<p>Hit miniseries <em>The Queen's Gambit</em> has led to a surge of interest in chess, with one popular website registering millions of new players and academies reporting unprecedented demand.</p>.<p>Netflix said the show, which follows the turbulent career of a fictional female child prodigy in the 1950s and 1960s, has become its most-watched ever and is currently the number-one ranked programme in 63 countries.</p>.<p>Gaming site Chess.com said the series had prompted a wave of interest — already piqued by the pandemic and top-flight chess players appearing on the Twitch gaming platform — with new daily registrations up 400 per cent.</p>.<p>"Since the release of <em>The Queen's Gambit</em> we have seen roughly 2.5 million new members join," the website's Nick Barton told AFP.</p>.<p>"Nearly each day of November we've set a new company record for the most members joining."</p>.<p>Worldwide, Google reported searches for "chess" are at their highest level in 14 years.</p>.<p>It is just the latest burst of popularity for a game that is believed to have originated in India in the seventh century and was played — and occasionally banned — by medieval European kings, before becoming more established in the late 1800s.</p>.<p>In modern times, chess had a resurgence during the Cold War.</p>.<p>That period forms the backdrop for <em>The Queen's Gambit</em>, and the story of a youthful American taking on a wily Soviet grandmaster is inspiring another generation of players.</p>.<p>"There has been a massive surge in adults interested," according to chess master and Sydney Academy of Chess director Brett Tindall, who called it "unprecedented".</p>.<p>Tindall told AFP he has fielded calls from 40-50 adults looking for lessons in the last few weeks, and when carrying academy-branded kit he reports being stopped in the street and asked his opinion about the series.</p>.<p>On school visits, normally ambivalent teachers have gone out of their way to approach him, and some students are tuning in too — even though the series features heavy alcohol and drug abuse.</p>.<p>"I was at a school this morning, and few kids were talking about it, and I was like: 'guys, I don't think you're really meant to be watching this show'," he said.</p>.<p>Chess.com's Barton said the show's focus on female lead Beth Harmon — played by Anya Taylor-Joy — had prompted more women to register than usual.</p>.<p>They were now also spending more time on the site than men.</p>.<p>"These shows really help to increase the curiosity value and newcomers are attracted to the game," Vijay Deshpande, secretary of the All India Chess Federation, told AFP.</p>.<p>"We have a lot of good chess players in the country and the number has grown during the lockdown. Young people are hooked to technology and they were attracted to online chess."</p>.<p>Grandmaster and former US champion Jennifer Shahade has said she "loved" the show and had been inundated with people asking her for lessons or tips.</p>.<p>"I'm honestly just blown away by all the positive attention chess is getting right now. People get us in a way they haven't before," she said on a recent podcast.</p>.<p>"Chess is something people need right now — the introspection, the delightful escape into a smaller world of 64 squares," she said.</p>.<p>According to Tindall, the interest goes beyond just the game.</p>.<p>The series' opulent settings, Cold War kitsch and period chess equipment seem to have captured people's imagination.</p>.<p>"We sell lots of different types of (chess) clocks. I have a lot of older style clocks and recently people want to get the clocks from the show... I'm not joking," said Tindall.</p>.<p>"A while ago, we were just trying to clear them out. They aren't really used in competitions any more. We use digital ones."</p>.<p>Most chess commentators have given the show high marks for authenticity — perhaps unsurprising, given Russian grandmaster Garry Kasparov and US chess author Bruce Pandolfini were consultants.</p>.<p>"It's the best thing I've seen about chess," said French grandmaster Anthony Wirig during an online event about the show.</p>.<p><em>The Queen's Gambit</em> of the title refers to a popular opening that offers a white pawn as a barbed lure to black, which can accept or decline.</p>.<p>Australian grandmaster Ian Rogers said the lead character Beth Harmon resembles US prodigy Bobby Fischer, who also faced a formidable Soviet opponent.</p>.<p>Fischer's politically tinged matches against the USSR's Boris Spassky were watched on television by millions.</p>.<p>"However Harmon's struggles with pills and alcohol are all her own," Rogers told the Sydney Morning Herald.</p>.<p>"Nowadays Harmon would be banned by WADA's drug testers long before she reached the top."</p>
