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 tr

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.)