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Imagine an oddly-shaped but familiar square board game on your mobile screen, only this one is adorned with not two but four sets of 16 pieces. Each set is arranged neatly on the boards four sides, according to their colourred, blue, yellow and green. Beside them is a smaller rectangular box divided into four spaces with as many faces peering in from them. Theres another face hanging in a corner outside the rectangle, frantically checking to see if everything is in order.

What you see underway is a game of the new-age, OTT avatar of one of the worlds oldest and stodgiest sports, chess, being played by four players for an audience on YouTube. The four peering faces, the players, are Indian Grandmaster (GM) Vidith Gujrathi with red pieces; GM Anish Giri from the Netherlands (blue pieces); FIDE Master and prolific YouTube chess streamer from North America Alexandra Botez (yellow); and chess commentator and player Antonio Radic from Croatia, better known by his YouTube moniker, Agadmator, with green pieces.

Lastly, there is the commentator and host, stand-up comedian Samay Raina, who flags off the game with some sagacious advice to the players to make friends on the chess board, and then betray them or perish. As the game begins, the live stream is filled with voices of these acute chess players trying to goad and cajole each other to go after the other players pieces.

This isnt serious stuff, in the sense that this is no professional tournament. But live-streaming of chess games now attracts participants ranging from professional GMs and Woman GMs, to comedians, cricket players and even business personalities. The usually 64-squared boardsometimes its 160 squares in four-player chesswitnesses several off-the-record, live-streamed games and tournaments.

The genesis of chess streaming lies in the FIDE Online Chess Olympiad 2020 that was organised after the 44th Chess Olympiad got postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, says Indian GM Srinath Narayanan. The streaming started when I saw the amount of interest70,000 people watching the final. It was incredible, the passion of the people. How willing they were to help the team in every way possible. As soon as the Olympiad ended, I started streaming in about a week or so. Narayanan belongs to the growing tribe of Indian pro-chess players, enthusiasts and followers who cover professional tournaments, live-stream their casual games, and/or review and commentate on chess games played around the global professional chess circuit.

As more chess players have turned streamers, the game has benefitted immensely. It has started shedding its reputation of being a boring, incomprehensible mind-bender. And the audience is attracted to the live streams and recordings due to the lively banter and trash talk that usually accompanies any match-up between the very competitive top pro-chess players. The pleasure of watching them take down their opponents and explain how they are doing it is a heady combination.

Sample this: As the first pieces move across the board, GM Gujrathi pitches for an alliance and GM Giri takes him up on his offer; FIDE Master Botez chimes in with the insight that all the GMs cannot gang up against the streamers and the alliance needs to be broken. Host Raina suggests that Gujrathi is a veteran of the format, and all three of them should first team up to eliminate him.

A shocked Gujrathi disbelievingly says he cannot trust the alliance with Giri and makes a move to test his loyalty. In response, a little hurt Giri lets his Bishop be taken by Gujrathi to prove him wrong. Suddenly, the quiet but observant Agadmator butts in to say that it makes sense to go after Gujrathi since he has an extra Queen converted from a Pawn. As Agadmator says this, Gujrathi confronts Giri on targeting his Bishop. Giri assertively replies that he is just defending his own Bishop. While the two grandmasters resolve their little kerfuffle, Botez deviously asks Agadmator if hes interested in working as a team to take on the GMs, since she senses a crack in their alliance.

The combination of shop talk and trash talk is almost irresistible. On display for the audience is every bit of nuanced calculation, permutation, combination, collaboration, co-operation, deal-making, deal-breaking and negotiation skills available in the players arsenal, deployed by them to get the upper hand in the game.

While there is a lot to learn for an astute student of the game, the sheer entertainment factor of the streams combined with how interesting and insightful the game itself is, has made chess approachable again, says International Master (IM) and Woman GM Tania Sachdev. There is this serious image attached to chess. But suddenly seeing chess players just have fun has made it more approachable again. People have rekindled their love for the game and I think streaming has a big role to play in that.

Srinath concurs: I had never seen such numbers of people interested in chess. There were a lot of people interested in chess, but people who didnt know how to play chess but still wanted to watch, that was something new to see.

