In the world of chess, the question of whether or not classical chess is dying has been a topic of much debate. After the Covid lockdowns and the merger between chess.com and Magnus Group, the talks have intensified. While many players and fans of the game are passionate about preserving the classical tradition, others argue that the changing nature of the game requires a shift towards more modern forms of play, including faster time controls and online play. Streaming on Twitch has become a serious alternative to playing chess competitively.
I run a public library chess club in Minnesota for adults and teens...the most usual comment I get is from players saying they came because they were sick of only playing quick games online and against computers. The live interaction with face to face humans is what they really wanted so classical chess is highly valued from what I have seen. So if people can actually have a place to go, traditional chess OTB will still live...
Online chess is great, in no small part thanks to the usability and responsiveness of lichess.org and chess.com and their huge communities. But the reward that you get from classical chess is both different and extraordinary, coming from the unique pleasure and challenge of deep focus on something profoundly complex. Most people do not experience this intense, quasi meditative state in the rest of the lives, and they should! And I find it far easier to enter this state when playing real people over a real chessboard. It's too easy to get distracted by phones and a myriad other things at home.
Excellent article, very well considered. Hopefully chess won't go the way of cricket, which, with it's jazzed up, exciting new formats, became unwatchable.
I only watch reviews of games and I watch the format where the moves have been considered. Surely that is the beauty of chess, not the speed chess where you hardly know what is going on but it is fast fast.
I think part of the popularity of online rapid/blitz is a reflection of today's world, specifically today's youth, who want/need everything at their fingertips and instant gratification. I still believe OTB is popular with middle age, older chess players, but if the youth wave continues in it's current direction, OTB classical could diminish considerably. Also. it is not just chess.com, lichess regard a 19 minute game as a classical time control, so they too are doing their bit.
I would say that the issue with classical chess is largely structural in the terms of a business and production model rather than an 'instant gratification' obsession with streamers playing blitz or bullet. Plenty of large youtube channels exist to cover classical events and recap/analyze games. People DO admire high-level, long-format chess. What people do not admire is having to wait 10, 15, 20 minutes, or more, for a move during that game during a livestream.
Classical chess would need to be adapted in a way where chess interfaces on sites allow people to set up a collage of games to follow to minimize time wasted waiting idly. These collages should also be intellectually engaging. AI can be developed to challenge viewers on their interactive boards to find tactics or to explain moves made by players in real time. Time controls could be shortened from G90-30 to something more reasonable such as G75-15 or G60-30. I believe that both players and audiences would appreciate seeing matches end in 2-3 hours like other sports typically run.
I see amateur OTB chess however being hurt due to the failures of chess federations providing proper incentive to play. I am roughly a 1700-1800 OTB player. This relates to super small prize pools in local events. Any chess sustenance at this rating range comes from local coaching opportunities with schools. Ratings - who cares? I have my ratings on lichess when I can play for free, at my leisure. Why pay for a membership at a club or a fee to a federation, only to pay $100 dollars for slightly more than a handful of rounds at an overpriced hotel across the state or country? I play people at my university and have good friends I meet at libraries or bars to get in-person games with.
I see the chess boom as an esport to wash away in the future. Beginners and low-intermediate players will follow their troll openings and london system prep and watch clickbait channels with silly personas feeding bullet games as content. Many will not have the initiative or patience to continue past their initial addiction. Higher level players MUST study, and study hard, to gain rating. Watching youtube shorts will not lead you to beating a 2000 rated player. The beauty of the game only expands further as you engage the time and effort to understand increasingly complex positions and tactics, embracing even the slightest of nuances which can mean a difference between a win and loss.
TLDR, classical does have a place, especially among those seriously studying the game, but the business model must change in how it is presented. Amateur OTB chess must create new incentives beyond rating and tiny prize pools to generate revenue and interest.
Should Classical be phased out in favour of quick play blitz rapid there are clear implications positional Chess will die with it what's the point of spending many years learning it if Chess games are going to be decided by park tactics and cheap coffee house tricks? Many players will not accept that. The quality of Chess will take a serious dip.
Online chess should just serve as a gateway to get more people playing chess over the board. Recently my chess club has seen a significant increase in membership comprising largely of people who are new to OTB chess but have been playing online for a while and want to play at slower time limits and find out what OTB is all about. Magnus and the top GMs may not have the inclination or the stamina to play OTB anymore but there are still plenty of us amateurs out here who do and whilst that is the case classical chess played at the board will never die
There are now many varieties of cricket games. The classic test match between countries would take up to 5 days and would often be slow, but to the initiated, there were many nuances within the game to savour, slowly.
