[Student Voices] Turning a Pawn into a Queen
Published: 16 Jun. 2025, 11:17
Minju Jung, Chadwick International
by Minju Jung, Chadwick International
In front of the entrance to the competition hall in Montesilvano, Italy, the security guard told me, “You’re good to go,” and I started to walk into the huge hall with rows of tables full of chess boards and timers. I found the arbiter of my category standing, surrounded by kids from around the world, with the pairing sheet. It wasn’t hard to find my name on the list, as there were only two Korean flags drawn on the long line of names.
As I took my seat at the far end of the table, my opponent and I shook hands and started the game. When I was reaching down for my water bottle, I saw what was written on another player’s shirt. On the shoulder, there was a patch that read: “HDBank.” This is one of the largest banks in Vietnam. I didn’t know my opponents would be getting huge sponsors. This gives them the advantage of better training environments, and the opportunity to travel for more tournaments overseas.
Throughout my experiences in international tournaments, I have seen players around the world getting support from the biggest companies of their country. Yet, I have not seen Korea doing this, bringing me to wonder, why not?
In the 2024 FIDE World Chess Championship, Ding Liren and Gukesh Dommaraju competed against each other to become the world champion. This may not sound shocking, but the event was sponsored by Google, flipping the entire board around. This is the biggest sponsor in the history of the World Chess Championship. Last year, the sponsor was the comparatively small Freedom Holding Corp., a Kazakhstan-based investment company. Google sponsoring the World Chess Championship is a big leap for the social development of chess.
Recently, the Esports World Cup formed a multi-year partnership with the popular online chess platform, Chess.com. Magnus Carlsen, who currently holds the highest chess rating, contributed to the partnership. This shows that chess is expanding to become one of the biggest games in the world. Being in the Esports World Cup is a chance for chess to be introduced to new audiences, and to inspire others to play more.
Back in 2020, Netflix released a show called The Queen’s Gambit about an orphaned girl who learns chess from the orphanage’s custodian. She uses her visualization skills to practice chess on the ceiling of her bedroom, quickly becoming a strong player. Later on in the show, she competes in multiple international tournaments. The show went on to become Netflix’s top program in 63 countries.
As chess grows in popularity around the world, I wonder if the game will receive more support in Korea. When people turn on their TVs in Korea, chess is not on any of the channels. You can find soccer, golf, basketball, volleyball, all these but not chess. Why not? If people watch or play chess, they can enjoy themselves and improve their thinking skills. If chess is played more widely in Korea, it will grow. For this to happen, sponsorship is required. Sponsorships can draw people into playing more, give them the necessary support, and create a ripple effect: Chess will spread all around the country, and with the help of big companies in Korea, we can compete with the top countries in the world.
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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