The 2018 World Chess Championships will take place in London come November of 2018, but the event is already more buzzed about than any chess event since Bobby Fischer played Boris Spassky, not because of anything that will happen in the actual chess, but because of the logo.
That’s… something. And I certainly don’t think of chess when I see that logo, to be sure. The organizing committee calls the logo the “perfect key visual,” one that will find its way “onto mugs, posters, outdoor displays, venue design, media, broadcasting graphics and more”. Well, they’re right, but probably not as they would have intended.
They also describe the chess from the kama sutra logo in this way as well, “Key visual for the 2018 World Championship is controversial and trendy, just like the host city.” I’ve heard London described in quite a few ways, but never in this way before. The other logos on cups and assorted materials aren’t nearly as NSFW, but since they come from the same design package, they’re not much better.
So if chess gets your blood pumping in more ways than one, then maybe this logo might be the perfect logo for the tournament next November. If not, well, there’s plenty to laugh at.
