank regiment officers in the front row.

The children of the 1920s Volga famine have grown up so fast...

I loved it. The actress is a gem, the nerds are adorable, the fact that they are Dudley Dursley and Jojen Reed is a treat, and, though it's ultimately a standard American sports movie, the acting just pulls it over the top.
The plot is extremely formulaic...

You have your scrappy natural talent overcoming difficulties, you have your cheering buddies coming out of the woodwork to offer a hand, you have your formidable opponent, you have your training montage, you have your slow-motion sequence. Only needs a clock ticking down to 0:00.

Overall, I give it eight steadfastly extended proletarian fists out of ten.

And, yes, it is absolutely plausible that an American would be an immediate celebrity in the USSR, particularly a chess player (Bobby Fischer was venerated), but it was also not unheard of for movie stars. Other westerners, such as soccer players, were also tenderly beloved...

Not Canadian hockey players though. They were regarded as dangerous hooligans who denigrated the pure name of the sport. At least, officially. It was OK to beg them for bubble gum.
So, yes, if Beth Harmon had walked into a Soviet park, she'd totally be mobbed by chess dedushkas.