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Ever since 2020, chess has seen tremendous growth as a game. In December 2019, chess was averaging at a little over 1,900 viewers per month on Twitch. Fast forward to February 2021, when PogChamps 3 was happening, and that number grew to 30,000.

While events like PogChamps and The Queen's Gambit have elevated the game's popularity to new heights, that doesn't explain why chess is still so successful. After all, hype can only last for so long. Millions of the newer chess players are still enjoying the game, long after Beth Harmon made her last move against Borgov.

So, why is this ancient board game so magnetic? What makes chess one ofif not thegreatest games of all time?

Here are 11 reasons:

Have you ever tried to eat a juicy and delicious steak using nothing but flimsy plastic silverware? If you haven't, let me tell you: it's a terribly frustrating experience. You try to savor that fine meal, but the plastic fork shatters in your hands while your food gets colder and colder.

Playing a game with beautiful graphics and a great storyline but awful gameplay is much like that experience. You sit there trying to have a good time, but you simply don't have the means to do it. In the gaming world, gameplay is king.

Gameplay is, at an elementary level, the way a user interacts with a game. There are quite a few technical factors that go into "great gameplay," and let me tell you: chess hits them all. And it hits them hard. Good playability, just the right balance between challenge and reward, plenty of tools for players to improve... you name it!

Chess.com makes this point stick out even more! Fair pairing is a no-brainer; you can't make illegal moves (even that mysterious pawn move is legal!); we take care of your clock for you; you can learn all the rules for free. What a great time to be alive!

That alone would be reason enough to make it a great game, but there's more.

Time for some mind-boggling numbers. Let's suppose two random people are playing a game of chess. After only two moves by each player, the game could've reached one of 197,281 different positions (including the Fool's Mate). After four more moves for each side, there are 84,998,978,956 possible positions.

In the video below, Dr. James Grime from the Numberphile YouTube channel talks about the number of possible chess games. If you like numbers, I highly suggest you watch the video. If you don't like numbers, I still think you should watch it as it'll blow your mind.

According to Dr. Grime, if we take into consideration only three sensible moves per player per turn and a 20-move game (20 moves for each side), you would still have 1040 different games that could arise. I know this doesn't mean much to us, but Dr. Grime puts it into perspective: "If, for example, everyone in the world paired off and they had to play a [different] game of chess every day, (...) to play all possible games, it would still take you trillions and trillions of years to play them all."

Mind-blowing.

As you can see, chess is a game that's full of possibilities and replayability. You'll hardly ever play the same game twice unless you're playing for a quick draw with the Bongcloud. Yet the game is consistent enough that it doesn't feel like you're navigating a sea of chaos every time you start a new game. That balance is just divine!

If you do a quick search online, you can find a complete tournament chess set and board for less than $20. What's more, that chess set will probably last for a lifetimeno patches or upgrades needed.

If you don't feel like you need a tournament-approved chess set, the price goes even lower. For less than $15, you can find decent sets that will also last forever.

Would you rather spend $15 on a month of Netflix? That's fine. You can play chess for free on Chess.com! And if you're good enough, you don't even need an internet connection to playyou can do it using nothing but your mind! Take that, Grand Theft Auto!

Do you know that Dragonite you spent hours training to make it invincible in? When you turn your console off (or play the next generation of Pokemon), all that work will go down the drain. What a waste.

As satisfying as it is to level up your character or the monsters you carry around in your pocket, there's nothing like leveling yourself up. When you're playing chess, you are the one getting faster, sharper, and stronger. Not only that, but you can also transfer the skills you've acquired from chess to other aspects of your life.

We also have the added benefit that people think chess players are geniuses. Would you mind not letting them know that's not true? I appreciate it.

"Appealing visuals in chess? Are you serious? Have you ever seen games like Assassins Creed or Watch Dogs? How can you even compare chess to them?" Well, first of all, I'm not comparing chess to those games. Chess is clearly much better (wink).

When I say "appealing visuals," I'm not talking about mind-boggling 3D effects or ultra-realistic representations of reality. But if you've ever taken some time to appreciate the beauty of a wooden chess set, you know what I mean. Take an extra eight minutes to watch the video below, and I dare you to not fall in love with the shapes and elegance of chess pieces:

Chess is one of the oldest board games in the world. The last time chess had a meaningful change in its rules was most likely more than 400 years ago. Compare that to the fast-paced world of online games where new versions or new game patches come out very often.

While some might say that's boring, I would suggest it's marvelous. Try watching a replay of Counter-Strike 1.6 or playing the first few versions of FIFA. You'll tear up, and not positively. Aside from the nostalgia, there's little value to doing that.

