Myers-Briggs Types in The Queen’s Gambit: Is Beth Harmon an INTJ or ISTP?

Beth Harmon, from The Queen’s Gambit, is almost exclusively typed as an INTJ, although there is a small group that theorizes ISTP. After watching the series, I decided to put forward my take on this character’s Myers-Briggs personality type (referred to as MBTI). I will share my conclusion somewhere farther down the page. First, I’d like to start with walking you through my observations and my reasoning.

Beth Harmon: The Thinker

Let’s start with the obvious, the thing that nearly everyone agrees on. Beth Harmon generally appears to be a thinker. She seems detached from emotions and feelings, never displaying much beyond occasional anger and frustration. In addition, she focuses on impersonal things, like chess, and struggles to form or maintain close relationships. She also doesn’t frame anything in terms of values, but focuses on what makes logical sense.

Beth avoids relying on anyone or asking for help beyond what’s absolutely necessary. She also doesn’t seem compelled to connect to a group or find people she belongs with. The connections that she makes happen with little to no effort on her part. For instance, Jolene has to walk back into her life and declare her family for Beth to see them as such. This all suggests that high Fe is unlikely.

As for Fi, Beth is initially willing to let a Christian group pay her way to Russia even though she doesn’t agree with the beliefs and values that they represent. She doesn’t reject their help until they require her to make a statement in accordance with their beliefs, during which time she dismisses it as “nonsense”. Dominant Fi users often get triggered early, due to the false representation, preferring to only associate themselves with groups that align with their values.

Is Beth Harmon an IXTJ?

“It’s an entire world of just 64 squares. I feel safe in it. I can control it. I can dominate it. And it’s predictable, so if I get hurt, I only have myself to blame.”

Early on in the series, I seriously considered both ISTJ and INTJ for Beth Harmon, because of quotes like the one above. The idea that she likes chess because it makes her feel safe and in control can easily be interpreted as dominant introverted perceiving (Ni or Si), or even high extraverted thinking. (IJs, with low adaptability, want to be able to predict, and Te often likes to be in control.) Similarly, she expresses a desire to stick with that she knows a few different times through the series. For instance, when her adoptive mother tells her that there’s more to life than chess, Beth responds by saying, “It’s what I know.”

The security-oriented nature of these statements actually had me considering Si for her, both ISTJ and INTP (Ti-Si loop). However, I later came to the realization that all of this could simply be the result of Beth Harmon’s young age, the difficult life she had lived, and cognitive introversion. (Carl Jung describes introverts as less adaptable than extraverts, because they focus more on their internal world than the external one.)

Read More: Introversion vs. Extraversion

Is Beth Harmon An Intuitive?

“They’re just pieces.”

I spent the first few episodes of The Queen’s Gambit wondering why everyone was typing this girl as an intuitive. The chess board visualization (or hallucination) didn’t seem like valid evidence, since she had to take drugs to see it. (A lot of people used that as their proof.) Honestly, the longer I watched, the more I leaned sensor. After all, Beth Harmon seems like the type to take people pretty literally. Early on, especially, she doesn’t pick up much on subtext. Of course, this could also be the social introversion or even inferior Fe. I considered all three options. However, that aside, there was a conversation with a reporter that I found particularly interesting.

During (what I believe was) Beth Harmon’s earliest interview, the reporter poses a metaphor to Beth about what the chess pieces might represent to her. Beth doesn’t offer up an alternate interpretation or indulge the metaphor in any way. She simply replies, “They’re just pieces.”

Eventually, I reached the scene where Beth Harmon’s mom refers to her as an intuitive player.

The “Intuitive Player”

“You’re what they call an intuitive player, are you not?”

Naturally, everyone sees this and wants to label Beth as an intuitive. However, generic intuition (when the word is used outside the context of personality theory) is not always sourced from Ne or Ni. You have to pay attention to the context. In this scene, Beth follows up with, “Yes, I have been called that before. Sometimes the moves come to me.”

When I heard that statement, I finally understood why everyone identifies Beth as a Ni user. The spontaneous sense of knowing what to do next sounds like Ni. The next statement was also interesting, though, adding further context.

