The Sociology of OTB Chess

Whenever I feature a video in this series on The Sociology of Chess (November 2016, approaching its 5th anniversary), which is most times, I try to pick a video that appeared no earlier than a month ago. I'll make an exception here, because it's a two part video and I only became aware of it after the second part was published.

All About Over-the-Board Chess | A Grandmaster's Guide (31:58) • '[Published on] Jun 15, 2021'

The 'Grandmaster' in the title of the video is GM Daniel Naroditsky. The description says,

In this video, I take you through the process of starting your foray into over-the-board chess. I demystify commonly confusing topics such as how to find your local chess club, how to register for a tournament, and how to find a comprehensive listing of tournaments. This is not an exhaustive video, but I hope that it clears up some of the confusion associated with over-the-board chess!

For easy access, here are links to the Youtube pages for both videos:-

• All About Over-the-Board Chess | A Grandmaster's Guide (Part 1; June 2021)
• A Grandmaster's Guide to Over-the-Board Chess | Etiquette and Behavior (Part 2; September 2021)

The description of the second part says,

In this second part of my OTB guide, I take you through the process of playing your first over-the-board tournament. I talk about how to find your board, what a tournament looks like, and I cover all aspects of over-the-board etiquette, including how to make moves, touch-move rules, how to offer draws and resign, how to settle disputes, and much, much more!

Part 1 currently has close to 200 comments; part 2 close to 500. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that GM Naroditsky has combed through those comments looking for material that will go into part 3. What a great initiative by the multi-talented GM! (He's also a columnist for Chess Life.)