I also never heard about bitcoin related chess game because pvp take a lot of time, I think majority of the people are interested in that kind of game which is purely based on skill and that is the reason it not have bigger community like luck based games.
It's a set of mind when you are playing with chess and if someone will create games like this and he will put bitcoin on it to bet's people and watch the two player playing chess , Then let's have some money by watching Yes you are right there many people will interested of this kind of game those who really love chess.
I think that is really a brilliant idea by watching other people play and betting on who's gonna win can add up more interest in these kind of game and when players are playing these if they can surely win a game of chess they can get bitcoin too, I think there should be multiple channels to choose from so there would be a variety of players you can choose from and channels where you can play chess too!