World chess beauty contest

Even though chess is one of the world’s most popular games, it can still sometimes need a bit of modernization. Over the nearly two millennia that the game has been in the hands of the public it has evolved so many times that you one could argue that it was the father of many board games we play today. Since its inception around the fourth or sixth century, most historians maintain that the earliest version of the game was developed to help train and analyze military strategies.

Originating in either China or India, the game continued to grow and evolve as it passed from the hands of the ruling class, into the general populace. Contemporary societies seemed to have forgotten the importance and necessity of chess for developing our mental and emotional faculties. Pushed aside for less cognitive pastimes it was still popular in schools and hobby halls, and among the tournament elite. Grand Masters were still being crowned year after year and chess became almost like a hobby, with collectible pieces and sets, as well as novelty merchandise. Still, many people continued to enjoy the game.

Perhaps when chess went to the digital format is when it saw the most significant resurgence in a long time. Chess traditionally required two live players, but the advent of Artificial Intelligence concepts and its early software finally made solo gaming possible. Not only was this a positive bump in growth and interest, but was the beginning of an even bigger evolution. Innovations like Battle Chess soon followed, which added animations and sound effects to the traditionally slow-paced and spectacle-lacking pastime.

Watching the pieces duke it out, regardless of the inevitable victor, was a fun new way to experience the game. In 2005 Vladislav Tkachiev, a 35-year old grandmaster who ranked 58th in the world came up with another way to revive public interest in chess. The World chess beauty contest aimed to be a collection of the most beautiful women in the world who were also tournament chess players.

The most notable was a 16-year old from Australia who although did have tournament experience, wasn’t ranked very high in the world. Of course, that wasn’t really the point of this organization. Tkachiev wanted to arouse the media and awaken the sleeping public to a new generation of chess and hopefully create a more casual and fun atmosphere. Unfortunately, his website went defunct within the next few years.