Now, I invite you to take a look at this game played in 1851, aptly called the Immortal Game. If this game doesn't give you the chills, I don't know what will.

If you enjoy classical, near-perfect intellectual battles, chess is the game for you. If you like fast-paced games fueled by trash-talking, chess is also the game for you. Chess has something for everyone.

From the classy World Chess Championship to the meme-esque PogChamps, chess appeals to all audiences and brings us all together. It's hard to see a game that can bring together men in suits, women in dresses, and streamers wearing whimsical shirts. Yet, somehow chess can pull it off.

If you like gambling, this is probably not a good thing about chess. But if you enjoy playing games where the outcome depends (almost) purely on your ability, chess is perfect for you!

While games of chance can be fun, they can also be disheartening. There is a scene in the hit show "The Office" that illustrates this point. Kevin, the office's accountant and seasoned poker player, is at a poker table that includes Phillys, a saleswoman with no poker experience. Kevin goes all-in with three queens but loses after Phillys accidentally finds out she had "all the clovers" (a flush).

While skilled poker players do tend to win more in the long run, this sort of unlucky blow can and does happen occasionally. And let's face it: once is more than enough. So, apart from the sporadic mouse slip, the future of your chess games depends exclusively on you.

"Now you're just pushing things." I know, this seems like a bit too much. I don't blame you if you call me out in the comments. However, let me explain myself.

While two people sitting down and staring at a board for hours on end may not seem like much, in reality, it is. With every passing second during a chess game, both players intensely calculate the infinite possibilities ahead of them. Although the board remains unchanged for several minutes, the players and spectators constantly move pieces around in their heads. IM Levy Rozman's video lets you peek behind the curtain to appreciate all the action going on inside GM Garry Kasparov's head while playing against GM Anatoly Karpov:

I don't know of many games where both players are always playing. Even people watching the game are thinking about multiple variations and trying to figure out the next move. Now, that's what I call action!

I understand if you're not satisfied with my logic, though. You prefer "real" actionintense battles with stuff flying around the screen and where every millisecond counts. Well, I leave you with this short clip:

When it comes to online gaming, chess is the OG. Chess was the first app on a computer and the first game ever played online. If that's not cool enough for you, I'll give you one more: chess was likely one of the first games played between Earth and space. It happened in 1970, when two Russian cosmonauts played against ground control. They even had a special zero-gravity chessboard with them to make this possible.

Does Valorant have special zero-gravity gear for their players? Didn't think so.

There's only one thing that can bring together art, science, and fun togetherand no, I'm not talking about papier mache volcanos.

Chess competitions have been around for a few hundred years. As with any other competitive game or sport, serious players who dedicated their lives to chess have developed numerous techniques to improve and get ahead of the pack. In particular, GM Mikhail Botvinnik (who even looks like a scientist, by the way) gets credit for giving chess a systematic training approach for professional players. Chess improvement became a science.

Still, chess leaves room for improvisation and creativity. Take some time to go over some of GM Mikhail Tal's best games and I dare you not to be awestruck. Much like Salvador Dali paintings, Tal's jaw-dropping sacrifices can take you to a surreal world that will leave you breathless.

Tal's games are only a tiny fraction of the truly stunning games played throughout history. Check out this masterpiece created in 1912. Legend has it this game was so beautiful that spectators started throwing gold coins over the board after the game was over. Simply exquisite!

Now, the best part of it all. Not everyone is as smart as a scientist or inspiring as an artist. Yet, we can all have fun with chess. Sure, my games lack precision and when I move my queen within the enemy pawn's reach you can bet good money it's a blunder. Nonetheless, I still have a lot (maybe even too much) of fun with chess.

And my guess is that if you play chess (or if you start playing) you will too.

What are your favorite things about chess? Let us know in the comments below!

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11 Reasons Why Chess Is The King Of All Games - Chess.com

Here it comes! PogChamps 4 is just around the corner, with the games beginning in only three days. With so many streaming superstars participating, the Botez sisters piloting the action, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in the mix PogChamps 4 is sure to be the biggest and brightest yet!

We here at Chess.com are excited, and we're sure you are too. Here are seven reasons to be even more excited than you already are!

Chess.com is now more than 71 million members strong, nearly double from when we pogged it up for the first time back in June 2020. Every day, tens of thousands of people are registering and millions of games are played. For those of you who are newer to the community: Pog is where it's at! Check out the video below for a small taste of what PogChamps has to offer.

