De Netflix-serie The Queen’s Gambit has made many people curious about the game of chess. Online chess is especially popular, as evidenced by the explosively growing number of members on online chess platforms. Good news: you don’t have to be a child prodigy to master the game. Chess grandmaster and former Dutch champion Jorden van Foreest (21) gives a glimpse of the veil.
“Start practicing tactics and combinations with which you can immediately beat the opponent”, says Van Foreest. The first game that lead character Beth Harmon plays in the series, she loses in a few moves. “You quickly learn those tricks when you play chess on the internet, because you kick it once and the next game you know it again.”
In 2015, at the age of sixteen, Van Foreest became the Netherlands’ youngest ever chess grandmaster and won the Dutch championship the following year. “To become a grandmaster you have to have a FIDE rating of 2,500,” he explains. FIDE stands for Fédération Internationale des Échecs, the international chess federation that awards this title. In addition, you must achieve three FIDE standards, for example by finishing first in designated tournaments or by winning against a grandmaster.
‘Interest in online chess has grown enormously’
The chess world is undergoing significant development this year, says Eric van Breugel of the Royal Dutch Chess Association (KNSB). Physical board games and tournaments, such as the Dutch championship, have been canceled this year due to the corona measures.
Fortunately, you can also play chess online. “Not all chess players want it, but fortunately the majority do, even if it is often only as a bridge”, says Van Breugel. “Interest in online chess has grown enormously because of corona, both among young people and adults.”
“For November we are heading for four times the sales of chess items compared to last year. That is really a lot. ”
Ivar Smit, Chess & Gowinkel Het Paard
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And then there was The Queen’s Gambit. The Netflix series caused a run on chessboards this month and an explosion in online chess players. “For November we are heading for four times the sales of chess articles compared to last year. That is really a lot”, says Ivar Smit of Schaak & Gowinkel Het Paard in Amsterdam, of which the official chess association shop is part. “They are people who used to play chess and want to pick it up again and a lot of new chess players who have become intrigued by the series.”
What exactly is a Queen’s Gambit?
The Queen’s Gambit, or Queen’s Gambit, is a chess opening where you give away a pawn from a strategic point of view. “It already starts from the first two moves”, explains chess grandmaster Van Foreest.
“If you move the first two pawns forward in front of the queen, it characterizes itself as something that makes the opening more strategic.” Within the Queen’s Gambit there are also sub-openings. For example, the opponent can ‘accept’ the queen’s gambit, so capture one of the pawns, or refuse.
But beginners don’t have to worry about learning complicated openings, according to Van Foreest. “At the beginner level, the games are not decided in the opening, but because the opponent allows a checkmate or gives away a piece in one move,” he says.
“Chess is mainly pattern recognition. There are millions of combinations and tactics. The more you know, the more you see coming.”
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