[ad_1]
SSince arriving on Netflix last month, The Queen’s Gambit has attracted 62 million viewers, making it the streaming service’s most-watched scripted limited series.
But the drama – which tells the fictional story of chess prodigy Beth Harmon (played by Anya Taylor-Joy) – didn’t just grab people’s attention.
Online chess sites, retailers and grandmasters say the show, based on Walter Tevis’ 1983 novel, sparked a huge boom in people playing the game in the United States and the whole world.
International grandmaster Maurice Ashley said last month he was inundated with messages from people – especially women – asking if he had seen it and if he was excited about the game.
“The frenzy that surrounds it is crazy… Suddenly there’s an incredible awareness and excitement around the game and a lot of the same people are now taking chess and starting to play. So, it really had a pretty surprising, wonderful, and electrifying effect on the fan base, especially non-gamers.
Ashley, who was the first African-American Grandmaster, believes the awareness the Netflix show brought to gaming in the United States could rival – or even surpass – that of American Bobby Fischer’s victory over the Russian Boris Spassky for the world championship in 1972, which inspired Tevis’ novel.
“That period of time in terms of American consciousness for really serious failures was probably longer than it is today. But in terms of real numbers, given the growing population and the ubiquity of something like Netflix … that awareness probably competes very well, and may even exceed, this time around.
Although the pandemic is preventing many games between members of different households, chess sales are booming.
Online retailer eBay said sales of chess sets in the United States increased 60% from last year as more people spend time at home. And since the release of The Queen’s Gambit, sales of chess sets and accessories have grown almost 215%. Wooden chess sets are the most popular, and vintage sets are also in demand. Sales of chess clocks and timers are up 45% from last month and score blocks by 300%.
Meanwhile, millions of people are turning to the Internet to play at sites like Chess.com, Chess24, weChess, and Internet Chess Club.
Chess.com has seen a stratospheric increase in player numbers since The Queen’s Gambit released on October 23, breaking records for the site. Spokesman Nick Barton said they had seen “a surge in new players”. New members in the United States have grown from around 6,000 a day between October 1 and 22 to over 30,000 in recent days this month.
They even have a Beth Harmon bot which he says will have been faced by over 100,000 US players by the end of the month.
The American Chess Federation saw its highest membership numbers since the pandemic began in the middle of this month, and hundreds of women have signed up for beginner classes.
Jennifer Shahade, director of the American Chess Federation’s women’s program and two-time US women’s chess champion, said there has been a “global boom in interest” since the show’s launch – particularly among girls and women, who make up the smallest demographic of chess players.
“I notice a lot of them coming back into the game and gaining that confidence because the show portrays a woman who is able to navigate through the game, so I think that’s very appealing. And also the sense of community.
Fans can tune in to watch their favorite players compete online while chatting with others in forums, which Shahade says have become “much more welcoming” through better moderation and listening to comments. Many professionals share content on Twitch and YouTube.
The show, along with the pandemic – which also contributed to an increase in interest in the game – created a perfect storm.
Shahade said: “With many people spending more time at home and indoors during the pandemic, both giving them more time for failures and also creating a need for new hobbies and also introspection and a space where you can be totally absorbed in the 64 squares.
“As Beth says in The Queen’s Gambit, it’s a whole new world that you can control. Because things seem to be out of our control right now.
But will it last if and when life returns to seemingly closer to normal?
After the pandemic, Shahade predicted that the return of in-person tournaments, such as those featured on the show, will only add to the game’s appeal.
“People are going to learn the basics of chess during this time and when things open up more and there are big tournaments, a lot of people will participate, yes.”
[ad_2]
Source link