It has been a month since the launch of the limited series ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ on Netflix. The show is about chess prodigy Beth Harmon, a woman who excels in a game dominated by men during the Golden Age of Chess (the Cold War era).
The show been loved around the world on Netflix (it is their biggest scripted limited series yet!), including here in the Philippines where it made it into the Top 10 list and even to number 1. 62 million households chose to watch ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ in its first 28 days, and it has also sparked a renewed interest in chess.
THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT (L to R) ANYA TAYLOR-JOY as BETH HARMON in episode 102 of THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT Cr. PHIL BRAY/NETFLIX © 2020
Google search queries for chess have doubled, while searches for “how to play chess” have hit a nine-year peak. Google Search queries also went up in The Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia. Downloads for Chess.com’s app have gone up dramatically since the release of the series. Similarly, on Lichess.org, the number of daily players peaked after the launch of Queen’s Gambit as per their tweet.
‘The Queen’s Gambit’ novel is also on The New York Times bestseller list at the moment – 37 years after its release.
Have you watched the series yet?
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