Even though chess is said to have originated somewhere in the Indian subcontinent, the roots of the game are lost in the sands of time. But that has not prevented the game from cultivating a loyal fan base in the country. You now have people who are watching people play chess. They love it when you play tournaments; they are connected with you. It has definitely become something that everyone enjoyed, but there was this catalyst that was required to make it into a more mainstream thing. Everyone knew about chess, but people were almost scared to play. It can be very intimidating. But now, once you get into it, people are just addicted to the game, is how Sachdev puts it.

Although live streaming of chess games is in its infancy in India, it presents a lot of opportunity for growth in terms of streaming official tournaments, sponsorship deals, covering and reviewing professional matches, engaging with viewers, subscribers and the players themselves. Says Ashish Pherwani, EY India Media & Entertainment Leader: Unlike broadcast that only allows content with mass appeal, streaming allows for content with a niche appeal to find a home and get distributed, and chess fits into that. Its not a mass sport, it is extremely intellectual but it has a dedicated following. Streaming of chess games provides for a kind of lower cost, lower reach model but a very dedicated fan base of people watching.

In the same vein, Sagar Shah, an IM and Co-founder & CEO of ChessBase India, continues that although he started the company in 2017 with the intention of supporting the games growth in India, its business, too, has grown substantially over time. He adds that when they started, there was no fixed revenue model apart from the fact that ChessBase software brought in inflow whereby they could keep going and maintain the website.

Our revenue sources are divided into the sale of products and the media-related activities that we do. But from the perspective of cashing in, we are very careful. Our vision is to grow chess and make it the most popular sport in the country. The money will follow if we direct our energy in growing the sport.

But the financial aspect of the game is not what keeps driving the community of chess players and audience into each others arms. Rather, it is the thrill of watching the very serious and competitive professional chess players let their hair down and blow off some steam while engaged in a friendly joust against peers.

For example, in the stream described above, the true colour of the players intentions are revealed when Gujrathi takes Botezs Queen with his Queen and Giri takes one of her Pawns with his Queen. In turn, she takes Gujrathis Queen with her Knight, and Giri and Gujrathi try to cajole Agadmator to go after Botezs pieces, which will eliminate her from the game. Agadmator says if he does that, he will be left to fight two GMs alone, which doesnt seem like such a good idea. The alliance between the GMs comes to an abrupt halt as Agadmator refuses to checkmate Gujrathis King, which gives Gujrathi an opportunity to take Giris Queen.

The live stream goes on like this for another hour with many a thrust and parry of pieces moved forward to attack or pulled back to defend, and as the game ends with Giri eliminated first, followed by Botez, all the players agree that a rematch is in order since they were not very familiar with the format. And, so it goes again.

Meanwhile, to satisfy your chess streaming urge, go watch the 44th Chess Olympiad being held in Mamallapuram, Chennai. India has fielded 30 players in six teams, and the streaming platforms are buzzing with the tournaments live feed, news and tidbits.

@pliticalyincrkt

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The World of Chess Streaming - Business Today

Sarath Babu GeorgeTHIRUVANANTHAPURAMJuly 31, 2022 19:11 IST

Updated:August 01, 2022 16:34 IST

Updated:August 01, 2022 16:34 IST

50 students undergo coaching in the game at Fort child-friendly station

50 students undergo coaching in the game at Fort child-friendly station

The chess fever that has gripped the country which is hosting the 44th Chess Olympiad appears to have rubbed off on the unlikeliest of places a police station.

Intriguing names like the En Passant capture, Sicilian Defence and Queens Gambit echo in the halls of the Fort child-friendly police station in Thiruvananthapuram that has become a training centre for budding chess players.

An assistant sub-inspector (ASI) is donning the role of a chess coach at the station and the initiative has attracted nearly 50 students within a week of its launch.

The trainees hail from economically disadvantaged families at Karimadom colony, Chala and other localities that are known for their high crime and school dropout rates. The police view the endeavour, launched by Fort Assistant Commissioner S. Shaji and Inspector J. Rakesh, as one that could provide students a sense of purpose.

ASI V. Ajayakumar, the coach who is in charge of the child-friendly police station, vouches for the role of chess in enhancing the skills of children. Chess is scientifically proven to instil 18 cognitive skills and nine non-cognitive skills. The game, despite being a non-active sport, benefits children by boosting their concentration, decision-making and scientific-reasoning skills, and strategic-thought process. It is high time that the game is included in the school curriculum as advocated by our chess icon Viswanathan Anand, says the officer who has been associated with the Student Police Cadet project of the Kerala Police for nine years.

