The Queen’s Gambit is the Netflix drama that made the world chess mad. As it turns out, medieval Europe was ahead of the game by about eight hundred years with what later became the world’s most famous chess pieces, the Lewis Chessmen. Join us as we reveal the secrets of these most enigmatic players.

Curator Irving Finkel may have joined the wrong department to look after the Lewis Chessmen, but that hasn’t stopped him writing a book on them, and having a surprising connection to a film about a certain boy wizard.