Chess: The Grand Master
I am Chastity White Rose, and for a school assignment and fun, I am going to pitch an idea of a video game that should exist and, indeed, could exist if there was a small team to make it work.
The game proposal I have is currently titled "Chess: The Grand Master". You would think a game by this title would already exist, but in fact, as of this writing, it does not. In fact, the inspiration for this comes from "Tetris: The Grand Master," which is a Tetris game that was first published for arcade machines in 1998. In fact, the Tetris game was only released in Japan previously but was released for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in 2022.
However, the term "Grand Master" is not related to Tetris; it is, in fact, a chess term. It is the highest title earned by people who play over the board Chess tournaments with very strict requirements. The fact that a Tetris game was associated with this title before an actual chess game seems like a crime against humanity.
So my pitch is going to be why we need a new chess game that is available for consoles. But this can't just be like other random chess apps that you might find on the store of your console or mobile phone. No, it has to be "The Grand Master" of all other chess games that have been made.
I am going to perform a SWOT Analysis, which analyzes the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats that would make this game idea either a complete success or a total failure. Some of this is based on my own experience as a chess player who has played Chess on almost every chess game available on Steam as well as on multiple websites.
Strengths
The first topic to cover is the strengths that this game will have if it is implemented properly.
1. Chess is the most popular board game in the world. It is a mental sport that is as popular as physical sports like football and baseball. More people know how to play Chess than any other board game in history. The audience of people who know how to play Chess is higher than that of people who have played Pokémon, Final Fantasy, or Super Mario Bros.
2. Chess is not just one game but is actually a family of board games. The most common form of Chess is Western or international Chess, but there are variants developed both in ancient and modern times. Besides the standard international Chess you probably know about, there exists Shogi (Japanese Chess), Xiangqi (Chinese Chess), Janggi (Korean Chess), and many other variants of Western Chess such as Crazyhouse, 3 Check, Bughouse, Atomic Chess, Duck chess, Chess960 (invented by the legendary Bobby Fischer), King of the Hill, Racing Kings, Antichess, and countless others. All of these games can be traced back to an Indian board game known as Chaturanga.
Weaknesses
Although Chess and its many forms are popular, there has been a decrease in the general intelligence of humanity and more competition from video games and movies, which younger generations are being exposed to more than ever before. For this reason, it will be a challenge to get younger gamers interested in Chess when there are so many things that can grab their attention. As such, this weakness must be addressed by making it interesting enough through creative presentation and the right graphics, music, and storytelling to make people not dismiss the idea of a board game remake.
Opportunities
There is room for a new console Chess game that includes all the major variants of Chess. The game could be free to play with optional DLC that includes the variants that the players are interested in while also offering a bundle that includes all variants.
There already exist Free and Open-Source engines capable of playing multiple Chess like games. For example: Fairy Stockfish is capable of playing every Chess variant I have mentioned previously and more. Using an engine like this for development saves development time and money that can be better spent on multiplayer features and marketing.
If the game is developed correctly, it will quickly become the top-performing Chess game for the consoles it is released on. If the success is good enough, it could eventually be made into a PC edition if the customer demand existed.
Threats
There is plenty of competition when it comes to creating a Chess game because thousands of free and paid programs are available that people already know. For this reason, the competitive threats should be narrowed down specifically to console platforms. There is no doubt that PC gamers already have the best options available through internet websites to play against any other human in the world or against the strongest chess engines that surpass human comprehension.
But the competition is lacking when it comes to Chess games available for video game consoles. Artificial intelligence is weak in many of the games, and many of them don't have any sort of multiplayer feature at all.
In fact, to this date there is only ONE video game released that even comes close to the concept. It is simply titled "The Table Game". It has Chess, Shogi, Go, and a few other games but that's still only two Chess variants and no multiplayer feature.
It's worth mentioning that besides the lack of competition, there are no licenses to be obtained because the Chess family of games is ancient and predates copyright or patent laws. Given these facts, the threats are actually non-existent.
Conclusion
I believe I can make the case that if "Chess: The Grand Master" was developed and marketed in the right way, it would make money and also coincide with the recent interest in Chess that has developed since the Netflix series "The Queen's Gambit" was released.
This concept and analysis don't even scratch the surface of what could be achieved under the right company and team to create it.
Sources
(2022, December 1). Tetris The Grand Master Now Available on Nintendo Switch and PS4. Tetris.com. https://tetris.com/article/284/tetris-the-grand-master-now-available-on-nintendo-switch-and-ps4
[GothamChess]. (2020, November 21). How To Become A Chess Grandmaster [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4nTq2XPvAc
(2023, August 6). Is Chess The Most Popular Board Game? All About Chess And Football. https://chessandfootball.com/chess/is-chess-the-most-popular-board-game/
(n.d.). Chess Variants. Fairy-Stockfish. https://fairy-stockfish.github.io/variants/
(2022, October 27). The Table Game. Nintendo.com. https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/THE-Table-Game-2290235.html
