Baking soda for soaking chickpeas
Crucial? No. 


I regularly do really tasty chickpeas without baking soda.


Beneficial? Maybe it gets done quicker. 

The baking soda makes the soak basic(pH wise). This is known to smoothen maize flour to make tortilla dough pliable enough. I would guess it has the same effect on the chickpea shell.

This answer is a shot from the hip guesstimate. Upvote/downvote as appropriate.