Adventure in Math and Technology

Chess In The Modern World

If you are a media consumer, you may have heard of a platform called Twitch before Twitch is a platform where people can stream many games live, and in light of recent years, chess has gained quite a following on the platform. Streamers such as the notorious Hikaru Nakamura and Anna Cramling have used their platforms on Twitch to spark the curiosity of their viewers to play the game of chess A New York Times article in September 2020 discusses how many people have turned to Twitch and other game streaming platforms to find entertainment since the pandemic. As a result, streamers like Hikaru Nakumura saw a spike in viewers The article then stated that Twitch viewers had watched roughly 41 million hours worth of chess But the introduction of chess streaming is just the tip of the iceberg for the revival of chess in the 21st century, so let’s turn to Netflix.

In the popular TV streaming app, a show named Queen’s Gambit was released in 2020. Said to be inspired by famous chess players like Bobby Fischer and Nona Gaprindashvili, the show is about an orphan named Beth Harmon who became a chess prodigy, and as she continues to climb up the ranks in the chess world, she battles with many emotions and issues. The stunning cinematic scenes featured in the show captivated audiences into playing the game of chess. According to an article by CNN, just after three weeks of its release on Netflix, the audience caused an 87% increase in the sales of chess sets and a remarkable 603% jump in chess books sales Through the increase in streaming views, popular chess sites such as Chess.com and Lichess saw millions of new members in recent years. These sites have been crucial to the rise of new chess players as chess was previously only a game for the rich–pieces were expensive, and most people had no clue where to get them But in this age of technology and the internet, people can now experience the game of chess from the palm of their hand, breaking the inequality in the chess world