County games, between counties, would last 3 days and were quiet and genteel.
Now the interest and the money is in shorter games, often under lights and each side has a limited time in batting. These can be over in 3 hours and far more risks are taken with batsmen really going for it. So, the subtlety has gone. Instead of wearing whites they have coloured uniforms too. The crowd chant, shout and drink alcohol. Used to be cups of tea!
Great article. I’ve heard Magnus speak of this impending marginalization of classical chess. My assumptions were that it wasn’t bc of a popularity thing, but it was driven by the age of chess computers and a generation who doesn’t want to spend hours/days over the board for a single game. Chess creativity has dropped dramatically in recent years bc of preparation, engine lines, etc. I could see a move to faster controls bringing back some romanticism in chess…where players might be rewarded for great sacrifices that they know they couldn’t get away with in longer time controls.
Something inside me says classical will always reign supreme. That how we measured the chess gods of yesteryear is the best way to measure our gods….maybe that’s wrong. In the end, chess is a game, and most have rigid time controls. Especially games about warfare. I just hope classical never fully dies…bc I think some chess geniuses are better built for that method…and it would be a shame.
Feb 3, 2023·edited Feb 3, 2023Liked by Martin B. Justesen
I can't really add anything to that article. I do like classical time control games more than rapid or faster. I play 90+30 games when I can get them online, and I get the most out of those games (emotionally and intellectually). The fastest OTB games I can get, where I live, is G45 d5. I play them, but they are not as enjoyable as the longer time controls. The only benefit is meeting other players, and keeping my OTB visualization skills fresh.
If I only had rapid games available to me, I'd probably stop playing chess. Yes, I think that's true.
One more thing: I don't think chess.com doesn't have a 'classical' category because they are trying to kill classical chess. I think they don't have a 'classical' category because their back end software is a mess and it would be expensive (in developer hours) to add that new game type. It does really bug me that my 15+10 games and my 90+30 games are thrown into the same rating bucket. But it seems super unlikely that chess.com will change that anytime soon.
If the question is, "How good at you at chess?", The question will always be answered in classical. Blitz, rapid, etc, will always be different games that rely more on intuition or rote memory than classical chess.
I would submit that someone like a Wesley So is only in a position to earn significant money sitting at home BECAUSE of his classical chess accomplishments. Same goes for his contemporaries.
Champions Chess Tour for example. Would it have gotten off the ground, with THAT kind of money and sponsorship, if it didn't feature famous OTB players? Heck no
We are finding that our Rapid OTB tournaments are very popular - 5 rounds completed in 5 hours on a Saturday. Probably driven by the online streamers, etc. Classical, 5 rounds over 15+ hours on a weekend - only for the hardcore these days I fear.
I run a public library chess club in Minnesota for adults and teens...the most usual comment I get is from players saying they came because they were sick of only playing quick games online and against computers. The live interaction with face to face humans is what they really wanted so classical chess is highly valued from what I have seen. So if people can actually have a place to go, traditional chess OTB will still live...
Online chess is great, in no small part thanks to the usability and responsiveness of lichess.org and chess.com and their huge communities. But the reward that you get from classical chess is both different and extraordinary, coming from the unique pleasure and challenge of deep focus on something profoundly complex. Most people do not experience this intense, quasi meditative state in the rest of the lives, and they should! And I find it far easier to enter this state when playing real people over a real chessboard. It's too easy to get distracted by phones and a myriad other things at home.
Excellent article, very well considered. Hopefully chess won't go the way of cricket, which, with it's jazzed up, exciting new formats, became unwatchable.
I only watch reviews of games and I watch the format where the moves have been considered. Surely that is the beauty of chess, not the speed chess where you hardly know what is going on but it is fast fast.
But then, I am an old fart.
I think part of the popularity of online rapid/blitz is a reflection of today's world, specifically today's youth, who want/need everything at their fingertips and instant gratification. I still believe OTB is popular with middle age, older chess players, but if the youth wave continues in it's current direction, OTB classical could diminish considerably. Also. it is not just chess.com, lichess regard a 19 minute game as a classical time control, so they too are doing their bit.
I would say that the issue with classical chess is largely structural in the terms of a business and production model rather than an 'instant gratification' obsession with streamers playing blitz or bullet. Plenty of large youtube channels exist to cover classical events and recap/analyze games. People DO admire high-level, long-format chess. What people do not admire is having to wait 10, 15, 20 minutes, or more, for a move during that game during a livestream.
