Of the 99 chess stories returned by Google News for the month of April, 27 were about the just concluded Candidates tournament.
Skip ahead one month and we get similar:-
Of the 101 chess stories returned by Google News for the month of May, 28 were about...
Were about what exactly? The lead section, with nine related stories, was titled 'R Praggnanandhaa defeats Magnus Carlsen in classical format'. Add to that more on the same game mixed in with other chess news and we get 24 Pragg-Carlsen stories. Add another four stories on related topics and we get 28 total.
In other words, one game in May received more attention from Google News than the most important tournament of the year received in April. Here's a typical story from Pragg's home country India:-
- 2024-05-30: Praggnanandhaa beats Magnus Carlsen: ‘His opening was provocative, he wanted to fight... I didn’t mind at all’ (indianexpress.com) • '18-year-old Praggnanandhaa defeats Magnus Carlsen for the first time in classical chess, that too at World No 1’s home in Norway to take sole lead in open section at Norway Chess tournament.'
To follow the game, see Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa vs Magnus Carlsen; 12th Norway Chess (2024), Stavanger NOR, rd 3, May 29 (chessgames.com). I've played this line ('Sicilian Defense: Kan. Modern Variation') many times with both colors and I don't know what's 'provocative' about it. Maybe I'll find out by the time the June Yahoos are available.
[Yahoos (mainstream news stories about chess) are derived from Google News top-100 (or so) stories from the past month.]
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