Spanish chess board sales soar after 'Queen's Gambit' cameo

Rachapados Ferrer chess board takes centre stage

When winning takes everything, what are you left with? The Queen’s Gambit follows a young chess prodigy’s rise from an orphanage to the world stage. But genius comes with a cost. A riveting adaptation of Walter Tevis’ groundbreaking novel comes to Netflix. SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/29qBUt7 About Netflix: Netflix is the world's leading streaming entertainment service with 193 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, documentaries and feature films across a wide variety of genres and languages. Members can watch as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, on any internet-connected screen. Members can play, pause and resume watching, all without commercials or commitments. The Queen’s Gambit | Official Trailer | Netflix https://youtube.com/Netflix | Youtube: Netflix

ReutersLa Garriga16/02/2021 11:23

A Spanish chess board maker discovered by chance that its products played a cameo role in hit Netflix series The Queen's Gambit, and its sales have since soared.

"One day I came into work and a colleague, Miguel, told me that Netflix had released a new series 'The Queen's Gambit' and some Rechapados Ferrer boards appeared in the trailer," said David Ferrer, 30, who runs Rechapados Ferrer.

The series, based on the 1983 novel by Walter Tevis, debuted in October 2020 and fast became a hit.

David Ferrer moves a chess piece on a chessboard at the Rechapados Ferrer factory in La Garriga

It follows orphaned chess prodigy Beth Harmon as she takes on the male-dominated world of chess.

A triumphant finale takes her to Moscow to play one of the Soviet Union's star players. It is in this pivotal scene that the distinctive Rachapados Ferrer chess board takes centre stage.

Viewers have been keen to buy a piece of the action, boosting sales already on the rise due to demand linked to strict COVID-19 lockdowns.

The company based in La Garriga, near Barcelona, has already doubled its annual orders from around 22,000 in 2020 to 45,000 for 2021 and has now moved any new orders to 2022.

"Orders of chess boards have skyrocketed," said Ferrer, whose grandfather founded the company in the 1950s. "This year is full in terms of production."

Ferrer told Reuters the board that appears in the finale has become one of the most requested, but is so far only available through one German distributor. It was through them that the series - much of which was filmed in Berlin - got the boards.

But with demand booming and chess more popular than ever, Ferrer says the company might try to sell the board through other channels too.