I just finished watching The Queen’s Gambit not too long ago; it was my go-to Netflix-series-to-watch whenever I was cycling on Zwift. Anya Taylor-Joy is one of my favourite actresses and she gave such an amazing performance in the series. Not only that, the high production values lent the series’ swinging 60s setting such credence that anyone watching would have thought, “Wow, that was really a cool time”.
In any case, The Queen’s Gambit has sparked so many conversations around chess, and that it’s not merely a board game; just like how chess is to Beth from the show, chess is somewhat of a way out, or with dealing with the world around you. It can be even be a career for some.
During my time when PC gaming was still rather nascent (yup, with the likes of Doom and Wolf3D running around), there was Battle Chess, a by-now archaic title from Interplay that features walking, talking (ok, some had sound effects) pieces moving around the board as players directed them as per a normal chess game. It was also one of the first games that I had on a CDROM (the other was a Space Quest compendium).
Coming to more modern times, the indie developers at RedDeerGames have informed us that they are bringing forward (which is a rare thing in game development, but no doubt to catch the wave that The Queen’s Gambit has set) the release of their new chess title, Brawl Chess for the Nintendo Switch (19th Nov) and the Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S (20th Nov).
The game features 5 difficulty levels when played against the A.I, but players can play against each other. The graphics for Brawl Chess were designed by Platige Image studio. They filled the chessboard with brilliant animations and humor and also brought to life the various heroes.
Interested in a game of chess? You can pre-order Brawl Chess for the Nintendo Switch or the Xbox Series X/S or Xbox One.
