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Chess professional Pähtz: »The men have a fun tournament every month because Magnus Carlsen is bored.
We women don't have these offers «
Photo:
Sascha Fromm / Thuringian General
Hardly any sport has grown as much as chess during the corona pandemic. The Netflix series »The Queen's Gambit« also played a part in this. It tells the story of a female chess genius who rises from the orphanage with his chess skills to the top of the world. In an interview, Elisabeth Pähtz, the best German player, speaks about the unequal treatment of women and how the new boom has changed the game of chess.
SPIEGEL:
Ms. Pähtz, according to the international chess association Fide, searches for chess sets on Ebay increased by 276 percent after the publication of "The Queen's Gambit".
How can this be explained?
Elisabeth Pähtz:
Even with the beginning of the corona pandemic, many chess players did not know what to do with their time and started streaming chess on Twitch and YouTube.
As a result, many more people who had nothing to do with chess before became aware of it.
Now the series is also being added, which made the enthusiasm grow again.
But that also worries me.
SPIEGEL:
To what extent?
Pähtz:
Chess has experienced a boom, but not as a cultural asset, but as an entertainment program.
It has been observed that top players speculate that the opponent's internet connection will be lost so that he can win.
This is no longer the chess I started with.
Where has the shame gone?
SPIEGEL:
How do you find how the series portrays chess?
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