Of course, it's the players who make PogChamps, and by this point perhaps no individual has fulfilled the PogChamps ethos more than Ludwig. He played in PogChamps 1 and 3, commentated on Pog2, and has brought even more people into the chess fold in other events as a two-time victor in Winner Stays and a player in BlockBattles in August.

Sadly for all of us, Pog4 will be Ludwig's last PogChamps. Or at least that's what he tells us!

But that means we should see him pull out all the stops this time around in his last chance to take the title. He's one of the best players in the field, sporting the best blitz rating which will bode well in any tiebreakers, and so his chances are as good as almost anyone's.

This is also the first PogChamps that features both Ludwig and QTCinderella as players.

Ludwig isn't the only big name returning to the Pog scene. Pog3 featured two of the world's biggest content creators, and they're both back: MrBeast on YouTube and Rubius on Twitch. We also have Boxbox back from Pog1, and QTCinderella and ConnorEatsPants from Pog2. Boxbox also toppled Ludwig's chances at joining the Winner Stays Pantheon of retired three-time winners, making the League of Legends turned Variety streamer into one of the Pog4 favorites.

Six PogChamps veterans is the most we've ever had. They know what they're getting into, and that can only bode well for their ability to entertain us again in Pog4.

We have seen four players in action in other Chess.com events, but they'll be making their PogChamps debut. How will they handle by far their biggest chess stage yet?

Sapnap, Fundy, and Punz are all Chess.com vets via their participation in the Minecraft crossover BlockBattles in August 2021. Sapnap won the entire January 2021 BlockChamps tournament as well and is one of the Pog4 favorites.

Fundy has the added experience of playing Winner Stays. Although he lost his match to Ludwig there, he got revenge with a match win in BlockBattles. If there's a round three between them it will no doubt be one of Pog4's headline matches.

And Tectone starred previously in Tournament Arc 2, winning his first match in the Redemption Arc (consolation bracket). How will he build on that experience?

It's always the most intriguing part of any PogChamps: Who will be the next big breakout? Every time, someone shocks the world by getting much better at playing chess, or by being more fun on a chess stream than anyone anticipated. Six players will be making their Chess.com debuts, so there are plenty of candidates.

The #1 Magic: The Gathering streamer, crokeyz, has been spending four hours a day working on his chess and could be a dark horse to win the entire tournament.

Pog3 had Logic, but Pog4 has the improvisational skills of rap freestyler Harry Mack. Who knows what he will bring to the table.

IAmCristinini, Spain's biggest female streamer and television host, and JustaMinx, the Variety streamer extraordinaire, will be stepping onto the Chess.com stage for the first timetheir legions of fans will surely be rooting them on. The field is rounded out by IRL Just Chatting JakenBakeLIVE and Variety streamer 5uppp. There is no shortage of players who can shock and awe us this time around.

For the first time, PogChamps has a charity partner. It's Rise Above the Disorder, whose mission is nothing less than to improve access to and affordability of mental health services. Just like in Pog3, Chess.com will be matching up to $100,000 in community donations, but this time it is all going to a single great cause. Every $30 pays for a week of therapy, and so $200,000 would represent 128years worth of sessions for thousands of people.

Taking the commentary lead this time are the Botez sisters, WFM Alexandra and Andrea. Already a part of previous Pogs as commentators and coaches, now it's time for them to take the reins, and they've already nailed the Chess/Minecraft crossover. The BotezLive superstars are two of the biggest chess celebrities in the world and are sure to leave their mark on this flagship event.

What are you most excited about for PogChamps 4? Let us know in the comments, and tune in on ChessTV starting August 29 for the best PogChamps yet!

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7 Reasons PogChamps 4 Will Be The Best Yet! - Chess.com

There's a famous story in basketball featuring Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird. Before the first-ever Three-Point Shootout in 1986, he went into the locker room, asked who was finishing in second place and walked out. He won the contest.

There's nothing quite like trash-talk paying off if you're the one dishing it out. Of course, if you're the one hearing the trash-talk, there's nothing like seeing it backfire on your opponent. Throughout chess history, that latter possibility tends to play out more often.

While games like basketball or cricket have more scope for trash-talking than chess, that doesn't mean it can't happen in the royal game. It's especially common at clubs, parks, or coffeehouses. In my early years of chess life, I used to go to a club in my town and I can still recall being told during some games to "run, run, run with your king now."

On the professional or competitive level, players used to occasionally undercut other players in a tournament bulletin or newspaper column. These days, Twitter is the preferred medium for pre-match and post-match trash-talking.

