Chessploitation

The often derogatory term **Chessploitation** refers to works of popular culture perceived to exploit the inherent dignity of Chess for dramatic or comedic purposes. Any work that refers to Chess can be considered Chessploitation, other than Chess itself, some historic variants of Chess, and the Chess Fanon Wiki.

Chessploitation typically uses Chess as an established cultural reference point, as Chess is well-known beyond the bounds of languages for its combination of simple rules and complex strategies. The very image of a 64-square chessboard or a Piece (typically the King, Queen, Bishop, Rook, Castle, Horsey or Pawn) evokes powerful feelings in the observer. This phenomenon has been noted even in subjects who have been sheltered from Chess references since kindergarten.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] It is with these familiar images and with references to the strategy, warfare, etiquette and choreography of Chess that Chessploitation can occur.

Since the early 20th Century, Chessploitation has been regulated by international law, in which any property making reference to Chess must pay Chess 10% of its royalties per reference, often surpassing 100%. This has not yet proven to discourage Chessploiters, as what they lose in money they gain in Chessposure.

## Examples of Chessploitation

### Music

Many classical symphonies and collected works are considered adaptations of Chess, as they have many Pieces.

Popular songs explicitly referencing Chess include

* Black or White by Michael Jackson
* Hip to be Square by Huey Lewis and the News
* Take On Me by A-Ha[footnote: Take On Me was later covered by Chess band A1]
* The Name of the Game (Chess) by AᗺBΑ

Queen

### Comic books

In the comic book series Those X-Men, the character Gambit is a superpowered, mutant chessmaster. He is known for his proficiency at all variants of Chess, his manipulation of Chess Pieces with kinetic energy, and his ability to throw any Chess Piece to any Square on a Board without error.

### Film

Despite being an immensely popular character, Gambit was excluded from the X-Men film series due to struggles with the intellectual property of his many Chess references, In X2, a film named after a remote Chess Square, his name was seen on a screen among a list of other mutants when Mystique hacks the system of William Stryker for information on different mutants. Stuntman James Bamford filmed a cameo as Gambit before it was cut. Instead, this was added to Chris Claremont's novelization of the movie. The book itself never mentions Gambit by name, but he is shown as one of the mutants seen being affected by Dark Cerebro's activation. He is playing Chess in a New Orleans bar when he suddenly falls in pain and causes a table to explode. In the X3 novelization, he is a new student at the mansion being trained by Wolverine, along with Cannonball, Danielle Moonstar, and Sage.

Gambit made a cameo appearance in the film The X-Men's Origins, as a precursor to his own planned movie.

The Gambit movie spent five years in Development Hell before being cancelled due to its culturally-insensitive lead character.

The film Knight Moves (sic) is a melodramatic '90s thriller about a chessman. Its combination of the intellectual rigour of chess and the de rigueur of gritty muscleman violence makes it a key example of Chessploitation. Its theme of Chess is shallow and incidental, yet its high drama and surprising line readings have made it a favorite among the Chess fandom.

### Streaming Television

The Queen's Gambit is a chess show about a sexy woman.

### Cereal

Chex is a cereal in the shape of a Chessboard. Launched as Chess in 1934, Chex was forced to change its name, first to Chesx and then to Chex, due to multiple lawsuits from Chess. There has since been a contentious legal history of intellectual property disputes between Chess and (what is now known as) Chex due to their perceived resemblance. See Chess Lawsuits.

Video games

All video game adaptations of Chess are Chessploitation.

### Chess

Most board-game variants of Chess can be considered Chessploitation, as they undermine one or more inherent rules of Chess whilst still bearing its name, aesthetic or structure. Examples include:

#### *Chess with guns*

Boring people think that adding extreme elements to Chess make it more humorous and fun. This is seen in the widely-known "Chess with guns" trope, in which the violent signifiers of an action film are added to Chess. In every case, this undermines the structural integrity of the game and results in an imbalance, though the imbalance is often equal for both players. Extreme adaptations of Chess are not big (with the exception of Big Chess, Bigger Chess and Biggest Chess), and they're not clever (with the exception of Clever Chess).

#### Themed Chess

Chess sets with themes based around an established franchise can be two types of sploitation, as they use the established popularity of both Chess and the nominal franchise to cross-promote each other. The Simpsons' Chess is both Chessploitation and Simpsploitation, and so on.

Themed Chess sets can only be used in the absence of a non-Themed Chess set.

#### Chess while tired

Playing Chess while tired undermines and exploits the inherent intellectual acumen of the game.

## Motor racing

The flag used at the end of a racecar race is based on a Chessboard. Tie breaks are decided by a game of Chess on this flag.

## Kitchen floors

Some kitchen floors can be based on a Chessboard. This is only considered Chessploitation if you navigate the floor like a Chess Piece.

In real life

Across history, some wars have been considered to be plagiarism of Chess games, due to their use of horsies, castles and/or rooks, bishops, movement and taking. The winners of these wars have been required to pay tribute to Chess.

See also:

Chess variants