Question

read the two passages from the novel the queens gambit. in passage 1, the protagonist, beth, plays chess against a rival named benny for the first time. in passage 2, they are playing each other regularly.
passage 1
she did not trust herself to see everything benny watts could see. he played with a calm, pleasant precision, picking up his pieces lightly and setting them down noiselessly, sometimes smiling to himself as he did so. every move he made looked solid as a rock. beths great strength was in fast attack, and she could find no way to attack. by the sixteenth move she was furious with herself for playing the gambit in the first place.
passage 2
the games she was playing were serious, workmanlike chess played by the best players in the world, and the amount of mental energy latent in each move was staggering. yet the results were often monumentally dull and inconclusive. an enormous power of thought might be implicit in a single white pawn move, say, opening up a long - range threat that could become manifest only in half a dozen moves; but black would foresee the threat and find the move that canceled it out, and the brilliancy would be aborted. it was frustrating and anticlimactic, yet - because benny forced her to stop and see what was going on - fascinating. they kept it up for six days, leaving the apartment only when necessary and once, on wednesday night, going to a movie.
from walter tevis, the queens gambit. copyright 1983 by walter tevis
based on the passages, how has beth changed over the course of the text?
she is frustrated that she cant match bennys insights early on, but she grows as a player by learning from bennys less exciting style.
she isnt a real challenge to benny the first time, though she finds more success by waiting for him to make the first mistake.
she is intimidated into making mistakes in their first game, so she maintains a professional distance instead of becoming friends with benny.
she is unable to utilize her strengths as a player when playing against benny at first, but she learns how to make bolder attacks and predict his strategy.

Explanation:

In Passage 1, Beth is frustrated as she can't match Benny's insights and is angry with herself for playing the gambit. In Passage 2, she is engaged in serious chess with Benny, and though the games are sometimes dull, she is learning as Benny forces her to "stop and see what was going on". This shows she grows as a player by learning from Benny's style.

Answer:

Explanation Format