Inside Formula 1’s driver chess club

But it is not the only sport or pastime to enjoy such a surge. In October 2020, The Queen’s Gambit became a hit on Netflix, based on the 1983 novel about a female chess prodigy, played by Anya Taylor-Joy, who rises to become the greatest player in the world.

It resulted in a massive swell in interest for chess. Retailers reported sales for chessboards were up as much as 1,000%, according to The New York Times, while new sign-ups to chess.com, one of the world’s biggest…