We’re going to be taking a detour from the regular big name video games and their updates, to explore a new community within the school that’s been growing in the past few months, which is playing online chess.

I’ve really only noticed the rise in popularity ever since we got back from winter break, but from friends that I’ve talked to who play, it’s been something since the beginning of this year. I see lots of classmates pull up Chess.com and play puzzles to warm up their brain and then move on to play actual games against actual people or go through lessons to learn new openings or how to analyze games.

A website that offers anything and everything about chess, to playing computer opponents of similar skill level to work on real game strategies, playing real people from across the world, and reading news on what’s happening at the top level of chess players. Chess.com has become the hub for high schoolers to learn about the game and have fun playing against friends. 

Now what’s interesting about this rise in popularity, is where it stems from, which goes all the way back to 2020 and 2021. Within these years, the popular show, The Queen’s Gambit, was released, which skyrocketed the want to play chess, and the flame was fueled by Twitch and multiple chess grandmasters streaming their games, giving insight on how they read the game and decide what’s the next best move to make.

This is an awesome community to see on the rise because chess is a more than a thousand year old game yet is still able to find new players and interest in the newer generations that want to study strategies or play fun competitive games against friends. It’s great to see technology mix with something older and see the positivity that’s been gained from it. It shows the possibilities that technology offers, especially with things that are older and may benefit if they find their way online.