What is eSports?
ESports is the name given to all of the sports that are played on electronic devices or portals. That’s why the “e” on eSports stands for “electronic”, so chess and eSports, what they have in common?
In reality, eSports and chess have a fine relationship with each other, even more during the pandemic. Some of the most popular eSports that exist are the CS:GO, Dota 2, and LOL competitions.
The eSports have an incredible amount of public and they can get great crowds going to see them live. Chess and eSports can be compared because chess has been developing in online platforms more these times.
eSports are becoming the most popular type of entertainment for the pandemic. The reasons are obvious, they can be played and enjoyed from home, and pretty much anyone can participate.
They are actually pretty fun, and they are opening a new market around videogames, this can be highly beneficial for chess, do you want to know why?
A fun fact: The proficient Russian chess grandmaster Ian Nepomniatchi enjoys playing Dota 2 on Twitch streams in his free time.
Is chess part of eSports?
This is an interesting question; we could say there is no clear answer to that. The reality is that chess is not an eSport, chess was usually played in face-to-face tournaments with other players.
And, of course, different from Counter-Strike or Dota, chess is not a program that needs a computer to be played. You can play chess traditionally, with a chessboard and pieces, this makes the distinction between the two.
However, technology is amazing and now we can enjoy chess either with the chessboard or you can run it on any electronic device. You can also enjoy it online against another player now, which kind of makes it an eSport.
Also, official FIDE chess competitions have been held on chess websites like chess.com, online. And it looks like the competitions will continue to be like this until the pandemic ends.
This is slowly turning chess into an eSport, mainly held by online platforms using the internet and electronic devices. Actually, it represents a lot of advantages to organize and manage results like this.
So, even after the pandemic, we could even find this new format as the new way to hold chess competitions, who knows?
What is the importance of chess and eSports?
We have to mention another important aspect of chess and eSport, and it’s about all of the opportunities and advantages of it. Chess as an eSport will be a lot better to perform for many reasons of comfortability and proactivity.
For example, you can arrange a competition between top players more easily through the internet. If a chess tournament is going to be held, the players usually have to travel and go to the place.
Chess is not a real commercial sport, so is not easy for every player to participate in all tournaments. This is why playing through the internet will give the chance for more players to participate.
And there can be even bigger and more intense competitions through any internet portal with minimal cost.
Chess and eSports also have a thing in common, they both have the potential to become extremely commercial. Turning chess into an eSport may increase the interest in it, which can really convert chess into something iconic, like football.
Playing chess through internet portals can make it better for the public, which is convenient for all chess players. This way more events will be held, also chess will be given even more attention than what it already has.
Similarities between chess and eSports
In reality, as we have said so far, chess and eSports actually have a good relationship, chess, practically, can be considered an eSport. For the moment we could say that both are played through online platforms.
Both will eventually find a way to assure the fair game and implement a function to play from your house. Both are somewhat unknown as a commercial thing, depending on the game and the public.
But they have the same essence, the highest level competitions held upon incredible players for a juicy prize. Chess and eSports are given great steps to turn into something bigger in the future.
The only thing is that chess is not a game like others, is considered less exciting to watch. We know a lot of chess players will severely disagree with this statement, but in reality, most people don’t know chess.
The thing is that chess is only seen as beautiful for the people that have studied it, and for those who are really passionate about it. But most people will not be easily excited to watch a chess game as if they were watching a Counter-Strike match.
How eSports can change chess
Turning chess into an official eSport may have a lot of advantages for chess in general, FIDE, and of course, spectators. Chess has been popularized on Twitch and it’s becoming more and more of a thing to talk about.
If chess starts to be streamed and televised as eSports and regular sports, it will increase the popularity of the game. Plus, chess will be taken by most people as something more exciting and interesting.
Increasing the ratings of chess on TV or any other media will make it better to promote and will be more monetized. Chess and eSports as well represent an incredible resource for entertainment and publicity.
The problem is, chess has not been promoted as football or other sports have been on the market. This situation makes the reach of chess very short and is the reason why the game has a pretty passive status on media.
However, chess is doing great on streaming platforms, and it seems to be more popular every day. Let’s see how far we go by implementing a new format of chess and eSports as one.
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