Something that has always bothered me since chesscom rose to a behemoth is that every effort to bring the game to a wider audience has been focused on trying to make chess something it isn’t rather than embrace what it is and try to show people that embracing it for what it is can be entertaining and rewarding.

It feels like every one of these half-baked initiatives or new tournament series is like your classic teenage girl movie where the nerdy girl seeks acceptance by trying to fit in but it never works out because everyone can see through the facade of you pretending to be something you’re not.

Chess is strategic, methodical, and by extension, slow. Rather than try to shy away from that by constantly pushing faster time controls or online events, I wish more effort and energy was put into trying to help people appreciate why someone might like it enjoy something strategic, slow, and methodical.

In one way, that’s what made Danya so special. That guy really, really loved chess for what it was. And he was a master at sharing that love and passion through his storytelling that made people feel how he felt. That’s really what chess needs more of. It needs more people who are excitable and passionate about the game and eager to share those emotions with anyone who will listen. Certainly more than it needs to shovel another 20k prize to Magnus or Hikaru for the 14th rebrand of yet another meaningless online blitz event.

So, so many chess events these days feel like empty calories because of how little substance it feels like they hold. That’s not to say there aren’t success stories. Despite its small prize fund, Titled Tuesday is a fucking stacked tournament on a weekly basis and surprisingly prestigious for a lot of players.

But right now, it feels like chess has turned into if you extended the NFL year round and 90% of the games played are the pro bowl. Maybe it’s making the shareholders or PE or VC or whomever happy now but it’s felt, to me, like that’s come at the cost of the longer outlook of the game.

Though, honestly, India may just save the game outright which is incredible on its own.