Fifteen years after 36 Chambers, the Wu-Tang Clan have turned their attention to 64 black and white squares. The hip-hop group's latest project isn't a Method Man album or a street-level mixtape - it's WuChess.com, "the world's first online chess and urban social network".
The combination of rap and online chess might not seem like an obvious fit, but the Wu have always been unabashed in their non-bling interests, from kung fu to comic books and science fiction. And chess has long been a passion of founding Clan-member RZA, who created WuChess together with social network ChessPark.com.
For a $48 (£24) annual fee, WuChess subscribers can play against hip-hop chess-heads worldwide, form "chess clans" to group their rankings, and even compete against chess-playing rappers like the RZA himself. A "large part" of WuChess' revenue will be donated to the Hip-Hop Chess Federation - whose almost ridiculously cool mission statement is to use "chess, music and martial arts to promote unity, strategy and non-violence".
RZA isn't alone in his chess fixation. The game has been surging in the American hip-hop community, with everyone from Ghostface Killah to the Hieroglyphics taking part. No less than the Dilated Peoples' Rakaa leads WuChess' video tour. Everyone seems to have taken to heart the wisdom sampled at the beginning of the Wu-Tang's Da Mystery of Chessboxin': "The game of chess is like a swordfight. You must think first, before you move ... When it's properly used, it's almost invincible."
It's only a matter of time before other board games win the support of musical acts. Risk for Coldplay, Boggle for Sigur R�s, and maybe Amy Winehouse's social networking website could chronicle the ups and downs of snakes and ladders.
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