I'm working on the basis that greater initial engagement leads to greater long term engagement. And what we are seeing now is a much higher influx than I can re

I'm working on the basis that greater initial engagement leads to greater long term engagement. And what we are seeing now is a much higher influx than I can remember. So what if a large proportion aren't in it for the chess and will move on to the next craze? Some of them will be converted and grow the game. As for the "trash previously contained within xQc's channel", I'm not sure how that's different (except in quantity) to the level of chat there has been for a long time in chess on twitch/discord etc. It's quite sobering to think of chess as an intellectual game and find out that your average young "community" member is not really demonstrating intelligence above the norm in other subjects. The influx of non-chess newbies has not lowered the bar in that regard that I've noticed, tho there has been an inevitable swamping effect. I think while it's good to caution against rose-tinted views of this recent phenomenon, we also need to be careful not to fall into the gatekeeping I mention in my initial post - it's really important to remember we all have to start somewhere. Nobody comes in to this game as a master.