Chess.com launched a poker site and is planning even more classic games
Chess.com launched a poker site and is planning even more classic games
Chess.com 推出扑克网站，并计划进军更多经典游戏领域
Chess.com has done one thing, and one thing very well, for almost 20 years, but now it’s going beyond its domain name. The biggest name in online chess quietly launched its first companion site in beta back in May: Gambit, a free online poker website where players can learn the game without risking any real money. Now Gambit’s ready to really get the ball rolling with its first livestreamed event and collaborations with content creators, and Chess.com is planning to branch out into even more games from here.
近 20 年来，Chess.com 一直专注于做好一件事，但现在它正准备超越其域名所代表的范畴。这家在线国际象棋领域的巨头在今年 5 月悄然推出了首个配套网站的测试版：Gambit。这是一个免费的在线扑克网站，玩家可以在不冒任何真钱风险的情况下学习扑克。目前，Gambit 正准备通过首场直播活动和与内容创作者的合作来全面铺开，而 Chess.com 也计划以此为起点，进军更多游戏领域。
Chess.com’s chief growth officer, Albert Cheng, told The Verge the company chose poker for its first companion site because, like chess, it has learning and social elements on top of just playing the game. He also promised there will never be real-money gambling on Gambit, saying, “Real money is the problem we built Gambit to get away from, the whole industry makes money when beginners lose. We’d rather build a place where people can actually learn.”
Chess.com 的首席增长官 Albert Cheng 在接受 The Verge 采访时表示，公司选择扑克作为首个配套网站，是因为它和国际象棋一样，除了游戏本身，还具备学习和社交属性。他还承诺 Gambit 永远不会涉及真钱博彩，并表示：“我们开发 Gambit 的初衷就是为了避开真钱博彩，整个行业都在靠新手的亏损赚钱。我们更希望建立一个人们能够真正学习的地方。”
Gambit will look familiar to anyone who’s used Chess.com. It borrows the same design style and includes similar play modes, like bot matches, games with friends, tournaments, a review mode for studying your past games, and a learning mode. Gambit even includes Chess.com’s bot characters, with matching skill levels — I immediately recognized “Martin,” the lowest skill level bot from Chess.com, who is also the lowest skill level bot on Gambit.
任何使用过 Chess.com 的用户都会对 Gambit 感到亲切。它沿用了相同的设计风格，并包含了类似的玩法模式，如机器人对战、好友对局、锦标赛、用于复盘的分析模式以及学习模式。Gambit 甚至引入了 Chess.com 的机器人角色，并匹配了相应的技能等级——我一眼就认出了“Martin”，它是 Chess.com 中技能等级最低的机器人，也是 Gambit 中等级最低的机器人。
Chess.com also developed its own Elo-style rating system for Gambit. Cheng explained in an interview with The Verge that the rating system serves as the main motivator for players to improve: “You’re not gambling your own hard-earned money necessarily, so the stakes are lower from that standpoint, but you need something to counterbalance it that you care about, and that keeps the ecosystem in play, and keeps the poker that’s on Gambit reasonably high-quality.”
Chess.com 还为 Gambit 开发了一套自己的 Elo 等级分系统。Cheng 在接受 The Verge 采访时解释说，该评分系统是激励玩家进步的主要动力：“你不一定是在拿自己辛苦赚来的钱去赌博，所以从这个角度看风险较低，但你需要一些你所在乎的东西来平衡，这能维持生态系统的运转，并确保 Gambit 上的扑克水平保持在相当高的质量。”
The rating system is also the backbone of Gambit’s paid subscription for access to premium learning features, following the same model Chess.com uses. “Our primary business model of Chess.com is a subscription, but most people play Chess.com for free,” Cheng said. “They subscribe to get unlimited access to review their games and to get unlimited puzzles, lessons, et cetera.” A reliable rating system allows players to track their improvement, potentially motivating them to pay for those premium features.
