Twitch chat takes on a Grandmaster in chess and despite things looking grim, the online streaming service was eventually able to defeat Simon Williams in a match.

Ever since a Twitch chat started playing Pokémon, the popular online streaming service has been in constant search for the next big “thing.” Twitch Plays Dark Souls, Twitch Plays Pokémon GO, and numerous other copycats have surfaced, but none have had quite the same magic as the original.

However, the impressive nature of seeing Twitch chat complete a really hard game is still there, and is hard to deny. Case in point: Twitch chat recently went up against a Grandmaster in Chess…and won.

Everything took place last week, when chess grandmaster Simon Williams sat down to play a copy of Pure Chess against the Twitch chat. Make no mistake, Williams showed his strength early on, winning the first match outright after two hours, and then besting Twitch chat while blindfolded.

In the third match, though, was where things changed, and Twitch chat actually won. Williams resigned once things started looking grim, and as a reward the entire Twitch chat was offered codes for one of RipStone’s (the makers of Pure Chess) games.

Lucky for the members of the Twitch chat, beating the Grandmaster in chess didn’t require quite as much time or as complicated of a system as past Twitch plays events. Twitch Plays Pokémon, for example, had to eventually build a movement system that either operated on a vote-by-committee or complete chaos.

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Here, all Twitch chat needed to do was type in a chess move, and then the “host” would make that selection. There was no need for complicated voting or anything to hinder progress; once it seemed as though the chat reached a consensus on a move, it was made.

Obviously, this may be seen as some form of publicity stunt, but the fact that a Twitch chat can come together to beat a Grandmaster in chess is impressive nonetheless. Most of the Twitch Plays experiences are known for creating chaos and struggling to come to any sort of agreement, but in chess the chat was perfectly in sync (for the most part). It was as if the 600-or-so people that took Williams on were more focused on beating him than anything else.

As was mentioned the Twitch Plays phenomenon has continued well past Twitch chat beat every main Pokémon game. But in the year since then there have been very few impressive feats. Beating Dark Souls was enough to take notice, but the success was short lived once chat tried to take on the sequel. However, taking down a chess master without any gimmicks is an accomplishment all its own.

What new challenge should Twitch take on next?

Source: RipstoneGames Twitch