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"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.
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.
(Writing by Jessica Jones; Editing by Ingrid Melander and Mike
Collett-White)
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