FORGET boxing. Forget the NBA.
Because there is a very different sport set to take over Madison Square Garden in the next few years.
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And that is chess.
It may not be a new sport – in fact, it’s been around for more than 1,500 years – but chess is enjoying a revival that is ready to take over.
Netflix hit The Queen’s Gambit coinciding with the Covid lockdowns propelled the game into the forefront of people’s minds again, dusting off the chequered boards and playing with Boris Johnson’s daily press briefings on the TV in the background.
It is now estimated that a whopping 605million people across the world play chess – including plenty of top athletes such as Harry Kane and Mo Salah.
However, just 10,000 watch it – the total inverse of most popular sports.
Now, grandmaster and 17-time world champion Magnus Carlsen has teamed up with Norwegian entrepreneur Mats Andre Kristiansen to create a streaming app to revolutionise chess into a spectator sport.
Kristiansen – who founded Norway’s first billion-dollar start-up company with an online groceries business – told SunSport: “In Norway, because of Magnus, we watch chess like any other sport on television.
“But the chess ecosystem is a bit broken. It’s very hard for a casual fan to come in and understand who the best players are and when they are playing.
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“Our app Take Take Take is the first serious platform to push chess into the level of spectating sport.
“If you could get everyone that has ever played chess to get excited about watching chess, I think easily a billion people could follow a top-level chess game.
“The sky’s the limit in terms of where this could go.
“I could see in five years’ time that we could sell out Madison Square Garden and make big live events.
“One of the reasons this hasn’t happened before is that spectators are asked to be absolutely silent during a chess event because it’s very easy to cheat and give the players hints.
“You would need to put the players inside a glass box or something so spectators can cheer and scream and be loud.
“If someone could solve that over the next couple of years, I think really we could see chess turn into a fantastic spectating sport.”
The Take Take Take app, launched in October, enables fans to keep tabs on live matches, socialise with other fans, complete interactive challenges and will introduce various games – including fantasy chess in 2025, with Carlsen originally having the idea because he is one of the best fantasy football players in the world.
Kristiansen likened chess to golf, tennis and cycling as sports that can take a while but have key, critical moments with big ramifications.
To make chess into a spectator sport, you need to help people watching understand what is going on inside two people’s minds
Mats Andre Kristiansen
So Take Take Take will cover the upcoming World Championship final with broadcasts in the app and make the most of commentators, AI and graphics such as the “evaluation bar” to ‘Give, Give, Give’ an education to newer, casual fans.
CEO Kristiansen, 38, added: “Chess is very relatable because people play chess from five to 105 years old.
“To make it into a spectator sport, you need to help people watching understand what is going on in the action on the board because everything is inside two people’s minds.”
The app – downloaded in 180 countries in the first seven days – received investment backing from Breakthrough Initiatives, the company spearheaded by Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg and Google founder Sergey Brin.
Clearly, they too see the huge potential of growing chess’ spectator and commercial value.
And that is largely down to the influence of Carlsen, Netflix and viral YouTubers – who together have raised its profile across the sporting and entertainment world.
ALL ON BOARD
Oslo-based Kristiansen, who played Carlsen as part of 25 simultaneous matches in 2016, added: “Magnus Carlsen is the best chess player, he’s renowned as the first chess superstar and his influence for chess has been insane.
“Mo Salah from Liverpool plays chess. He would love to play Magnus. That would be great. Harry Kane is a chess fan.
“Netflix made The Queen’s Gambit and is launching their Drive To Survive-style documentary for chess next year and Emma Stone bought the production rights for the cheating scandal between Magnus and Hans Niemann.
“Chess.com’s biggest surge in growth was when all the YouTubers and content creators got brought on to the platform to play chess.
“There are definitely lots of things happening to popularise chess even more.”
Without doubt, for more than a millennium-and-a-half, people all over the world have fallen in love WITH chess.
And now Kristiansen is delighted to see people falling in love THROUGH chess.
He concluded: “I travel a lot with Magnus and there are more and more chess bars opening in Europe… in Paris, in London, in Berlin, in Stockholm where one is a nightclub with 100 chess boards set up in the basement.
“And now in Los Angeles, there is even the LA Chess Club which is a speed-dating event. You can see casual chess fans want to meet in bars and play chess.”
Check it out, mate.
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