The only thing that may come close to rivaling The Queen’s Gambit in the present Zeitgeist may be Super Mario and the Nintendo Switch. This set comes with 32 hand-painted playing pieces, including Princess Peach, Luigi, and Yoshi, and a collector’s edition tin case for storage. Mario and Bowser are once again battling for the Mushroom Kingdom-only this time it’s through the strategic game of chess. If anything is going to get them off their Nintendo, it’s a Nintendo-inspired chess set. Improving critical thinking, concentration, memory, problem-solving, and the ability to think creatively-who wouldn’t want to improve their brain in those ways? Being able to do so while playing a game just makes it all the more appealing. We often think of old men in the park playing chess, but there are plenty of brainy benefits of teaching chess to kids-and they don’t have to be Bobby Fisher-level prodigies to reap them. Here are sets for players at every level-whether you're a Beth Harmon in hiding, just aspire to be, or if you're simply feeling chess-curious. If you’ve yet to get on the “new chess set bandwagon” you might want to think about buying yours right now. eBay has reported that every six minutes someone does a search for a chess set, and NPD published a recent finding that in the 21 days following the show's release, chess sales increased by 87% in the US. Over the past nine months of the pandemic, the game experienced what international chess master Levy Rozman called a “pandemic bump,” but since the show’s release chess sets are flying off shelves at nearly the same speed as Clorox wipes and toilet paper.

With over 62 million households tuning in since the show debuted in late October, it has been crowned the most popular limited scripted series in Netflix’s history and-with its style, substance, and a unique stay-at-home-orders appeal-it has prompted one of the biggest chess booms since the days of Bobby Fischer dominance in the 1970s. If you haven’t seen the series yet, it’s only a matter of time. People have been playing it for nearly 1,500 years and while its popularity has remained constant for centuries, it’s certainly experiencing a surge right now with the unparalleled popularity of the Netflix series, The Queen’s Gambit. Purchases you make through our links may earn us a commission.Ĭhess is the OG of board games. Recommendations are independently chosen by Reviewed’s editors.

Unique modern chess set