Chess-related software is certainly booming as well. My favorite recent addition is OpeningTree[0], a platform that lets you input anyone's Lichess or chess.com username and load a tree of their opening moves. I play in the Lichess4545[1] league and its an incredible tool.<p>My contributions to the chess community are much smaller. I wrote u/relevant_post_bot[2] for /r/anarchychess and stylochess[3] in an attempt to solve the identity of mysterious super grandmasters[4].<p>[0] <a href="https://www.openingtree.com" rel="nofollow">https://www.openingtree.com</a><p>[1] <a href="https://www.lichess4545.com/team4545/" rel="nofollow">https://www.lichess4545.com/team4545/</a><p>[2] <a href="https://github.com/fmhall/relevant-post-bot" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/fmhall/relevant-post-bot</a><p>[3] <a href="https://github.com/fmhall/stylochess" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/fmhall/stylochess</a><p>[4] <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/gqlqlz/the_identity_of_gm_konevlad_is/" rel="nofollow">https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/gqlqlz/the_identity_...</a>
Headline is almost certainly clickbait. While yes chess is increasing in viewership, 4,313 average viewers is hardly taking over Twitch’s 15 million daily viewers. Chess is currently the 29th most popular game on Twitch: <a href="https://sullygnome.com/games/30/watched" rel="nofollow">https://sullygnome.com/games/30/watched</a>
Although probably an unpopular position I agree with Finegold who is quoted in the article.<p>Ever since chess became big on twitch, online communities are increasingly filled with drama around Nakamura's persona, other twitch related drama, or just general gamer-community style content that was largely absent before.<p>The popularity largely focusses on a few twitch celebrities rather than talented players, it does very little to promote chess players who deserve to get more attention for the quality of their play, or just genuinely players who have played for a long time.<p>I think it does little to foster growth of chess as a sport and is just an opportunity to milk whatever commercial value anyone can out of the attention which I wager will be short-lived, as the twitch crowd moves on to the next thing.
It's good time to mention that there is a lichess HN chess group: <a href="https://lichess.org/team/hacker-news" rel="nofollow">https://lichess.org/team/hacker-news</a><p>Although it's been a little dead since last time. I have been thinking of reviving it but lichess notifications aren't very good at least the forum system. Many people don't login to their account on a regular basis so it's easy to miss them.<p>An an email based invitation system seems better. What do you guys think? Is anyone interested in maintaining a sort of a club for HN members so we could include everything like open source experimentation and streaming place [0] from a few days ago?<p>0] <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24333474" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24333474</a><p>Edit: Started a substack. I will head out now!<p><a href="https://hnclub.substack.com" rel="nofollow">https://hnclub.substack.com</a><p><a href="https://hnclub.substack.com/p/lichess-tournament-next-weekend-12" rel="nofollow">https://hnclub.substack.com/p/lichess-tournament-next-weeken...</a>
Fabulous time for chess.<p>Recent discussion on the same subject:<p><a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23537774" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23537774</a><p>Btw this article is lifted from a less addy site here:<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/chess-is-taking-over-the-online-video-game-world-and-both-are-changing-from-this-unlikely-pairing-143790" rel="nofollow">https://theconversation.com/chess-is-taking-over-the-online-...</a>
I just watched Nakamura play chess blindfolded yesterday while holding up a lively conversation. I know that blindfolded chess has been a thing for a long time, but it is always so impressive to me. Any hope that I'd have of keeping positions in my head would be gone as soon as someone talked to me.
Just passing by to signal-boost the creator of Lichess, a single person who, out of frustration with FICS et al., made an amazing product out of the blue, released it under an open source license and delivered an UX that blew its competitors right out of the water.<p>All it takes one person with skill and generosity to completely change a community for the better. I hope to become one day this kind of person.
Taking over is probably a bit of an overstatement, but I would be thrilled if it grew in popularity. Not only is it a game of thought, but it is a game that I have taught children using nothing more than scraps of paper (to make the board and pieces).<p>The article mentions a cultural clash. That isn't so unusual for the game. The history of chess can be traced back centuries, with both variations in rules and its place in society. The game survived regardless.
I know this sounds like I'm missing the point, but I'd love to see enhanced clients for chess which graphically pointed out long and short term options for those of us who play casually. That way we could be more like generals choosing among battlefield options, rather than having to memorize openings.<p>As a somewhat odd example, this would be like the Nintendo DS version of Street Fighter - which allowed you to assign on-screen buttons for common attacks. Rather than having to master a series of button presses and execute perfectly, you could just tap the button and fire off a Hadoken. Would I ever compete at EVO playing the game like that? No, of course not. But it was fun! I still lost a lot, but it was just a deeper game.<p>I think the same could be done for Chess. Let those of us with mediocre knowledge and skills play the game at the level the masters play at with the help of some AI. Rather than handicapping with time or giving up a piece, let the other player have options to get help from the AI once in a while - say 3 times during the game. Or have it set to not allow blunders without confirmation. There's a lot that could be done to add pleasure to the game.
Is there a chess game which teaches you well known openings as well?<p>I use to have a java game on my old Nokia phone once. Never found it again. If I made a certain opening, or did a certain move, it use to tell me that I played that particular move.
Chess.com has excellent commentary and coverage of popular chess events. Not affiliated, but just impressed with the quality of their commentary, making it informative and exciting.
A couple friends and I started a Chess Puzzle app (Chess Puzzle Blitz) and chess.com + COVID-19 is a big reason there has been a massive rally in Twitch. Most players you see on Twitch and that have been talked about in this thread are signed to exclusive twitch streaming agreements by chess.com - Chess.com is very profitable. Downside is it solidifies their position as the dominant online player. Upside is it does make chess more known and watched worldwide.
It's also worth noting that, in general, Twitch chat is less toxic for Chess than other games/categories.<p>I do peruse Twitch fairly regularly looking for streams that resonate. I'm always repulsed by a "LET'S GO BOYS" mentality which meanders between homophobia, sexism, bullying, hate speech.<p>Chess is a very good thing for Twitch.
I did a Ctrl+F and no one so far has posted about cheating! How can we trust a Twitch experience of chess when actual video game streamers have been caught cheating on Call of Duty et all? This seems rife for abuse. I love chess but I wouldn’t play electronically against random folks since the past 15 years.
Url changed from <a href="https://scroll.in/field/972176/game-theory-chess-is-taking-over-the-online-video-game-streaming-world-and-that-will-change-it-too" rel="nofollow">https://scroll.in/field/972176/game-theory-chess-is-taking-o...</a>, which points to this.
It's growing in popularity for sure. Nakamura's streaming, Magnus's tournament and everything moving online due to covid helped. But I wouldn't call it "taking over" and I doubt it has staying power. How long will the casual fans stick around?