Skip to main content

Twitch takes on Chess Grandmaster: 6,000 gamers beat chess champion on third try

twitch vs chess chesstwitch
Image used with permission by copyright holder
“Twitch vs” interactive gaming streams like Twitch vs Pokémon and Twitch vs Dark Souls have been incredibly popular over the past couple of years, so when Twitch viewers got the opportunity to take on a chess grandmaster, some 6,000 people jumped at the chance. While they struggled in the early outings, the gaming hive-mind was eventually able to beat him in a single game — though to be fair, he was wearing a blindfold at the time.

Known as the Twitch vs Pure Chess Grandmaster challenge, the stream loaded up Ripstone’s Pure Chess and connected it up with stream viewers and international grandmaster and British chess champion Simon Williams. While Williams would make his plays based on his own thoughts and strategies, stream viewers voted on the next move.

The first game involved two hours of intense back and forth action, with Williams coming out on top. He again triumphed in the second game, despite being blindfolded and using his memory of the pieces alone to combat the efforts of the thousands of communal opponents.

Related: Live-stream tonight’s dinner on Twitch; Social Eating is now a ‘thing’

However, it was in the third game, at which point we’re told Williams was suffering from some measure of “mental fatigue,” where the Twitch chat turned things around and was able to take home a single victory, finally defeating the chess grandmaster.

Watch live video from on www.twitch.tv

By defeating Williams, each of the thousands of viewers earned themselves Steam keys for various Ripstone games, like Pure Chess, Pure Pool and Pure Hold ‘Em. The full replay is available on Twitch above, where you can also see the moves as they were called by the community. It’s rather a long stream, but for chess fans and those who like to see gamers triumph against the odds, it’s not a bad watch.

Do we have any powerful chess players among the DT audience? Do you think you’d have been able to turn the tide in those earlier games?

Editors' Recommendations

Jon Martindale
Jon Martindale is the Evergreen Coordinator for Computing, overseeing a team of writers addressing all the latest how to…
Is Minecraft cross-platform?
The cover art for Minecraft.

Minecraft has long reigned as one of the most popular games available thanks to its nearly endless possibilities, regular updates, and charming vibes. If you're one of the millions of players who has invested thousands of hours into the game, you've almost certainly been rewarded with limitless excitement, laughter, and fun, But what about co-op? Playing with friends is one of the greatest ways to experience Minecraft after all. But in today's gaming landscape, there is a wide variety of platforms on which people play the game, which may lead you to wonder if you can join in on the fun with pals on other hardware. Below, we'll tell you what you need to know about cross-platform play in Minecraft.
Is Minecraft cross-platform?
The short answer is yes, Minecraft is cross-platform across PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, PC, iOS, and Android. However, there are a few limitations we'll get into below.

Firstly, only Minecraft: Bedrock Edition supports cross-platform play. If you're using Minecraft: Java Edition on PC, you won't be able to play with friends on other platforms.

Read more
Is Stardew Valley cross-platform?
Stardew Valley Multiplayer Fishing

Stardew Valley is a game made by just one person, but it has seen more success than most games made by dozens, or even hundreds, of people. It's even one of Digital Trends' top 50 video games of all time. Since its release in 2016, the game has been updated regularly with new features and content to keep its avid fans coming back. This includes an online multiplayer component that allows you and up to three friends to hang out on each other's farms. And with the recent trend of games allowing players on different platforms to join together, you may wonder if Stardew Valley offers cross-platform functionality. Here's everything we know about cross-platform support in Stardew Valley.
Is Stardew Valley cross-platform?
Stardew Valley does not offer cross-platform support, meaning you can't play online multiplayer between any of the systems the game is on. So if you want to team up with some friends, make sure you all are playing on the same platform, such as the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, or PC. Also be aware that whoever starts a multiplayer game is saving that shared world locally, meaning no one else can reenter that world without the host present.

The sad fact of the matter is there doesn't seem to be any indication that crossplay will come to Stardew Valley. The game's official Reddit still lists it as not being supported, and there was only one mention of it by the developer on Twitter back in 2018, when he responded to a question asking if crossplay would come to the game. He replied, "Unfortunately, there will not be crossplay. Apparently, the technical barriers are very high. It's still something I really want to add and I promise to look into it more closely, but first priority is getting the update out there." This was many years ago, and there has been no further information about cross-platform play since, so it seems very unlikely that we will see support for this functionality come to Stardew Valley.

Read more
3 things I want in Fallout 5 after watching Amazon’s Fallout series
Lucy enters a house in Fallout.

Fallout has been the watercooler TV show this month, an impressive feat for a video game adaptation. Although Bethesda doesn't have any new Fallout games to release alongside it, the Amazon Prime series has reinvigorated interest in Fallout, with all its titles seeing notable player count increases. For now, we’ll have to be content with a Fallout 4 current-gen upgrade, but I’ll admit that my mind is drifting to thinking about Fallout 5.

Bethesda’s Todd Howard has teased that Fallout 5 will be the next project Bethesda Game Studios works on after Elder Scrolls 6. While that likely means its release is at least a decade away unless Bethesda fast-tracks it, I still find it fun to theorize about where a true single-player Fallout 5 could go next. These three particular things are what I want to see the most.
Set it somewhere new

Read more