Yuggaruphan, a Class 5 student of Government Higher Secondary School at Punnamoodu in the district, hopes to follow his idol Anands footsteps. Initiated into the world of chess by his father at the age of five, he harbours the dream of becoming a Grandmaster one day.

An unsatisfied Ajayakumar eggs him on to represent the country at a Chess Olympiad.

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Watch | Police station in Thiruvananthapuram turns a chess academy - The Hindu

When the giant screen at the grassy centre courtyard of the venue began to stream R Praggnanandhaas game, the scattered crowd turned their collective gaze towards the screen. For the next five-odd minutes their eyes remain fixed on the screen. It did not matter what moves he made, how clear his lines were, or what the scope of his openings were, whether you are a chess geek or knew nothing about the game. They were content just seeing him, his neck craning onto the board so much so that a deep exhaling of breath could blow the pieces.

The feed stopped; their gaze scattered. Inside the hall, a few spectators were stretching their heads to spot him India B teams board is the closest to the spectators enclosure. From their awkward perch, they could almost see his head, but they could neither cheer nor shout. They cant resist yelling out, but their passes would be struck out. Perhaps, someone someday would.

His big round eyes twitching over the board, Praggnanandhaa is immune to the frenzy around him, or those outside just praying for his victory. He is in a cerebral tussle with his Italian rival Lorenzo Lodici, fresh from stalling Norways progress on Sunday. The Indian had endured a difficult Sunday, trailing for most of the match and winning on his opponents sloppy time management. But none of this was to affect him, or force him to the ultra-defensive. As is often the case, he began with a dynamic opening, the semi-slav, a tactical and aggressive opening. The early exchanges gave him the command, and a pawn sacrifice gave an indication that he could venture early for the kill.

But Lodici slowed the game down, and what followed was a cramming of the central lines, both their pieces almost structured like a pyramid. Praggnanandhaa repositioned his knight, tempting him to counterattack. But Lodici just kept fortifying his king, weaving an elaborate labyrinth that his adversary could not breach. The Indian tried to decongest the central channels but Lodici refused to make inroads. He sensed the dangers as Praggnanandhaa had favourable pieces for a sideways launch. He shut shop.

The middle-game laboured on endlessly and without a clear conclusion. The bishop G2 on the 36th turn was perhaps his dice Praggnanandhaa threw at opening up his opponents wall. But Lodici refused to shed his dour defence, and after 42 moves, with no clear result in the prospect, they shook hands for a draw. A case could be made that the Indian could have been more aggressive in the middle-game, but again, against his deep defensive lines, it would have been difficult to wreak havoc. Besides, there had been times in the past where his ultra-aggressive approach when strangulated had resulted in defeats. So, he too played along, and a draw against a tough opponent was not a bad result.

The result seemed inconsequential for his supportersthat is most of the crowd that had assembled here. They still waited for him at the entrance, for an autograph, a selfie or that innocence-sparkling smile of his.

For, there is a deeper emotional connection at play that reduces a draw or a win or a loss to an academic non significance. No matter how they mourn his defeat or celebrate his victories, they dont judge him by his results. For, the predominant emotion is love. Its unique, for as much as the city loves chess, celebrates the chess heroes, brags and revels in their exploits, they have never loved someone as much as they have Praggnanandhaa.

In him, they see their own son, their younger brother, their friendhe has burst the cultural and social barriers attached with the game, even de-intellectualised the perception of a chess hero. He talks the language that all grandmasters do, but he strikes a deeper chord that differentiates a hero and an idol.

To use a Tamil refrain, he is one of the makkal (common man), or namma payyan (our boy) loveable and relatable, one of the masses, one everyone can aspire to, the everymans role model. One you could touch and feel that he is so human. The halo around him is that he has no halo.

Simply, he showed that anyone could be a Grandmaster. The background does not matterhis parents have hardly played chess, even now their understanding of the game is fundamental, his background was privileged but a common middle-class family. It also helps that he is naturally charmingthe smile disarms, the eyes still radiate a boyish mischief, the manners are mild and there is something ineffably endearing about him.

