Chess.com Launches Gambit as Free Poker Learning Platform for New Players

A popular chess website with millions of daily users has launched a poker site and training program. Gambit from Chess.com is free to users and focuses on introducing newcomers to the game without real-money stakes.

The platform lets players compete against bots, friends, and other online users. It walks them through basics, offers strategy lessons, and tracks stats. Gambit is available on desktop, iOS, and Android with the same interface and graphics as Chess.com.

“Here’s what it is: a poker site built for learning,” Chess.com Chief Growth Officer Albert Cheng said in a May blog post. “No real-money gambling. No rake. Just the parts of the chess playbook that have made it work for millions of people, applied to poker.”

Gambit’s Core Offerings

Players access cash games against bots, friends, or others. Tournament options include Speedrun events with five-minute blinds and Gambit Cup events. The site features Player of the Month leaderboards, reigning champions, all tournament results, and stat tracking. It is built specifically to help new players learn without financial loss or in-app purchases, as reported by PokerNews.

The Established Chess-Poker Connection

Chess and poker share a long history as competitive strategy games. Michael Addamo discovered poker through chess. Retired poker legend Mike “Timex” McDonald became an accomplished chess player. Chess grandmaster and author Jen Shahade built a successful career as a PokerStars pro. Chess streamers like Alexandra Botez appear regularly at tournament poker stops.

Magnus Carlsen, considered the best chess player of all time, has dabbled in poker. In a PokerNews interview at the 2023 European Poker Tour Monte Carlo, Carlsen addressed the parallels.

“I think the similarities between poker and chess are more than people would think,” Carlsen said. “Of course, there is perfect information in chess, but still, you make a lot of decisions based on, like, imperfect calculation. So in that sense, it’s a little bit of the same.”

The Chess.com model that succeeded with chess is now applied directly to poker. This targets strategic thinkers and aligns with the source’s suggestion that poker may experience a boom among chess players.

Reporting: PokerNews

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