Here are five times that trash-talking backfired in chess:

We begin with a more classic example of trash-talking in chess. In the video below, we see GM Maurice Ashley both receiving and dishing out some good old fashioned trash-talk:

Ashley met not just a trash-talker on this day but a hustler who tried to take both of Ashley's knights on the same move (slow motion replay at 2:30). Throughout the game, Maurice gave as well as he took on the talk. The chess hustler's trash-talk definitely backfired, as the game was no contestAshley won easily.

The famous Carlsbad tournament in 1929 featured some very strong players of the period, and it also included Vera Menchik. Prior to the event, Albert Becker, a Viennese master, made fun of the fact that she was invited and proposed the following:

Gentlemen, I have a great idea. I suggest forming a club named after Vera Menchik. Those who will manage to lose a game to her will become full members of the club. Those who draw will only be considered as candidates for membership.

Menchik won the game, making Becker the first member of the "Vera Menchik Club." Not only did she beat him, but she did so handsomely by dominating the game both positionally and tactically. If you have ever been a victim of trash-talking in chess, I am sure you know how satisfying it is to punish it over the board. I can only imagine what it feels like to punish a trash-talking misogynist by running over him.

On the other hand, if you do decide to go the trash-talking route to try to gain a psychological edge, make sure you are prepared enough for it not to backfireand never belittle another person because of their gender.

What if you had to win a chess game to save your life? Well, that was exactly what Russian-French player Ossip Bernstein had to do. He was on the verge of being executed by a firing squad. On the day of his execution, one of the officials recognized his name as he was a chess lover himself. The verbal confirmation wasn't enough, and the official asked Bernstein to prove it by beating him in a game of chess.

Bernstein won the game and was released. He eventually moved to France and continued his work as a finance lawyer and also kept in touch with chess.

At the age of 72, he was playing in a round-robin tournament. His opponent in the 16th round, GM Miguel Najdorf was leading by half a point. He underestimated Bernstein and believed that he could easily beat him and win the event. He went on to convince the organizer to double the prize money as he was very confident of his victory.

What followed next was an extraordinary display of great chess skills by Bernstein as he won the game. It is considered as one of his best chess achievements, and you can enjoy his impressive victory over his loudmouth opponent in the video below:

I'm sure that Bernstein's victory was that much sweeter after Najdorf had thrown shade (to put it mildly) at him. I also wonder how he spent the extra money he made thanks to his no-doubt embarrassed opponent.

GM Efim Bogoljubov made some nasty remarks about Jose Capablanca's play in the bulletin of the Moscow 1925 event. Apparently, what many people admire about Capablanca's playing style, making chess seem simple, was not to Bogoljubov's taste.

Capablanca defeated Bogoljubov in their game, but Bogoljubov went on to win the tournament. Their game in particular was discussed heavily, and there were some strong disagreements about the evaluations among the annotators. Edward Winter compiled them all in a wonderful article titled "Analytical Disaccord."

Since Bogoljubov won the tournament, one could say the Cuban master won the battle but lost the war. That would have been the case if the story ended there. However, we would not be talking about it unless the trash-talker ultimately ended up losing the war, too.

A few years later, Capablanca defeated Bogoljubov in an instructive endgame and proved his strength once again. Defeating someone who has talked trash to or about you publicly can be a satisfying experience indeed.

Trash-talking now often begins on social media, and is even fueled by fans and the press. One episode that deserves an article in itself is the funny tweet exchanges between World Champion GM Magnus Carlsen and GM Anish Giri.

The story of Carlsen and Giri's constant exchange of "compliments" is perhaps one of the best-known and most well-documented in chess, thanks to their inclination to take matters to their social media channels.

It all started back in 2018 when Giri joined GM Vladimir Kramnik's team to help him prepare for the Candidates tournament that year. Carlsen took this opportunity to take the first public jab in the Dutch grandmaster's direction.

Some players would let this sort of remark coming from the world champion go, but we all know Giri's witty sense of humor. After a few tweet exchanges between the two players, things escalated when Carlsen posted the following message:

The social media war of words between Carlsen and Giri reached its pinnacle prior to the Chessable Masters event online. Giri defeated Carlsen in berserk mode, tweeted about it, and even made a video trolling the world champion.

He also won with the black pieces on demand in the event, and that created a lot of buzz on social media. Ultimately, Carlsen clinched the online event. Giri came incredibly close to winning the game, but he missed Carlsen's resource on the 35th move:

As the tweet flattery between the two has not come to an end, it is impossible to say who will have the last laugh. Regardless, it is fair to say that their Twitter interactions, which have since become more light-hearted, do make us giggle.

