Beth Harmon’s mother dies in a car crash when Beth is eight, leaving her an orphan. Beth is then sent to Methuen Home in Mount Sterling, Kentucky, where the children are given green pills twice a day. These pills are tranquilizers, and Beth finds that they make it easier for her to sleep by easing her anxiety. At Methuen, Beth makes friends with Jolene, a Black girl of 10. A teacher tasks Beth with clapping the chalk out of erasers in the basement. When she goes down there, she sees the janitor, Mr. Shaibel, playing a game on a board with plastic pieces.

The girls play volleyball in gym class, and Beth struggles to play until Jolene, the best player, instructs Beth on how to better hit the ball. One day, Beth works up the courage to ask Mr. Shaibel what game he is playing when she goes to clean the erasers. He tells her that the game is chess. She watches him sit, thinking over moves. Beth begins hoarding her tranquilizers, experimenting with taking two at night to help her sleep. Finally, during church one day, Beth sneaks down to Mr. Shaibel and asks him to teach her to play chess.