The rediscovery of chess thanks to Netflix
In 2020, the big voice in terms of news welcomed with so much media hype from the general public was undoubtedly the new films and new television series broadcast by the main streaming and entertainment content platforms.
Faced with the major changes that have taken place in the past year , in terms of habits, movements and lifestyles of most people, the digital universe has been ready . For years, entertainment platforms for all tastes have proliferated: from William Hill casino , for gambling and card game lovers, to online information sites that are increasingly updated and ready for daily consultation, in the presence of platforms that have facilitated the sharing of live content around the world (just think of the Twitch explosion), the continuous publication of new TV series (and in this case we mainly think of Netflix) that have captured the attention of millions of people.
The Netflix series "The Chess Queen"
A striking example of this was the Netflix series The Queen of Chess . The US television miniseries, consisting of seven medium-length episodes, is available on the streaming platform starting from 23 October 2020, and thanks to the growing number of people forced to stay at home, it has recorded impressive numbers. Not only that, thanks to the influence of the TV series and the extraordinary protagonist Beth Harmon, a large slice of the public has discovered or rediscovered the passion for chess for the first time . The numbers of use of online platforms where it is possible to increase the knowledge of one of the most popular strategy games in the world by doing have grown exponentially.
Also by virtue of a strong relevance to political issues (throughout the twentieth century, Russia was considered the true homeland of chess, with the United States coming to remove the scepter from its Soviet rivals in 1972, with the so-called game of the century won by Bobby Fischer against Boris Spasskij), the notoriety of this game has been known for many decades. With the TV series, however, the attention of the general public has certainly made a qualitative leap , and has allowed the proliferation of the game on online platforms.
Understanding why it's easy: the story of the American player, who comes to defeat the greatest Russian rival Borgov, inspired by the 1983 novel of the same name written by Walter Tevis, became the most viewed series of the day on Netflix on October 28th. At 28 days after the broadcast it had already been seen by 62 million people, ranking as the most consumed Netflix series ever with a non-original script, and also welcoming the consent of one of the greatest players ever such as Magnus Carlsen.
The prodigy series blew up the world of chess , shaping one of the most interesting social phenomena of recent months. To give some numbers: ten days after the release of the series, the eBay site recorded a growth of 273% in purchases of playsets; the word 'chess' in the Google search bar doubled from the previous year in terms of the number of searches. The director of business development at chess.com said the site had signed up eleven million new members since March 1, more than six million from the previous year. In short, the world of digital commerce and entertaining have certainly benefited from the social changes that have occurred in recent months practically throughout the Western world: the series The queen of chess and its influence in the rediscovery of the strategy game are an eloquent and sensational one. example.
The article The rediscovery of chess thanks to Netflix comes from Tech CuE .