Multi-time chess world champion and perhaps the most famous player in the world, Magnus Carlsen, has said that he believes the esports style presentation would help the pro chess scene.
Speaking at the New Global Sport Conference 2024, Carlsen revealed that he, and a lot of other chess pros, believe that faster games of chess are more fun, and if they were to take place in an esports style event with big stages and top level production it could become a much better spectator sport.
“Chess has already developed a lot in becoming more digital and has many of the elements of esports,” said Carlsen. “I think chess in an esports arena is an exciting prospect. You play chess online, so there is already that component to it – but what we need is a different setting with a louder audience and better presentation. All the top players agree that faster chess is more interesting, that it’s more fun.”
While chess has long flirted with the esports industry, and has found massive success on Twitch and other streaming platforms, we are yet to see a major chess event with the large stages and crowds that esports regularly brings in. The idea isn’t that far-fetched, although long-drawn-out games would likely not lead to a gripping spectator experience, so some kind of rapid or blitz format would likely need to be used.
The panel where Carlsen spoke was hosted by Ralf Reichert, CEO of the Esports World Cup Foundation, who also believes that chess could work in that setting. And as the head of the group that just hosted the largest multi-game esports tournament we have seen in many years, he is a man with the power to give chess that chance on a bigger stage.
“What is the essence of the Esports World Cup? It’s video games, right? What are games? Games are things that get played where you put rules, and most of the time you need a winner and a loser and it becomes a game and then it gets put into a structured competition format and then it becomes an esport,” said Reichert. “That’s how this whole thing has evolved, and actually, it’s the same for traditional sports, even chess, which is the original game. But it’s interesting because you play chess the same digitally as you do physically. Other games, such as football, for instance, are completely different.”
It would be a surprise to see chess presented on the same level many of the games at the Esports World Cup were, should it be included at the next world cup event, however some kind of smaller test event could be quite likely. Especially given that the world cup seems to want to feature as many games as possible.
Elsewhere at the New Global Sport Conference, the likes of footballer Patrice Evra, Counter-Strike legend Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo and senior brand communications manager at G2 Esports, Becca Henry, all gave their insights into the world of esports.
