Last modified on Fri 29 Jan 2021 07.00 EST
One day a number of years ago, I was deep into a game of draughts on holiday with my daughter, then almost four, in the small library of a beachfront town. Her eye drifted to a nearby table, where a black-and-white board bristled with far more interesting figures (many a future chess master has been innocently drawn in by âhorsesâ and âcastlesâ).
âWhatâs that?â she asked. âChess,â I replied. âCan we play?â she pleaded. I nodded absently.
There was just one problem: I didnât know how. I dimly remembered having learned the basic moves as a kid, but chess had never stuck. This fact vaguely haunted me through my life. I would see an idle board in a hotel lobby or a puzzle in a weekend newspaper supplement, and feel a pang.
Emo Philips
By now almost everyone has heard about The Queenâs Gambit. This is a Netflix miniseries featuring actress Anya Taylor-Joy. Set in the 1950s and 1960s it tells the fictional story of Beth Harmon, an orphaned chess prodigy, who rises to become the worldâs chess champion, overcoming addiction in the process. Within a month of its release in October it had become Netflixâs most popular dramatic miniseries ever. Even the international chess community gave it a positive reception. Former world champion Garry Kasparov and chess expert Bruce Pandolfini served as technical consultants to the production and the current world champion Magnus Carlsen even gave it a 5 out of 6 star rating.
Meet Jessica Lauser, the reigning three-time U S Blind chess champion orlandosentinel.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from orlandosentinel.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Many poker players have been known to seek out some checkmating action as well. The same might even be true for chess players. With the series burning up Netflix, many poker players are getting back to the chess board.
Strategy, fun, and playing online
Like poker, there can be deep theories and heavy mathematical combinations involved in chess. Amateur chess coach
Jarod Watson of Atlanta,
Georgia, recently started playing poker and noticed several similarities.
“The first thing I noticed that was similar was learning to defend against aggressive opponents,” he says. “Figuring out a player’s style is the key in how you will counter effectively.”
Chess rises in popularity on LI due to the pandemic — and Netflix newsday.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from newsday.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.