For most of its history, chess was a very serious game played by very serious people in very quiet rooms. But when the internet collided with the 1500-year-old board game, it birthed a culture of shitposting that nobody could have predicted. Chess memes have become an integral part of the community, infiltrating everything from casual Twitch chats to actual Grandmaster tournament play.
Here are the defining memes that built the modern internet chess culture.
1. "Google En Passant"
If there is one phrase that defines chess Reddit, it's "Google En Passant." The joke started when confused beginners would post screenshots on forums asking if their game was bugged because an opponent's pawn magically captured their pawn diagonally without landing on its square. Veterans, exhausted by answering the same question a thousand times, simply replied: "Google en passant."
This eventually escalated into the famous call-and-response: "Holy hell." Today, it's virtually impossible to mention the move online without someone replying with the catchphrase. It's the Rickroll of the chess world.
2. The Bongcloud Attack
The Bongcloud Attack is the worst opening in chess. The moves are 1. e4 e5 2. Ke2. You actively block your own bishop and queen, forfeit your right to castle, and march your king toward the center of the board on move two.
What started as a joke on a chess forum turned into a massive flex. Streamers started using it to mock lower-rated players, proving they could win even after giving themselves a massive handicap. The meme reached its peak when Grandmasters Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura played a double Bongcloud against each other in a major online tournament, resulting in an immediate draw by repetition as both players burst into laughter on camera.
3. Botez Gambit
Named after the Botez sisters (Alexandra and Andrea), the Botez Gambit is what happens when you accidentally blunder your queen. Unlike a real gambit, where you sacrifice material for a positional advantage, the Botez Gambit is just a straight-up mistake.
The sisters leaned into the joke, and now the phrase is universally used across the chess community whenever a player inexplicably leaves their most powerful piece completely undefended.
4. "Literally Don't Care"
A phrase popularized by Hikaru Nakamura during a period of internet drama, "I literally don't care" became a copypasta anytime a chess player is clearly very upset about something but refuses to admit it. If you lose a grueling 60-move endgame and someone asks you how you feel, responding "I literally don't care, chat" is the only acceptable answer.
Why Memes Matter
While purists might roll their eyes at the Bongcloud, these memes have done more to popularize chess than almost anything else. They make an intimidating, complex game feel accessible and fun. They give beginners a sense of community. When you blunder your queen, you aren't just an idiot—you're playing the Botez Gambit. And that makes the loss a lot easier to swallow.