这套评分系统也是 Gambit 付费订阅功能的核心，用户可以通过订阅获取高级学习功能，这与 Chess.com 采用的模式如出一辙。“Chess.com 的主要商业模式是订阅制，但大多数人是免费玩 Chess.com 的，”Cheng 说道，“他们订阅是为了获得无限的复盘权限，以及无限的谜题、课程等。”一套可靠的评分系统能让玩家追踪自己的进步，从而可能激励他们为这些高级功能付费。
Rating systems are also at the heart of Chess’s next move. Chess.com is now looking to expand into even more classic games, including go, backgammon, and mahjong. Like Gambit, Chess.com is developing Elo-style rating systems for these games, as well. Cheng didn’t say when the new sites will launch but that “development is moving quite rapidly” on them, using the same playbook he used for Gambit.
评分系统也是 Chess.com 下一步行动的核心。Chess.com 目前正寻求扩展到更多经典游戏，包括围棋、双陆棋和麻将。与 Gambit 一样，Chess.com 也在为这些游戏开发 Elo 等级分系统。Cheng 没有透露新网站的具体上线时间，但表示这些项目的“开发进展非常迅速”，并且沿用了他在 Gambit 上使用的那套策略。
AI is a key reason Chess.com was finally able to expand into other games after nearly 20 years, according to Cheng. He and one other employee took Gambit from prototype to launch within a year, partly with help from AI, mainly for coding tasks. “I think the biggest advantage that it’s provided is essentially being able to read our existing codebase and our design system and apply consistent patterns to how we develop Chess.com over to a different platform and do so quickly,” Cheng said.
据 Cheng 称，AI 是 Chess.com 在近 20 年后终于能够扩展到其他游戏的关键原因。他和另一名员工在不到一年的时间里就完成了 Gambit 从原型到上线的全过程，这在一定程度上得益于 AI 在编码任务上的辅助。“我认为它提供的最大优势在于，它能够读取我们现有的代码库和设计系统，并将我们在开发 Chess.com 时使用的一致性模式快速应用到另一个平台上，”Cheng 说道。
He went on to add that there were also a lot of areas where AI struggles, such as brand and feature design. “I think that’s the best ultimate use of AI is that ultimately it’s going to be a blend, right?” Cheng said, adding, “Just because code is easier to write doesn’t mean that you just let it run on its own, but it certainly is a superpower in getting things off the ground.” Cheng also said the version of Gambit that’s live at the time of writing has “zero or close to zero” AI-created assets, which were used in early prototypes.
他补充说，AI 在品牌和功能设计等许多领域仍存在局限。“我认为 AI 的终极用途在于融合，对吧？”Cheng 说道，“代码写起来更容易并不意味着你可以让它完全自动运行，但它在项目启动阶段确实是一种超能力。”Cheng 还表示，截至本文撰写时，上线的 Gambit 版本中“几乎没有”使用 AI 生成的素材，这些素材仅在早期原型阶段使用过。
According to Cheng, without help from AI, getting another site up and running would have required a bigger team or “would have been a lot more disruptive to the status quo of building and growing Chess.” Now that a “small, scrappy” team can get a new platform off the ground much faster, it’s opened the door for Chess.com to dip into more games, starting with poker.
据 Cheng 所言，如果没有 AI 的帮助，要建立并运行另一个网站需要更大的团队，或者“会对 Chess.com 现有的建设和增长现状造成更大的干扰”。现在，一个“精干且灵活”的团队能够更快地启动新平台，这为 Chess.com 进军更多游戏打开了大门，而扑克只是第一步。
As Chess.com plans its next move, Cheng says they’re focusing on games with “both that classic durability plus the community around it,” like chess. Now that Gambit has launched, Cheng’s leaning into the community and social side of the platform more, following Chess.com’s lead, and getting content creators more involved. On August 31st at 12PM ET / 9AM PT, Gambit’s livestreaming its Gambit Cup for the first time on Twitch and YouTube with Chess.com co-founder Danny Rensch and chess content creator Alexandra Botez.
在规划下一步行动时，Cheng 表示他们专注于那些“既具有经典持久力，又拥有周边社区”的游戏，就像国际象棋一样。随着 Gambit 的上线，Cheng 正效仿 Chess.com 的成功经验，更加注重平台的社区和社交属性，并吸引更多内容创作者参与其中。美国东部时间 8 月 31 日中午 12 点（太平洋时间上午 9 点），Gambit 将在 Twitch 和 YouTube 上首次直播“Gambit 杯”赛事，届时 Chess.com 联合创始人 Danny Rensch 和国际象棋内容创作者 Alexandra Botez 将出席。