The $64.000 Question

There were so many great videos to choose from this month that I almost had to flip a coin. If this is because of the increased popularity of chess during the covid pandemic, then let's hope it has staying power. I finally chose a video that explained the evolution of that popularity. It's a story that will never get old.

A New Era Of Chess - How Did A Medieval Game Conquer Twitch? (11:41) • '[Published on] Apr 20, 2021'

The description of the clip said,

Hikaru Nakamura, Alexandra & Andrea Botez, Anna Cramling, Andrew Tang -- these may not be the names you typically associate with esports.

We've seen all of those names on this blog, except Andrew Tang. I'll let Wikipedia make the introduction; Andrew Tang (wikipedia.org):-

Andrew Tang (born November 29, 1999) is an American chess player. He was awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 2018. He is known online for his bullet, hyperbullet, and ultrabullet (one-minute, 30-second, and 15-second chess, respectively) skills, even playing blindfolded, and is a popular streamer.

The first comment, by the channel itself, Akshon Esports, asks,

How do you foresee the chess scene evolving in the future as it becomes increasingly incorporated into the world of streaming and esports?

That could well be the $64.000 question.