Chess is king
When I saw
The Queen’s Gambit for the first time, it was obvious that Netflix had struck gold. What I never expected was how the show would lead to a chess explosion.
While Netflix’s focus might merely be to create profitable content, the company is inadvertently sparking trends. The folks at Netflix are becoming the gatekeepers of culture and have somehow made a seemingly boring sport cool.
As a bookseller, it’s not the first time I’ve seen Netflix cause massive stirs in esoteric pop culture which leads to merchandise flying off the shelves. In 2019, the company brought
Nakamura casts doubt on whether GCT will take place
The world s no. 1 ranked blitz player Hikaru Nakamura opens up about his Grand Chess Tour absence, casts doubt on whether the five events will take place at all in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and states his belief that the future of top level chess will be online.
Hikaru Nakamura after winning the Paris Grand Chess Tour in 2018. The American will not be a regular player on the 2021 Grand Chess Tour, but reveals he may accept an invitation as a wildcard | photo: Lennart Ootes
As chess24 reported last week, the 2021 Grand Chess Tour announced a 10-player field without two of the sport s biggest stars, Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura. While Carlsen s father said a busy schedule, including the Champions Chess Tour, Altibox Norway Chess and preparations for the next World Championship, was among their reasons for not playing, it was not immediately clear why Nakamura was not taking part this time.
Frank Scott's "The Queen's Gambit" with Anya Taylor-Joy as Beth Harmon is the most successful Netflix series of all time, and despite small inaccuracies it convincingly shows how exciting and fascinating chess can be. In fact, the games Beth Harmon plays in the series were almost all taken from actual tournament or matches. But which games found their way into the series? In <a href="https://www.newinchess.com/new-in-chess-2020-8">New in Chess Magazine 08/2020</a> Erwin l'Ami took a closer look. | Photo: Beth Harmon's most crucial game | Photo: Screenshot from the series
Carlsen & Nakamura missing in 2021 Grand Chess Tour field
The Grand Chess Tour will return in 2021, but chess fans will be missing two of the biggest names as both Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura declined invitations. The organisers have announced the ten participants and the tour schedule, which includes two classical events and three rapid/blitz events during three months this summer.
Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura turned down invitations to join the 2021 Grand Chess Tour as full participants, but could appear as wildcards in one or more events | photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour
In 2020 the tour had to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but with vaccines being rolled out all over the world, there is some hope that life can go back to normal and over-the-board events can resume. Executive Director Michael Khodarkovsky commented:
World chess champion Carlsen is highest earning esports player of 2020 Tuesday, 19 January 2021
Norway’s world chess champion Magnus Carlsen has been named as the world’s highest-earning esports player of 2020 after successfully turning his hand at gaming during the coronavirus pandemic.
The 30-year-old grandmaster registered $510,587 (£375,795/€422,559) in prize money from
Chess24.
Carlsen, who first reached the top of the International Chess Federation world rankings in 2010, goes by the name of DrNykterstein on the computer game.
He was joined in the top 10 by American grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura, whose winnings totalled $325,000 (£239,183/€268,968) for the year.
The top 50 also featured two more
Chess 24 players, demonstrating the sport’s rise in the gaming world.