The city is watching his talent unfold and fame soar as the country once did Sachin Tendulkar. He brings the caged sport into the galleries; he fuels a melange of emotions, from joy and love to dejection and reverence. Half the people sprawled into the centre courtyard cant fathom moves or decode chess notation. But they follow him blindly, rejoice in his victories and mourn in his miseries, as though the experience is deeply personal, as though they are experiencing the same emotions as he is.

Originally posted here:
The hero without a halo, Chennai's 'namma paiyyan' (our boy) Praggnanandhaa has the fans on a string - The Indian Express

Optical Illusion: Are these two sets of chess pieces the same or different? This mind-bending optical illusion of two sets of chess pieces is taking the Internet by storm. Keep reading.

Optical Illusion: The Mystery Behind Two Sets of Chess Pieces

Optical Illusion: This mind-boggling optical illusion image has internet users perplexed as to how the two sets of chess pieces can be the same.

Yes, we are speaking about the optical illusion image shared by Tom Chivers on Twitter with the caption the top and bottom chess sets are the same colour.

The image below shows two sets of chess pieces that are different from each other in their appearance.

What if we told you that these two sets are identical?

Would you agree?

You wont.

Well, we will be explaining to you the mystery behind the statement that the two sets of chess pieces are the same.

Keep reading.

This optical illusion image was created by researchers Barton Anderson, from the University of Sydney, Australia, and Jonathan Winawer, of New York University and was published in the science journal Nature.

Have a look at the image again.

You can see that there are two sets of chess pieces against a smoky background. Interestingly, this image's upper set of chess pieces is against a dark smoky background, while the lower set is against a lighter background.

This illusion is created by the smoky background and is responsible for altering our perception.

This is possible due to the phenomenon of assimilation, which tricks our brain into thinking that these are different colours although they are the same.

In this phenomenon, when an object is placed in a darker background, it appears light, while the same object appears dark when placed in a lighter environment.

We hope you had a great experience reading this story; for more such exciting story pieces, stay connected with us.

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Optical Illusion: Black or White? The Mystery Behind Two Sets of Chess Pieces - Jagran Josh

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], August 2 (ANI/BusinessWire India): Premium water brand smartwater, owned by The Coca-Cola Company, has signed a partnership with Federation Internationale des Echecs (FIDE), to be the official and exclusive beverage partner for the 44th Chess Olympiad 2022. The Olympiad will be held in Chennai, India from 28 July to 10 August 2022.

This will be the first Chess Olympiad to take place in the country. Now sold as a premium product globally, smartwater was first introduced in 1996 in the United States, and by 2016 it was one of the top five bottled water brands in that country, with sales worth nearly USD 830 million in 2017. Barely two years later, India was already the fourth largest market globally for the brand, with a presence in over 10,000 outlets across the country.

Karthik Subramanian, Director, Marketing, Hydration Coffee and Tea Category, Coca-Cola India and Southwest Asia said, "Made through vapour distillation, water is evaporated to remove impurities, condensed and then re-mineralized with electrolytes for a crisp, pure taste, making smartwater a premium hydrating beverage. We are proud to partner with the first-ever Chess Olympiad taking place in India, as rehydration will be an important need for the participants, especially taking into account the high temperatures in Chennai at the time." The brand is also available in other countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, The United Arab Emirates, Croatia, Singapore, Serbia, Romania, Malaysia, and Canada. Renowned global celebrities such as Jennifer Aniston, Gal Gadot, and Zendaya, have endorsed smartwater.

In India as well, the brand has leveraged local celebrity brand ambassadors Rana Daggubati and Radhika Apte to drive brand edge, all the while experimenting with digital marketing strategies and expanding distribution in select channels to retain its position as a premium offering. In 2019, Smartwater alkaline and Smartwater antioxidant were introduced globally to meet the growing desire for hydration options throughout the day. These global innovations have continued with the launch of Smartwater flavors--inspired by the lightly infused waters found at spas-- Smartwater sparkling, and Smartwater+, infused with a range of fruit essences and rejuvenating extracts.

Coca-Cola India will supply 70,000 bottles of smartwater, to ensure that the participants in the Olympiad will stay hydrated, which is important for them to perform at their highest level. This story is provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/BusinessWire India)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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smartwater Is the official beverage partner for 44th Chess Olympiad 2022 - Devdiscourse