How chess got cool

Ten years ago, comedian Matt Kirshen’s one-liner was voted the fifth-best at the Edinburgh Fringe. ‘I was playing chess with my friend and he said “Let’s make this interesting”. So we stopped playing chess.’ Not bad, as jabs go, and I’ve heard a few — as has any lifelong chess player. Well, times have changed. Late last year, Netflix TV series The Queen’s Gambit was watched by 62 million households in its first 28 days. Who’s laughing now?

I suppose I can admit that the popularity of the series wasn’t entirely down to the chess. The wondrous eyes of Anya Taylor-Joy as heroine Beth Harmon surely played a part, and period styling works like catnip on TV audiences. But chess had a place at the heart of it, and The Queen’s Gambit brought to life the grunge and glamour you get on the chess circuit. Playing the game probably won’t make you rich, but it might get you laid.

It’s not for everyone, this teetering between anguish and triumph, but the show made people want to try it. Some told me so, while others asked me to give them lessons. Following the series’ release, sales of chessboards went through the roof — not that you need one to get started. Websites such as lichess.org and chess.com make it possible to start a game in seconds, at any time of day, against opponents across the world. I would often glimpse those opponents in pre–pandemic times, seated alone on a train, or in a café, and feel a sort of kinship. They didn’t swipe and they didn’t scroll, but they stared intently at their chequered screens, lost in the possibilities.