Her mother says, “I’ve noticed the moves they applaud the loudest are the ones you make rather quickly.”

Now, that statement struck me more like something someone would say about a perceiver. In fact, it makes Beth’s intuition sound like instincts, instincts that she acts on immediately rather than slowing herself down to double-check. The faster her move, the better it is. Instincts are not solely the realm of NJs.

So, Which Perceiving Function is in Charge?

Episode 5 was an extremely informative episode, because it’s the first episode where you really get to see how Beth operates. You get to see her living daily life to some degree, interacting with fellow chess players one-on-one, getting her methods critiqued, and actually sharing some of her reasoning. There are three scenes in particular that I want to address.

1. Beltik’s initial arrival with books

During an initial interaction with Beltik, we learn that she doesn’t respect chess masters who memorize everything. She looks up to, and relates to, masters like Capablanca who play on intuition. The distaste for players that memorize everything indicated a lack of high Si to me. Shortly thereafter, Beth makes a statement criticizing players at tournaments who study opening variations, middle-game strategy, and endgame theory after their games have finished, saying, “Like it would have made a difference.” When Beltik follows up with “You don’t ever study?”, Beth makes the following statement.

“I analyze games. What actually happened, not what could have happened. And I play it by ear.”

That statement simultaneously devalues Ni, Si, and Ne, while putting the emphasis on Se. By making this statement, Beth expresses a clear preference for focusing on the current, concrete reality. She’s not interested in speculating about what might have happened, nor is she emphasizing foresight. She’s playing by ear, or taking things moment by moment.

2. Beltik analyzing her game with Benny

In the very next scene, Beltik tells her that he had replayed her game with Benny Watts a dozen times. She asks him, “Why? That’s ancient history.” Once again, here she devalues Si, because past data to her is irrelevant.

3. Playing chess with Beltik

About ten minutes into episode 5, we see Beth and Beltik finish a game of chess. I’ll share the after conversation below.

Beltik: “Okay, tell me, what was your endgame?”
Beth: “You just saw it.”
Beltik: “What was your plan?”
Beth: “To beat you? … I don’t know what it was.”
Beltik: “Exactly, you’re still just improvising.”

Once again, Beth demonstrates a lack of desire to form a longterm plan (lack of foresight), in addition to a preference for improvising. She hadn’t thought ahead, nor did she care to. She had no endgame. At this point, the ISTP theory for Beth Harmon seemed valid.

What about inferior Se grip?

Those who theorize INTJ for Beth Harmon typically try to argue that she’s in an inferior Se grip. They use this to justify her impulsive behavior and her self-destructive habits, such as drugs and drinking. They also like to argue that SPs will use Se either more productively or at the very least, not as a means to escape reality. Both of these statements are false. A high Se user (an SP) can do all the same bad Se things that a lower Se user can do. That’s why NJs in a grip or a loop can look like unhealthy SPs… because unhealthy SPs exist. In addition, NPs and SJs can be drug addicts and alcholics as well. Anyone, no matter what their type, can (and do) use these things to escape reality. Attributing it solely to Se is unrealistic and ignorant.

Here’s my ultimate problem with the inferior Se grip argument, other than the lack of high Ni evidence, of course. Beth Harmon, if she’s truly in a grip, spends the entire show in that grip, which is problematic given the fact that the show spans over ten years. In cognitive function theory, function pairs exist on a spectrum or scales. (This goes back to Carl Jung). Basically, the more you use Ni, the less you’ll use Se. You can’t use them both strongly at the same time. So, if Beth is constantly in grip Se, she should have little to no access to Ni for the entire show. Yet, those who argue that she’s an INTJ try to argue that she’s using Ni to play chess. Beth can’t be in an inferior Se grip in all moments but the chess moments. Grips states are wild and uncontrollable. She shouldn’t be able to turn it on and off at her leisure. If a character spends an entire show using “Se” then that character is probably just an SP, unless you see a specific trigger moment or trauma event that clearly demonstrates a change in their behavior. (In other words, the story needs to show, explain, or imply that the individual in question was different before that event.)

