The latest initiative spinning their service off of the “wisdom of the crowds” mentality is one that you’d probably never think of: Chess. What is normally a strictly individual game has now been transformed into a collaborative group effort that pits team against team.
CrowdChess consists of a regular chessboard, and the original black and white sides. To play, sign up, and you’ll be randomly assigned to a team. Team size is unlimited. From there, you can suggest a new move or vote on an existing one. The voting period for each move is an hour long, and after that time interval has elapsed, the move that has received the most votes will be executed. To help you decide which move should be made, you can interact with your team members using CrowdChess’s chat function, and think intensely in their “DeepThink” mode, among other features. The game ends in checkmate, like regular chess, and the first team to win seven games is crowned champion, and a new season begins. Since the game moves so slowly, you can subscribe the site’s RSS feed to avoid monotonous website check-ups.
CrowdChess.com In Their Own Words
“CrowdChess is a revolutionary idea, destined to change the game of chess forever. It is a fascinating social platform all about pushing the boundaries of human intelligence. A platform to see what happens when thousands of people from all over the world with diverse ethnical, cultural and educational backgrounds, of different age and social status have a common goal in mind and are working in tandem on solving the same problem together and outsmarting their opponent. Whose strategy, foresight and vision are superior, is the ultimate question”.
Why CrowdChess.com It Might Be A Killer
CrowdChess certainly is an example of a very different way to tap into the wisdom of the crowds and puts a unique spin on a traditional game. Apart from being a modern upgrade to an old favorite, CrowdChess is also customizable; you can adjust the settings for your “Play Room” to have a completely personal chess experience.
Some Questions About CrowdChess.com
I think a lot of chess fans will shun CrowdChess, simply because it’s the complete opposite of what chess is supposed to be: individual minds pitted against each other. The entire point of chess is one person’s strategy against another’s. If you have teams playing against teams, this notion is rendered irrelevant. I think Crowdsourcing would better be applied to a game that already is based on team competition. The game also takes so long to complete that it gets boring; a game could potentially last for well over a week, since each it takes an hour for each move to be voted on and then executed, and a new “season” only starts after one team has won seven games. For me at least, that’s way too long to hold my attention. 