<p>Hit miniseries <em>The Queen's Gambit</em> has led to a surge of interest in chess, with one popular website registering millions of new players and academies reporting unprecedented demand.</p>.<p>Netflix said the show, which follows the turbulent career of a fictional female child prodigy in the 1950s and 1960s, has become its most-watched ever and is currently the number-one ranked programme in 63 countries.</p>.<p>Gaming site Chess.com said the series had prompted a wave of interest — already piqued by the pandemic and top-flight chess players appearing on the Twitch gaming platform — with new daily registrations up 400 per cent.</p>.<p>"Since the release of <em>The Queen's Gambit</em> we have seen roughly 2.5 million new members join," the website's Nick Barton told AFP.</p>.<p>"Nearly each day of November we've set a new company record for the most members joining."</p>.<p>Worldwide, Google reported searches for "chess" are at their highest level in 14 years.</p>.<p>It is just the latest burst of popularity for a game that is believed to have originated in India in the seventh century and was played — and occasionally banned — by medieval European kings, before becoming more established in the late 1800s.</p>.<p>In modern times, chess had a resurgence during the Cold War.</p>.<p>That period forms the backdrop for <em>The Queen's Gambit</em>, and the story of a youthful American taking on a wily Soviet grandmaster is inspiring another generation of players.</p>.<p>"There has been a massive surge in adults interested," according to chess master and Sydney Academy of Chess director Brett Tindall, who called it "unprecedented".</p>.<p>Tindall told AFP he has fielded calls from 40-50 adults looking for lessons in the last few weeks, and when carrying academy-branded kit he reports being stopped in the street and asked his opinion about the series.</p>.<p>On school visits, normally ambivalent teachers have gone out of their way to approach him, and some students are tuning in too — even though the series features heavy alcohol and drug abuse.</p>.<p>"I was at a school this morning, and few kids were talking about it, and I was like: 'guys, I don't think you're really meant to be watching this show'," he said.</p>.<p>Chess.com's Barton said the show's focus on female lead Beth Harmon — played by Anya Taylor-Joy — had prompted more women to register than usual.</p>.<p>They were now also spending more time on the site than men.</p>.<p>"These shows really help to increase the curiosity value and newcomers are attracted to the game," Vijay Deshpande, secretary of the All India Chess Federation, told AFP.</p>.<p>"We have a lot of good chess players in the country and the number has grown during the lockdown. Young people are hooked to technology and they were attracted to online chess."</p>.<p>Grandmaster and former US champion Jennifer Shahade has said she "loved" the show and had been inundated with people asking her for lessons or tips.</p>.<p>"I'm honestly just blown away by all the positive attention chess is getting right now. People get us in a way they haven't before," she said on a recent podcast.</p>.<p>"Chess is something people need right now — the introspection, the delightful escape into a smaller world of 64 squares," she said.</p>.<p>According to Tindall, the interest goes beyond just the game.</p>.<p>The series' opulent settings, Cold War kitsch and period chess equipment seem to have captured people's imagination.</p>.<p>"We sell lots of different types of (chess) clocks. I have a lot of older style clocks and recently people want to get the clocks from the show... I'm not joking," said Tindall.</p>.<p>"A while ago, we were just trying to clear them out. They aren't really used in competitions any more. We use digital ones."</p>.<p>Most chess commentators have given the show high marks for authenticity — perhaps unsurprising, given Russian grandmaster Garry Kasparov and US chess author Bruce Pandolfini were consultants.</p>.<p>"It's the best thing I've seen about chess," said French grandmaster Anthony Wirig during an online event about the show.</p>.<p><em>The Queen's Gambit</em> of the title refers to a popular opening that offers a white pawn as a barbed lure to black, which can accept or decline.</p>.<p>Australian grandmaster Ian Rogers said the lead character Beth Harmon resembles US prodigy Bobby Fischer, who also faced a formidable Soviet opponent.</p>.<p>Fischer's politically tinged matches against the USSR's Boris Spassky were watched on television by millions.</p>.<p>"However Harmon's struggles with pills and alcohol are all her own," Rogers told the Sydney Morning Herald.</p>.<p>"Nowadays Harmon would be banned by WADA's drug testers long before she reached the top."</p>