I wonder if you could creatively combine this model with search algorithms to advance the state of the art in computer chess? I wouldn't be surprised to see such a bot pop up on tcec in a couple years.
The thing is classical chess (unlike eg; go) is essentially "solved" when run on computers capable of extreme depth. Modern chess engines play essentially flawlessly.
compared to humans yes, but between themselves in TCEC progress continues. TCEC has AIs play both sides of random openings, rather than stick to playing chess's initial position. The same happens for checkers amongst humans, where opening positions are randomized