6 ms·

Which makes you wonder why no one tried to get together a bunch of celebs to play chess earlier? Think Woody Harrelson vs Sting

by nafey 6y ago

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
capableweb 6y ago
Some sentiments I've seen being passed around in some chess communities is that things like this makes chess less attractive to people who regard chess as something you need to spend bunch of years to learn before you get interesting enough games to be broadcast. They see the current movement of "Twitch profiles playing chess against others" as something like a celebrity-disease overtaking the sport that used to be low-profile. Edit: just to be clear, I don't agree with this stance. Just echoing what I've seen elsewhere to try to answer the "wonder why no one tried to get together a bunch of celebs to play chess earlier?" question
- gk1 6y ago
  This sentiment is rightly being called out as elitism. Reminds me of skateboarding in the 90s when some skateboarders would hate on newbies who got into skateboarding as a result of Tony Hawk, X-Games, THPS, or any other reason that wasn’t deemed pure or authentic. Now they marvel at the fact that skateboarding is an Olympic sport... Yeah, no thanks to you!
  - capableweb 6y ago
    I agree! For sure elitism. Judging by the downvotes, I wasn't clear that I didn't agree with the standpoint. I think every ecosystem at points go through this "elitism" fad when it reaches a certain threshold of members. Seemingly to keep X being a niche they can identify with, instead of something mainstream some people only do for fun. Point is, not exclusive to chess, just as gk1 pointed out.
  - Tiltowait-- 6y ago
    Well, many subcultures have been destroyed by an influx of newcomers. The newcomers bring money, the money attracts sociopaths, and the sociopaths destroy the subculture and move on to the next one. It's a real fear and has happened many times. See: https://meaningness.com/geeks-mops-sociopaths https://meaningness.com/geeks-mops-sociopaths Lots of subcultures would rather keep the high barriers to entry and stay in the happy eternal summer phase even if it means they never get popular.
- newswasboring 6y ago
  Who is even saying this? Can you give some examples? ninja edit: The question is there because I want to know the reasoning better. It cant just be this.
  - Yanu-3452 6y ago
    One grandmaster described the streamers as having "negative talent in life".
    - pouta 6y ago
      You mean the barely GM, 50-sub Andy?
      - newen 6y ago
        It was Ben Finegold. I'm sure a lot of people think this but don't want to say anything to dissuade people from learning chess. Games by 700 rated low skilled players are really really boring to me but good for twitch viewers for enjoying them. Don't really care.
        pouta 6y ago
        He definitely fits my description :)
  - abnry 6y ago
    Probably the best way to understand it is similar to the complaints that Stack Overflow is filled with basic beginner questions on the front page to the extent they drown out any questions with real technical meat.
  - gk1 6y ago
    Seems mostly casual players, although there is at least one GM (Ben Finegold) who was very vocal with this stance, until recently. I suspect the people most troubled by this new wave are those who use chess as a crutch for their own identity. If chess is viewed as a game for sophisticated, intelligent, cultured, etc, people, then they as chess players are also sophisticated, intelligent, cultured, etc. When that image of chess is threatened then they personally feel threatened. Personally I'm glad to see the sudden rise in popularity, and don't care who's playing as long as they're having fun and not ruining it for others. (I'm at a master level.)
munchbunny 6y ago
The hard part is making chess accessible. One of the things that is making chess work on Twitch is that a lot of the streamers are already playing games, chess is just another one. Having compatible commentators is also hugely important. While watching famous celebs do mundane things is a real form of entertainment, I think it's a bigger leap for those fans to follow the celebs into a game of chess.

Which makes you wonder why no one tried to get together a bunch of celebs to play chess earlier? Think Woody Harrelson vs Sting

by nafey 6y ago

Which makes you wonder why no one tried to get together a bunch of celebs to play chess earlier? Think Woody Harrelson vs Sting

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

capableweb 6y ago

Some sentiments I've seen being passed around in some chess communities is that things like this makes chess less attractive to people who regard chess as something you need to spend bunch of years to learn before you get interesting enough games to be broadcast. They see the current movement of "Twitch profiles playing chess against others" as something like a celebrity-disease overtaking the sport that used to be low-profile. Edit: just to be clear, I don't agree with this stance. Just echoing what I've seen elsewhere to try to answer the "wonder why no one tried to get together a bunch of celebs to play chess earlier?" question

gk1 6y ago
This sentiment is rightly being called out as elitism. Reminds me of skateboarding in the 90s when some skateboarders would hate on newbies who got into skateboarding as a result of Tony Hawk, X-Games, THPS, or any other reason that wasn’t deemed pure or authentic. Now they marvel at the fact that skateboarding is an Olympic sport... Yeah, no thanks to you!
- capableweb 6y ago
  I agree! For sure elitism. Judging by the downvotes, I wasn't clear that I didn't agree with the standpoint. I think every ecosystem at points go through this "elitism" fad when it reaches a certain threshold of members. Seemingly to keep X being a niche they can identify with, instead of something mainstream some people only do for fun. Point is, not exclusive to chess, just as gk1 pointed out.
- Tiltowait-- 6y ago
  Well, many subcultures have been destroyed by an influx of newcomers. The newcomers bring money, the money attracts sociopaths, and the sociopaths destroy the subculture and move on to the next one. It's a real fear and has happened many times. See: https://meaningness.com/geeks-mops-sociopaths https://meaningness.com/geeks-mops-sociopaths Lots of subcultures would rather keep the high barriers to entry and stay in the happy eternal summer phase even if it means they never get popular.
newswasboring 6y ago
Who is even saying this? Can you give some examples? ninja edit: The question is there because I want to know the reasoning better. It cant just be this.
- Yanu-3452 6y ago
  One grandmaster described the streamers as having "negative talent in life".
  - pouta 6y ago
    You mean the barely GM, 50-sub Andy?
    - newen 6y ago
      It was Ben Finegold. I'm sure a lot of people think this but don't want to say anything to dissuade people from learning chess. Games by 700 rated low skilled players are really really boring to me but good for twitch viewers for enjoying them. Don't really care.
      - pouta 6y ago
        He definitely fits my description :)
- abnry 6y ago
  Probably the best way to understand it is similar to the complaints that Stack Overflow is filled with basic beginner questions on the front page to the extent they drown out any questions with real technical meat.
- gk1 6y ago
  Seems mostly casual players, although there is at least one GM (Ben Finegold) who was very vocal with this stance, until recently. I suspect the people most troubled by this new wave are those who use chess as a crutch for their own identity. If chess is viewed as a game for sophisticated, intelligent, cultured, etc, people, then they as chess players are also sophisticated, intelligent, cultured, etc. When that image of chess is threatened then they personally feel threatened. Personally I'm glad to see the sudden rise in popularity, and don't care who's playing as long as they're having fun and not ruining it for others. (I'm at a master level.)

munchbunny 6y ago

The hard part is making chess accessible. One of the things that is making chess work on Twitch is that a lot of the streamers are already playing games, chess is just another one. Having compatible commentators is also hugely important. While watching famous celebs do mundane things is a real form of entertainment, I think it's a bigger leap for those fans to follow the celebs into a game of chess.