The Queen’s Gambit breaks Netflix record with more than 62 million household views in a month

Series follows chess whizz Beth Harmon, played by Anya Taylor-Joy

The Queen’s Gambit has broken a Netflix viewing record to become the streaming service’s biggest scripted limited series ever.

The drama, which follows the rise of chess prodigy Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy) in the middle of the 20th century, has been viewed by 62 million households during its first 28 days of release.

Announcing the news on Twitter, the official Netflix account wrote: “A record-setting 62 million households chose to watch The Queen's Gambit in its first 28 days, making it Netflix's biggest scripted limited series to date.”

The limited series – a term for a self-contained miniseries with no plans for a future continuation – has also prompted a surge in interest in chess itself.

The Queen’s Gambit, the 1983 novel upon which the series was based, has also entered the New York Times bestseller list in the wake of the series’ success.

The Queen’s Gambit now ranks among the most widely viewed pieces of content on Netflix across all categories.

At 62 million household views, the series sits just 2 million behind the third season of Stranger Things, at 64 million, although still some way off the site’s most popular original movie, Extraction, which managed a reported 99 million viewers in a month.

In an article about The Queen’s Gambit for The Independent, Roisin O’Connor wrote: “Netflix’s sleeper-hit of a series is one of its best releases to date.

“Writer and director Scott Frank, who brought his Godless star Thomas Brodie-Sangster along with him, is a master of pace. He knows precisely when to usher things along to a new chapter, and the moments to linger over. It’s a show to be savoured, rather than binged. But that’s far from the best thing about it.”