Gambit pays off for Netflix and chess
A miniseries set in the unlikely world of chess in the 1960s has become an international mega-hit, bringing the game out of the realm of geeks and into the mainstream, writes Emily Brookes.
Netflix miniseries The Queen’s Gambit not only the platform’s most successful limited scripted series, it has created a global – and local – renaissance for one of its stars: The game of chess.
Long relegated to the ranks of geeks and intellectuals, chess is enjoying mainstream appeal the likes ofwhich have perhaps never been seen before thanks to its supporting role in The Queen’s Gambit.
It helps that the person most often seen playing it is the beautiful and sexy young actress Anya Taylor-Joy; she’s a far cry from formerworld champion Garry Kasparov.
The seven-part series has become one of the great Netflix original success stories, attracting 62 million households in the month after its worldwide October 23 release.
It spent 29 days in New Zealand Netflix’s top 10, 17 of those at number 1.
And the fictional story of an orphaned chess prodigy in the 1960swho strives to become a chess grand master while overcoming drug addiction and childhood trauma (phew) has also led viewers to chess.
Internationally, Google searches for ‘‘how to play chess’’ have hit a nine-year peak and Kiwis are bang on trend – Google searches here hit a steep and rapid spike in the weeks after the show’s release.
On Trade Me, searches for chess boards and sets are up by around 30 per cent, and sales for last month are up 35 per cent on the year before.
New Zealand Chess Federation vice-president Paul Spiller said The Queen’s Gambit had been a hot topic on social media among the chess-playing community.
‘‘The response generally, even from top chess players, has been pretty positive,’’ he said. ‘‘A lot of chess players think it’s the best chess movie or series that’s come out.’’
Chess players could be ‘‘a bit picky’’ about the way their beloved game was portrayed on screen but the show’s producers had taken a lot of trouble to ensure it was accurate, even engaging Kasparov to consult.
Spiller was aware of a ‘‘massive uptake’’ in chess-playing since The Queen’s Gambit was released. It had brought in ‘‘people who wouldn’t normally be interested in chess’’, notably women, inspired by one of the first and certainly the most prominent female chess players in pop culture.
Former players who had drifted away from chess had come back to the game after watching the show, Spiller added.
It’s not unusual for shows or films to generate interest in the sport they’re centred on. Awhole generation of kids tried out martial arts after the release of The Karate Kid in 1984, and eight years later surprise hit Strictly Ballroom was credited with dance studios suddenly filling with students the world over.
After The Hunger Games came out in 2013, young people – particularly girls – flocked to archery in record numbers, according to internet radio website NPR.
But Spiller thought chess might be benefiting from a double-whammy: Not only is it getting a glossy boost from The Queen’s Gambit, it’s one of the few competitive sports that can be played when much of the world is in lockdown.
Chess boards have been replicated faithfully online for decades already, and thanks to the internet, games and even international tournaments have continued during the Covid-19 pandemic.
‘‘There are massive numbers of people playing online,’’ said Spiller. ‘‘That’s the appeal of it, you don’t have to go out. You can sit at home and play.’’
Spiller wasn’t so thrilled with The Queen’s Gambit’s depiction of drug and alcohol use in chess (the game is subject to International Olympic Committee regulations, so players are regularly tested for banned substances), but overall he was pleased with how it had ‘‘highlighted the chess scene’’.
‘‘The response generally, even from top chess players, has been pretty positive. A lot of chess players think it’s the best chess movie or series that’s come out.’’ Paul Spiller
New Zealand Chess Federation vice-president, above