It looks like a second instalment of the hit Netflix series is not in the pipeline.

By Morgan Cormack

Published: Tuesday, 31 January 2023 at 12:00 am

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Although many of us woke up this week to the exciting news that The Queen’s Gambit could possibly be returning for season 2, it now seems as though the news was simply a result of a Twitter hacking.

In a now deleted cryptic Tweet by leading actress Anya Taylor-Joy, the account tweeted: “The Queen’s Gambit Season 2.”

While fans were excited to see the news on the morning of Monday 30th January, the Tweet was quickly removed after 10 minutes – but was enough to spark rumours of a potential second season.

Although the actor’s Twitter account hadn’t been used since November 2020, Taylor-Joy took to her Instagram Stories to dispel any rumours, saying: “My Twitter has been hacked. Apologies for all inconveniences. It’s not me!”

Funnily enough, Taylor-Joy’s last Tweet before the hacking was celebrating the success of her Netflix series, but it seems as though we can put hopes for season 2 to bed.

Adapted from the 1983 novel of the same name by Walter Tevis, the limited series followed Taylor-Joy’s character Beth, an orphaned chess prodigy who rises to success in mid-20th century USA and must battle her own personal demons. It was a hit of a series, to say the least.

Upon airing, the series propelled the original novel back into the New York Times bestseller list (37 years after its release) and doubled Google search queries for chess, with searches for “how to play chess” hitting a nine-year peak, and inquiries for “chess sets” rising on eBay by 250 per cent.

Aside from that, the series went on to become Netflix’s biggest limited scripted series ever and was watched by a record-setting 62 million households in its first 28 days.

The series won a total of 11 Emmy awards, including outstanding limited series.

Previously speaking to Deadline, Taylor-Joy (who most recently starred in The Menu) also said: “It’s so surreal and very wonderful that people want a second season, because we never thought about it, there was no discussion about it. That said, never say never in Hollywood.

“It would be very interesting to see how Beth would be as a mother, now that she’s sober and more cognisant of the demons that pull her down.”