The Queen's Gambit named Best Limited Series

‘The Queen’s Gambit’ won the Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series honour at the Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday (19.09.21).

Stars Anya Taylor-Joy and Moses Ingram led cast and crew from the chess drama to the stage at Los Angeles’ LA Live to accept the honour, which saw them take the prize in a hotly-contested category that also included ‘Mare of Easttown’, ‘I May Destroy You’, ‘The Underground Railroad’ and ‘WandaVision’.

Taking the mic, executive producer William Hoberg accepted the honour on behalf of the show and praised the audience for showing the power of “word of mouth” in propelling a programme to success.

He said: “The one thing that no algorithm can predict, no billion dollar budget can manufacture is word of mouth.

“This award is for the fans who told their friends, ‘Dude, you gotta watch the orphan girl chess drama.’ ”

He then heaped praise on Anya – who missed out on the Lead Actress in a Drama Series Emmy to Olivia Colman from ‘The Crown’ – for having “brought the sexy back” to chess with her role as prodigy Beth Harmon.

He said: “Anya Taylor-Joy, what can I say? You brought the sexy back to chess, and you inspired a whole generation of girls and young women to realise patriarchy simply has no defense against our queens.”

The show was nominated for a total of 18 Emmys across the Primetime and Creative Arts events, taking a total of 11 wins, including the prestigious Outstanding Casting for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.

On Sunday, Scott Frank won the Directing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie prize but the programme lost out in its other categories.