Winning starts with what you know
The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.
While the chess community has been focused on the world championship as is befitting, the general media has long taken only a casual look at the event in the past years, publishing only the occasional centerpiece as a form of tipping its hat to the game. Chess has never lacked respect, and to the layman is generally synonymous of patience and an elevated IQ. Popularity and coolness have never been its defining characteristics though.
Now, the world championship and chess itself have been experiencing an absolutely mind-boggling surge of interest and boom in media outlets that previously barely acknowledged their existence. While the recent story of the Pyjama Girls helped illustrated the impact, a number of other stories can only make one wonder.
Consider that the Norwegian national TV network NRK has reported that fully 700 thousand viewers tuned in to their coverage of the world championship, in a country of just five million people.
Fully 700,000 viewers tuned in when NRK started up its live broadcasts during the weekend, reported media website Kampanje. Even though the games going on in Chennai, India begin mid-morning in Norway (10:30am local time), NRK is claiming strong viewership in a country of just 5 million people.
India has seen massive coverage itself in all media outlets as expected, but going beyond the plain game summaries.
Still, the story that stood out far beyond any other, was reported by GQ Magazine. GQ is a specialized magazine for men’s fashion and style, and recently published a massive photoshoot of 100 models in Victoria Secrets lingerie.
You'd think that in a men's magazine like GQ , a photo gallery of 100 models in Victoria Secrets
lingerie would have no rivals
That it was massively popular is no surprise, but what was a surprise, as tweeted by GQ itself, was that this story was losing out to another story posted the same day. You guessed it: the world chess championship.
GQ was understandably shocked to report chess was beating lingerie models
The article is written by a self-professed patzer, sharing his fascination. "Fans of this ancient
pastime insist it is an art, science, sport and war all rolled into one. It is a test of wills. It is life
in miniature. It is, as one player once said, "As much a mystery as women." Critics, meanwhile,
argue it's not a game but a disease. Click for full article.
Sometimes life is stranger than fiction.
