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'Queen's Gambit' accepted: Netflix's hit series sparks chess frenzy

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Andrew Beatty, Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/entertainment/11/26/queen-s-gambit-still-2-image_-netflix.jpg"/><figcaption>A scene from &#x27;The Queen&#x27;s Gambit&#x27; </figcaption></figure></div>SYDNEY -- Hit miniseries &quot;The Queen&#x27;s Gambit&quot; has led to a surge of interest in chess, with one popular website registering millions of new players and academies reporting unprecedented demand. Netflix said the show, which follows the turbulent career of a fictional female child prodigy in the 1950s and 1960s, has become its most-watched ever and is currently the number-one ranked program in 63 countries.Gaming site Chess.com said the series had prompted a wave of interest -- already piqued by the pandemic and top-flight chess players appearing on the Twitch gaming platform -- with new daily registrations up 400 percent.&quot;Since the release of &#x27;The Queen&#x27;s Gambit&#x27; we have seen roughly 2.5 million new members join,&quot; the website&#x27;s Nick Barton told AFP. &quot;Nearly each day of November we&#x27;ve set a new company record for the most members joining.&quot; Worldwide, Google reported searches for &quot;chess&quot; are at their highest level in 14 years.It is just the latest burst of popularity for a game that is believed to have originated in India in the seventh century and was played -- and occasionally banned -- by medieval European kings, before becoming more established in the late 1800s. In modern times, chess had a resurgence during the Cold War.That period forms the backdrop for &quot;The Queen&#x27;s Gambit,&quot; and the story of a youthful American taking on a wily Soviet grandmaster is inspiring another generation of players. &quot;There has been a massive surge in adults interested,&quot; according to chess master and Sydney Academy of Chess director Brett Tindall, who called it &quot;unprecedented.&quot;Tindall told AFP he has fielded calls from 40 to 50 adults looking for lessons in the last few weeks, and when carrying academy-branded kit he reports being stopped in the street and asked his opinion about the series. <div>More women playing</div>On school visits, normally ambivalent teachers have gone out of their way to approach him, and some students are tuning in too -- even though the series features heavy alcohol and drug abuse.&quot;I was at a school this morning, and few kids were talking about it, and I was like: &#x27;Guys, I don&#x27;t think you&#x27;re really meant to be watching this show,&#x27;&quot; he said. Chess.com&#x27;s Barton said the show&#x27;s focus on female lead Beth Harmon -- played by Anya Taylor-Joy -- had prompted more women to register than usual.They were now also spending more time on the site than men. &quot;These shows really help to increase the curiosity value and newcomers are attracted to the game,&quot; Vijay Deshpande, secretary of the All India Chess Federation, told AFP.&quot;We have a lot of good chess players in the country and the number has grown during the lockdown. Young people are hooked to technology and they were attracted to online chess.&quot;Grandmaster and former US champion Jennifer Shahade has said she &quot;loved&quot; the show and had been inundated with people asking her for lessons or tips.&quot;I&#x27;m honestly just blown away by all the positive attention chess is getting right now. People get us in a way they haven&#x27;t before,&quot; she said on a recent podcast. &quot;Chess is something people need right now -- the introspection, the delightful escape into a smaller world of 64 squares,&quot; she said.According to Tindall, the interest goes beyond just the game. The series&#x27; opulent settings, Cold War kitsch and period chess equipment seem to have captured people&#x27;s imagination. &quot;We sell lots of different types of (chess) clocks. I have a lot of older style clocks and recently people want to get the clocks from the show... I&#x27;m not joking,&quot; said Tindall. &quot;A while ago, we were just trying to clear them out. They aren&#x27;t really used in competitions any more. We use digital ones.&quot; Most chess commentators have given the show high marks for authenticity -- perhaps unsurprising, given Russian grandmaster Garry Kasparov and US chess author Bruce Pandolfini were consultants.&quot;It&#x27;s the best thing I&#x27;ve seen about chess,&quot; said French grandmaster Anthony Wirig during an online event about the show.The &quot;Queen&#x27;s Gambit&quot; of the title refers to a popular opening that offers a white pawn as a barbed lure to black, which can accept or decline.Australian grandmaster Ian Rogers said the lead character Beth Harmon resembles US prodigy Bobby Fischer, who also faced a formidable Soviet opponent. Fischer&#x27;s politically tinged matches against the USSR&#x27;s Boris Spassky were watched on television by millions. &quot;However Harmon&#x27;s struggles with pills and alcohol are all her own,&quot; Rogers told the Sydney Morning Herald.&quot;Nowadays Harmon would be banned by WADA&#x27;s drug testers long before she reached the top.&quot; <div>© Agence France-Presse</div><div>Related video:</div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qKVIQI2XmrM?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

Hit miniseries "The Queen's Gambit" has led to a surge of interest in chess, with one popular website registering millions of new players and academies reporting unprecedented demand.

Hit miniseries "The Queen's Gambit" has led to a surge of interest in chess, with one popular website registering millions of new players and academies reporting unprecedented demand.

'Queen's Gambit' accepted: Netflix's hit series sparks chess frenzy

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'Queen's Gambit' accepted: Netflix's hit series sparks chess frenzy

Andrew Beatty,

Agence France-Presse

Published Nov 26, 2020 06:27 PM PHT

Read More:

The Queen's Gambit

Netflix

chess

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