Other sites like chess.com allow players anywhere to play each other from their own homes: “The ability to play online chess with people a world away is one of the driving forces behind the recent chess boom,” said Toliver.
Nick Barton, director of business development at chess.com, said the site has seen substantial growth during the pandemic. Since March 1, “the site has onboarded roughly 11.1 million new members — an increase of 6.54 million since this time last year,” he said.
It would seem “The Queen’s Gambit,” which hit Netflix Oct. 23, is also having an impact.
Chess.com, Barton said, has ”set a new record for most new members in a single day nearly every single day of November.”
Toliver, a sophomore, says he binged the series the day it came out.
“It didn’t disappoint,” he said. “Most shows involving chess do not bother to accurately depict the game. ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ is different.”
Directed by Scott Frank, the series’ “portrayal of chess is so accurate that it is often possible for viewers versed in the game to predict Beth’s moves,” Toliver says.
Perhaps not since 1993′s “Searching for Bobby Fischer” has chess-on-screen been this buzzy.
The Netflix adaptation of Walter Tevis’s 1983 novel, set in the Cold War era, about chess prodigy and Kentucky orphan Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy) is No. 1 on Netflix as of this writing.
Harvard Chess Club President Ella Papanek, a chess expert, said she “definitely noticed a rise in the game’s popularity at the beginning of quarantine.”
The Harvard senior hasn’t yet watched the Netflix series but plans to when the semester ends. “Chess usually doesn’t get much press, so this is certainly unique.”
Chess national and life master Ilya Krasik of Boston teaches kids at New England Chess School, and players of all ages in private lessons.
“I ran more camps this summer than I’ve ever run. You can attribute that to” the pandemic, said Krasik, who learned chess as a boy in St. Petersburg, Russia, and continued to study after his family immigrated to Boston when he was 12.
“[T]witching is all the rage nowadays, and top players are making a good living streaming their matches,” said Krasik. Among other honors, he won the 2016 Boston Chess Congress Blitz Championship, and has seen some of his students become masters.
Toliver is a fan of Twitchers/YouTube sensations grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky and grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura. “The latter, a multiple US Chess Champion, is probably most responsible for the recent boom in chess popularity,” he says.
Popular Twitchers can make money off ad revenue, subscriptions to their channels, or donations, Toliver explained.
A little while ago, he said, “if you wanted to make a living with chess, you had to be in the top 20 in the world, or teach. Now you see people who can survive off chess and all they’re doing is streaming.”
“The best way to learn quickly is to hire a coach, and play a lot — online or in person,” says Krasik. Players looking for a game might try lichess.org, which is free, he said.
New England Chess School offers online classes in various levels for kids, Krasik said. Adults might hire a private coach, or take to the web.
“Chess has never been more accessible to novice players than it is now,” says Toliver, who learned the game from his grandmother at age 8. “Online resources like chess.com and chess YouTube channels are great ways to start learning.”
He suggests Chess.com’s “How to Play Chess” series, and their “Everything You Need to Know About Chess” series. He also recommends Naroditsky’s YouTube, or John Bartholomew’s YouTube “Chess Fundamentals” series.
In the Netflix series and the novel, the main character is the only, or one of very few, women in the room — a girl breaking the glass ceiling of the boys’ club.
“I’ve often been the only female playing in a tournament, but it’s never bothered me,” says Ella Papanek, 21, who learned to play chess at 8. “One of the great things about chess is that the results speak for themselves.”
Lauren Daley can be reached at [email protected]. She tweets @laurendaley1.
Lauren Daley can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twiiter @laurendaley1.