Does Beth Harmon display Ti or Te?

Invalid Te evidence that people use

1. Beth Harmon has a single goal, which often gets attributed to Ni-Te.

However, anyone can have a goal. Most people have goals of some kind. The mere fact that Beth Harmon has a goal and works towards it doesn’t mean anything specific in regards to her personality type or cognitive function preferences. What’s actually important to pay attention to is how she goes about achieving her goal.

2. Beth Harmon obsessively studies at chess tournaments, prior to her games and during all downtime (with few exceptions).

Some call this disciplined Te, but that’s invalid because perceivers will buckle down under the pressure of a deadline, studying extremely hard at the last minute. All other times, Beth oscillates between studying, recreation, and daily responsibilities with no obvious schedule or structure.

So, does the evidence indicate Ti or Te?

Characters that don’t share much of what they’re thinking are difficult, which is why ISXP tend to be especially hard to really peg. However, there are some signs that Beth Harmon uses Ti, in addition to evidence that she doesn’t use Te. Te is objective logic, which means TJs typically focus on external application and methods proven to yield results. Because of this, TJs often demonstrate a desire to be in control of their environment, or to have an orderly environment. Their logic emphasizes efficiency, discipline, order, planning, and/or concrete solutions to external problems. From my observation, Beth doesn’t really fit this description Her time with Benny showcases that. I’ll share a few examples.

1. Beth never criticizes Benny’s house or offers suggestions for him to improve it.

Beth goes to Benny’s apartment, expecting a couch to sleep on but finds none. In fact, he doesn’t even have a real shower, and the place is a mess. She’s initially somewhat dismayed, but overall, she keeps it to herself and adapts quickly. She just asks the occasional questions to determine what she’s supposed to do. Beth never expresses any judgements on his place, or offers advice on how it should be changed. She goes right to working with what’s available to her, rather than focusing on the external issues or the unfulfilled expectation.

2. Benny approaches chess in a disciplined manner, while Beth responds with resignation or reluctance.

For instance, first thing in the morning, Benny is ready to study chess. He has specific books and games he wants to work through. Beth initially brushes him off, because she wants breakfast and shower. He says “fine”, but that when she was done, they were going to play all the Borgov games from his book. She responds, in somewhat annoyed or exasperated manner, with, “All of them?”

3. Beltik has to tell Beth to study Borgov

“Do you even know his career?” – Beltik

Beth’s lack of focus on the objective and her lack of structured studying is further demonstrated when Beltik has to advise her to study her enemy, Borgov. Beltik seems shocked that she hadn’t studied Borgov’s career, and also has to tell her to read Borgov’s book. This should have been one of the most obvious approaches to take in order to achieve her goal, but to Beth, it wasn’t.

4. Beth chooses to ignore obvious sources of relevant information in favor of her personal interests

“I don’t read the footnotes.”

As mentioned in the previous point, Beth doesn’t pursue her goal in an objective, or externally logical, way. Instead, she focuses primarily on her personal interests, opting to do things her own way, rather than pursuing what is most objectively useful. During the drive to New York, Benny brings up a chess move from a book by Scharz, asking her if she had read the footnote on it. She responds immediately with, “I don’t read the footnotes.” He then tells her that she should, which provokes her to follow up with, “I don’t like Scharz.”

Essentially, Beth avoids or skims sources that don’t personally interest her, which is why other people have to push her to study deeper or branch out. In this specific scenario, she justifies it by criticizing Scharz. However, she’s shown to be very critical of other chess masters, in spite of their successes, because she doesn’t like the way they play or the way they achieved success. This shows more of a focus on subjective standards (Ti), rather than objective ones (Te).

In Conclusion…

This article is starting to get ridiculously long, so I think I’ll close out here. I tried to share the most significant observations that led to my conclusion (that Beth Harmon is an ISTP not an INTJ), but I couldn’t fit everything. (Like, how Beth parties all night with Cleo prior to her rematch with Borgov – choosing that one moment, when the stakes were high, to break from what little discipline she had and doom her game.) If there’s a specific scene you want addressed, feel free to ask in the comments.