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World Chess Championship Unveils Bizarrely NSFW Logo

Are these players checkmating?

By Rain Noe - December 20, 2017

in Visual Communication

I keep waiting to hear this is a gag, something uploaded by a disgruntled intern, but so far it appears legit.

The World Chess Federation (abbreviated "FIDE," from the French Federation Internationale des Echecs) is holding their 2018 World Chess Championship in London, and they've just unveiled the official logos for that match. The first one they showed is this:

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Okay, intertwined hands on chess pieces, the disparate patterns presumably meant to represent folks of different stripes, i.e. diverse backgrounds. All fine and good. But the second logo they showed is this:

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Even more puzzling is that they have not addressed the interesting, er, seating arrangement in the second logo. Instead the accompanying press release text reads:

We rarely stop to think about the brand of the World Chess Championship Match, because we are more interested in the players and the drama of the games. But the Match, the ultimate event that defines who is the smartest person on the planet, has much wider appeal than chess professionals. It affects politics, business, and, of course, design.

As organizers of the Match we've been busy for over a year working with artists and designers to develop a perfect key visual, the image that will be associated with the 2018 Match and which will find its way onto mugs, posters, outdoor displays, venue design, media, broadcasting graphics and more.

What on Earth do you think the designers are going for?

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Alex Netz

7 years ago

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Yeah the first version is definitely suggestive, and certainly not completly unintentionally. A whole new meaning to "check mate"

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Eric Strebel

7 years ago

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Making chess sexy of course..... :-)

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Juan Cano

7 years ago

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I agree with Mrten Boi; they were reading the Kama Sutra when designing the new logo.

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Mrten Boi

7 years ago

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Well, the text seems to be the usual marketing drivel, but regarding the second logo; two people sitting close playing chess in the design language of the first logo.

You are IMHO really being a bit overly sensitive here, have you perhaps just put down the Kama Sutra on your night stand?

Look, I see what you're hinting at, but really, this isn't even close to Lisa Simpsons Olympic Endeavours.

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