The Most Anticipated Chess Tournament of the Year: PogChamps 3
What happens when you throw a bunch of Twitch streamers into a chess tournament?
“PogChamps 3? I didn’t even know there was a PogChamps 1 and 2!” Do you find yourself asking this question? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Up until a few months ago, I didn’t even know myself, until I heard the term in Chess (Yes, Chess) Is Now a Streaming Obsession, written by Kellen Browning, and published in The New York Times. Kellen writes that SullyGnome, the statistics and analytics service for Twitch, observed 63,000 people tuned in at once to watch the first PogChamps in June, 2020.
So, what exactly is PogChamps, and why should you care? Put simply, PogChamps is a chess tournament started by GM Hikaru Nakamura wherein the most famous Twitch streamers battle against each other. The tournament format is based off the FIFA World Cup, and the really cool thing about it is most of the contestants have little to no exposure to chess before the tournament. Consequently, the contestants are taught by either Nakamura, or another chess master, in the months leading up the tournament, and most of these training sessions are streamed live on the coaches’ respective channels as well. This means that you can watch absolute beginners improve in a competitive, but still friendly, setting. Fellow beginners can find hope that they can improve in a similar manner ,and those who are more advanced might even take notes for how to coach their own students. For a full description of the Pogchamps 1, 2, and 3 formats, I encourage you to check out the respective links on Chess.com. For now, I refer you to Table 1 below which summarizes the information nicely.
In the next section, I will try to convince you to watch PogChamps 3. I argue the following reasons why you should do so:
- It’s entertaining.
- It grows the chess community.
- It fosters interest in chess from the next generation.
Reasons to Watch PogChamps 3
It’s entertaining. If you’re a chess player, why wouldn’t you watch chess matches? Growing up in Texas, most people played baseball and football, and guess what they watched? Yep, baseball and football. I don’t see a difference with chess. Sure, the PogChamps 3 contestants might not have the best chess skills, but they make up for it in competitiveness. Coupling this with commentary from interactive chess masters such as Nakamura, how could you not watch PogChamps 3? If you haven’t watched contestants struggle to not get flagged when mere seconds remain, do you even chess, bro(you can read my article about playing with a clock here)?
It grows the chess community. Everything about the PogChamps 3 tournament was carefully chosen to grow the chess community. Let’s start with the format itself. As mentioned above, the tournament format is based off the FIFA World Cup, and what’s bigger than the FIFA community? On October 16th, 2020, Jason Schvili wrote on worldatlas.com that soccer is the world’s most popular sport, with 4.0 billion people tuning in to cheer on their favorite teams. That’s over half the world’s population! The FIFA community could form their own country.
Next, we have the streaming platforms. Chess.com, Twitter, Facebook, and Twitch will all stream the matches live. Some contestants might choose to stream their own matches (can’t use chat, though), and those who don’t will be required to call in via Zoom to ensure no cheating. These platforms are used by people of all ages, and all over the globe. This makes the PogChamps 3 easily accessible to anyone with internet connection. While I’m naively optimistic that pre-Covid 19 normalcy could return, there’s no denying that the logistics of streaming chess matches is a lot easier than over the board (OTB) settings.
Thirdly, we have the contestants. Like the spectators, they hail from multiple countries, residing all over the planet. Most of them are aged between 20–30, and they stream popular video games such as Overwatch and League of Legends. No doubt, this appeals to the younger crowd, a lot of whom may not have become interested in chess unless their favorite streamers dabbled in the sport themselves. This 3rd iteration of the tournament will extend the contestants beyond the Twitch community to include rapper Logic, YouTuber and philanthropist MrBeast, YouTuber Michelle Khare, and Office star Rainn Wilson to draw in some of the older crowd (I’m more of a Parks and Rec fan myself, but still).
Lastly, we have the coaches, all of whom are scheduled to commentate the matches as well. They are some of the top-ranking professional chess players. Most chess enthusiasts might be more familiar with the coaches, so it’s not as stretch to say they might be the reason you watch PogChamps 3.
It fosters interest in chess from the next generation. In order to preserve anything, whether a belief or game, it is necessary for the older generation to impart wisdom and enthusiasm for said belief or game. Chess is no exception. By streaming a centuries old game on social media platforms, there arises the ability to bridge the gap between the generations, thus improving the chances chess will continue into the future. Allow me to share a quote from an article titled Next Up on Your Twitch Stream: Chess? written by Eric Ravenscraft.
Chess has a legacy that goes back over 1,500 years. If it can adapt to the modern world — and all indications so far seem to say it can — then it might live far longer than the latest Twitch trends. — Nick Barton, Director of esports on Chess.com
I recommend reading the full article which describes Chess.com’s plan to enter the esports world and ensure chess thrives for generations to come.
This rings all the more true as the youngsters now make up more than half the American population, as of 2019. In an article written by William H. Frey, Senior Fellow of the Metropolitan Policy Program, millennials, Gen Z, and those younger make up 50.7% of the population. So, watch PogChamps 3 and get a glimpse of how the future generations will come to know and love this grand game.
Conclusion
Have I convinced you to watch PogChamps 3, yet? If so, you might be wondering when it starts. PogChamps 3 is set to kickoff tomorrow at 2:00 PM Central Time (20:00 UTC)! Yes, I know, I know. This is very short notice. However, I assure you I have a good excuse: I just passed my Qualifying Exam to officially be a PhD physics student. But not to worry. Matches are played everyday from tomorrow until the 28th of this month, so you’ll have plenty of opportunities to catch the action.
So, whether you’re a football fan looking to watch another sport now the NFL season is over, or you’re looking for something new to do with your significant other for Valentine’s Day, tune into PogChamps 3 tomorrow at 2:00 PM Central Time. As a chess lover, I know for sure I’ll watch as many PogChamps 3 matches as I can, including the ones tomorrow. If you do watch any matches, feel free to leave a comment below, and we can exchange our favorite moments and/or contestants. Until next time.
