{"id":866,"date":"2020-12-10T23:37:49","date_gmt":"2020-12-10T23:37:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/noveltimes\/?p=866"},"modified":"2020-12-10T23:37:50","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T23:37:50","slug":"online-chess-makes-its-move-on-pandemic-players","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/noveltimes\/2020\/12\/10\/online-chess-makes-its-move-on-pandemic-players\/","title":{"rendered":"Online chess makes its move on pandemic players"},"content":{"rendered":"\n[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.7.4″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.7.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-33px|auto||auto||”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.7.4″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.7.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”0px|||||” custom_padding=”||4px|||”]

Players competing online at the Professional Chess League finals in 2018. (Photo by Eric Rosen)<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.7.4″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.7.4″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.7.4″ _module_preset=”default”]

OTTAWA \u2013 Zach Dukic and some members of the University of Ottawa Chess Club have been meeting in his spacious backyard every couple of weeks for in-person chess matches. Trading their boards for screens, the club is planning online tournaments as the chilly winter months roll in.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dukic, a National Master of chess in Canada and president of the University of Ottawa Chess Club, has noticed an increase in newcomers to the club, most of whom are hesitant to attend the in-person meetups.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOnce we start organizing online tournaments again, I expect we\u2019ll see a lot of new participants,\u201d Dukic said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Awareness of chess has grown since the beginning of the pandemic shutdown in March.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s obvious chess is increasing in popularity, and I\u2019m experiencing that as well,\u201d Dukic said, referring to the growing number of enquiries about chess lessons in his inbox.<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the past year, online chess has seen a significant spike in interest as people find themselves stuck at home during the pandemic. Ranging from user growth on websites like Lichess and Chess.com, to increased consumption of chess content on websites like Twitch and Youtube, 2020 has seen a chess boom.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The game of chess has been seen as a slow and boring game that is too hard to understand for most people. But this idea is changing as more entertaining content makes the game accessible to a wider audience.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The pandemic has provided the opportunity for millions of players, old and new, to jump into the sea that is the game of chess.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A few factors can be identified as having nudged the public consciousness onto the chess board<\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.7.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”|auto||79px||”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.7.4″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.7.4″ _module_preset=”default” width=”96.6%” custom_margin=”-22px|9px||||” custom_padding=”|40px||||”]