Matrix Games

 The Queen’s Gambit. Chessboxing. The rise of chess influencers, with flocks of viewers following anybody from youthful BotezLive to the intricate strategies of grandmaster GMHikaru. The examples are endless: chess is booming. 

The explosion of chess players worldwide. Juicy cheating scandals involving some of the biggest names in the chess world. The most popular social media post of 2022 featuring Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, the two football stars, with a square chessboard in between them.

Chess’ popularity continues to spread far and wide. But, those who say that chess is back couldn’t be further from the truth. Chess was never gone in the first place.

Chess’ popularity through the ages

Over hundreds of years old, chess might not be the oldest strategy game in existence, but it is arguably one of the most well-known. With its two opposing sides facing off across the large checkered chessboard and the variety of units and pieces - each with its unique mechanic and counters - results in strategies that seem countless in complexity and number. Easy to learn, difficult to master. It’s not a challenge to spot chess's lasting influence on strategy and wargames. 

The deep origins of chess can be traced back over 1500 years to an earlier board game found on the Indian subcontinent called chaturanga. From spreading first to Persia, and then the Muslim world, versions of chess settled down in medieval Europa around 1500. It was then that the rules of chess coalesced around the format recognizable today. Make no mistake, the evolution of chess never stopped. 

The adaptability of chess knows no limits

Watch the real pros at work and see how chess becomes the stuff of legends. Grandmasters who think dozens of moves ahead. With a flick of the wrist and a scoot of the chair, they can play against classrooms of people one after the other - and win resoundingly. Chess is not just one of the most popular strategy games, but also a work of art, a higher form of science. 

For the duration of most of its existence, the so-called Romantic period - chess was played with lightning-fast strokes. Expert tactics, but not much else. Since the late 19th century, the focus has shifted. First, tournaments became commonplace, and as a result, multi-turn strategies. Then chess theory emerged, the establishment of a worldwide federation, supercomputers beating grandmasters, and the popularity of online chess. The game never stopped changing. 

And now, chess continues to prove its enduring adaptability. Now chess gets live-streamed, seeing a tremendous rise in popularity, especially during the pandemic. Influencers and live streamers have discovered the complex fun of chess in droves. PogChamps, a recurring chess tournament on Twitch, has gained a peak concurrent viewership of over 375,000 viewers. Not bad for a board game hundreds of years old. 

Chess, the great inspiration

How much do strategy and simulation games find their inspiration in chess? Quite a lot. Better said, so much so that complex wargames can trace their lineage back to chess - which in essence is an abstract wargame on the rules of war. 

Hexes follow the black-and-white chessboard; the abstract pieces turned back into recognizable units, from pawns to common foot soldiers to tanks or whatever the game developer wants them to be.

The board becomes the tabletop map, turning into a beautifully realized and expertly recreated battlefield. 

Chess and video games

At Slitherine, the importance and popularity of chess in games have always been obvious. It is one of wits, dazzling intellect, and deep strategy, something seen in many of the publishers’ titles. Panzer Corps 2 is a shining example of this. A deep, multilayered strategy game celebrated for its complexity and simulation mechanics. Bringing the elegance and accessible fun of chess to this World War II strategy game was a challenge happily taken on by Slitherine. The new multiplayer maps coming to Panzer Corps 2 include several battlefields - small, symmetrical, and intense - directly inspired by chess.

Strategy games tell stories. Chess is strategy abstracted. Combine both, as with Panzer Corps 2 - and magic is born.

Will Chess’ popularity keep on rising?

In the latest update, the crossover from Panzer Corps 2 to chess is an homage to history made real. Take the units arrayed on the intimate board and strike forward, but be aware of each unit’s strengths and drawbacks. The action is intense and lightning fast, the flow much like a chess game on a symmetrical board, but this time played with World War II units from Pioneers to Katyusha rockets, Tiger IIs, and IS-2 heavy tanks. 

The rise and rise of chess doesn’t seem to stop. For example, Chess.com said that on the last day of the previous year, the 31st of December, 7 million active members were on the website in a single day. Ten days later, this was a whopping 10 million. 

The future looks bright. The future is chess. The future is strategy.  

Credits

Text: Stephan Meijerhof
Pictures: Pexels, Pixabay