The next time you think about trash-talking your opponent in any setting, remember what you read in this article. It could backfire.

Have you ever played a game where trash-talking occurred? Does the trash-talking give the player an extra boost to do their best? Are you aware of other famous instances where trash-talking backfired? Let us know in the comments below!

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5 Times That Trash-Talking Backfired In Chess - Chess.com

GM Parham Maghsoodloo won Titled Tuesday this week with a 9.5/11 score, beating out second-place IM Minh Le and third-place GM Rustam Khusnutdinov on tiebreakers. GM Dmitry Andreikin finished fourth on 9/11. Maghsoodloo previously won Titled Tuesday on October 13, 2020.

After last week's 11/11, GM Hikaru Nakamura won his first six games this week, for an 18-game Titled Tuesday winning streak including the last round on August 10.

530 titled players participated this week. The tournament was the usual 11-round Swiss format under a 3+1 time control.

Live broadcast of this week's tournament, hosted by NM James Canty III.

In round seven, Nakamura met Maghsoodloo. Up a piece for three pawns and low on time in the ending, Maghsoodloo converted. The win gave him the last perfect score of the tournament, although Maghsoodloo fell to GM Vladimir Fedoseev the next round, ending the chance of Titled Tuesday seeing a second straight perfect score.

By the final round, Maghsoodloo was a half-point ahead of the field and took a draw with Andreikin. After tiebreakers, Maghsoodloo's 9.5 was enough for first and Andreikin had the best performance among those with 9/11.

The tournament victor's last win, in round 10, came against GM Raunak Sadhwani in a theoretically drawn ending but one that is always difficult for the player without the extra piece to hold.

On his way to second place, Minh Le also had to get through Nakamura. Without a chance at winning the tournament, Nakamura went with the fan-pleasing 2.Ke2 for the final round game.

But the wildest game of the week, and in Titled Tuesday overall for some time, was played between FM Pedro Martinez and IM Greg Shahade in round eight.

August 24 Titled Tuesday | Final Standings (Top 20)

(Full final standings here.)

Maghsoodloo won $750 for his victory. Minh Le took home $400 for second place. The $150 for third went to Khusnutdinov and Andreikin won $100 for fourth place. The $100 prize to the highest-scoring woman went to WGM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya, who went 8/11 to tie for 24th.

Titled Tuesday is a Swiss tournament for titled players that runs weekly on Chess.com. It starts at 10 a.m. Pacific time/19:00 Central European every Tuesday.

Link:
Maghsoodloo Wins August 24 Titled Tuesday - Chess.com

Chess updates

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Late summer is the traditional time for a new chess season, but thisyear clubs are reopening and weekend congresses resuming amid a basic uncertainty.On the one hand, Covid-19 wiped out almost all over-the-boardchess activity in 2020; on the other, there has been a massive boom in the game online, sparked by Netflixs The Queens Gambit and by world champion Magnus Carlsen.

So far, results are mixed. Some English clubs such as Liverpool, Harrogate and Camberley are already in full swing, with an influx of new members, while others have yet to reopen. Congresses such as this weekends Northumberland event in Gateshead are oversubscribed, but popular events in Guernsey and Torbay have been cancelled.

The most striking positive has been with small tournaments giving opportunities for international titles and norms. Muswell Hill produced two master results, while the Wood Green Invitational, which finished on Monday, provided a second (of three needed) grandmaster norm for 22-year-old Ravi Haria and an IM title for Marcus Harvey. The tournament was played at Stafford, but got its name because most competitors represent Wood Green in Englands national league.

Haria made his mark earlier this year when he defeated strong GMs from France, Germany and Russia in the knockout World Cup. He won with 7.5/9 at Stafford, and now needs another 36 rating points and one more norm for the GM title. It should not be long delayed.

Harias best win, against the Hungarian top seed,showed the power of two rooks on the seventh, also known as raging rooks, as they caught the white king in a mating net.

Next month the England team of six, including three women or girls, competes in the Fide online Olympiad, for which 150 countries entered. If international chess sounds too distant for FT readers, it is not if you are among the millions who play online.

Membership of the English Chess Federation opens the door for internet players of all standards from strong to weak to take part in individual and team national, and even international, contests.

Puzzle 2433

Yuri Averbakh vs Peter Dubinin, Moscow 1951. White to play. What was his winning move? Averbakh, at 99 the worlds grandmaster, was in intensive care with Covid-19 a few weeks ago, but has since been released from hospital.

For solution, click here

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International honours for English talents as over-the-board chess returns - Financial Times