They Don’t Know Why

These schools reflect an increased interest in chess that began in 2020, credited in part to Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit. Chess hadn’t seen this level of popularity since the 1972 World Chess Championship, according to the New York Times. That was the first chess boom. Since then it’s grown even more popular, and in January, chess hit middle and high school students. The abrupt boost in popularity caused Chess.com, the most popular chess app, to crumble, forcing the company to upgrade its servers significantly. By late January, Chess.com had 10 million active members, it said; in April, it hit around 12 million per day. That’s in contrast to its usership before the pandemic, which was fewer than 2 million active players.

Chess is booming among teens. Here’s why - Polygon