Classical chess would need to be adapted in a way where chess interfaces on sites allow people to set up a collage of games to follow to minimize time wasted waiting idly. These collages should also be intellectually engaging. AI can be developed to challenge viewers on their interactive boards to find tactics or to explain moves made by players in real time. Time controls could be shortened from G90-30 to something more reasonable such as G75-15 or G60-30. I believe that both players and audiences would appreciate seeing matches end in 2-3 hours like other sports typically run.
I see amateur OTB chess however being hurt due to the failures of chess federations providing proper incentive to play. I am roughly a 1700-1800 OTB player. This relates to super small prize pools in local events. Any chess sustenance at this rating range comes from local coaching opportunities with schools. Ratings - who cares? I have my ratings on lichess when I can play for free, at my leisure. Why pay for a membership at a club or a fee to a federation, only to pay $100 dollars for slightly more than a handful of rounds at an overpriced hotel across the state or country? I play people at my university and have good friends I meet at libraries or bars to get in-person games with.
I see the chess boom as an esport to wash away in the future. Beginners and low-intermediate players will follow their troll openings and london system prep and watch clickbait channels with silly personas feeding bullet games as content. Many will not have the initiative or patience to continue past their initial addiction. Higher level players MUST study, and study hard, to gain rating. Watching youtube shorts will not lead you to beating a 2000 rated player. The beauty of the game only expands further as you engage the time and effort to understand increasingly complex positions and tactics, embracing even the slightest of nuances which can mean a difference between a win and loss.
TLDR, classical does have a place, especially among those seriously studying the game, but the business model must change in how it is presented. Amateur OTB chess must create new incentives beyond rating and tiny prize pools to generate revenue and interest.
Should Classical be phased out in favour of quick play blitz rapid there are clear implications positional Chess will die with it what's the point of spending many years learning it if Chess games are going to be decided by park tactics and cheap coffee house tricks? Many players will not accept that. The quality of Chess will take a serious dip.
Online chess should just serve as a gateway to get more people playing chess over the board. Recently my chess club has seen a significant increase in membership comprising largely of people who are new to OTB chess but have been playing online for a while and want to play at slower time limits and find out what OTB is all about. Magnus and the top GMs may not have the inclination or the stamina to play OTB anymore but there are still plenty of us amateurs out here who do and whilst that is the case classical chess played at the board will never die
There are now many varieties of cricket games. The classic test match between countries would take up to 5 days and would often be slow, but to the initiated, there were many nuances within the game to savour, slowly.
County games, between counties, would last 3 days and were quiet and genteel.
Now the interest and the money is in shorter games, often under lights and each side has a limited time in batting. These can be over in 3 hours and far more risks are taken with batsmen really going for it. So, the subtlety has gone. Instead of wearing whites they have coloured uniforms too. The crowd chant, shout and drink alcohol. Used to be cups of tea!
Great article. I’ve heard Magnus speak of this impending marginalization of classical chess. My assumptions were that it wasn’t bc of a popularity thing, but it was driven by the age of chess computers and a generation who doesn’t want to spend hours/days over the board for a single game. Chess creativity has dropped dramatically in recent years bc of preparation, engine lines, etc. I could see a move to faster controls bringing back some romanticism in chess…where players might be rewarded for great sacrifices that they know they couldn’t get away with in longer time controls.
Something inside me says classical will always reign supreme. That how we measured the chess gods of yesteryear is the best way to measure our gods….maybe that’s wrong. In the end, chess is a game, and most have rigid time controls. Especially games about warfare. I just hope classical never fully dies…bc I think some chess geniuses are better built for that method…and it would be a shame.
I can't really add anything to that article. I do like classical time control games more than rapid or faster. I play 90+30 games when I can get them online, and I get the most out of those games (emotionally and intellectually). The fastest OTB games I can get, where I live, is G45 d5. I play them, but they are not as enjoyable as the longer time controls. The only benefit is meeting other players, and keeping my OTB visualization skills fresh.
If I only had rapid games available to me, I'd probably stop playing chess. Yes, I think that's true.
One more thing: I don't think chess.com doesn't have a 'classical' category because they are trying to kill classical chess. I think they don't have a 'classical' category because their back end software is a mess and it would be expensive (in developer hours) to add that new game type. It does really bug me that my 15+10 games and my 90+30 games are thrown into the same rating bucket. But it seems super unlikely that chess.com will change that anytime soon.
Well written.
If the question is, "How good at you at chess?", The question will always be answered in classical. Blitz, rapid, etc, will always be different games that rely more on intuition or rote memory than classical chess.
I would submit that someone like a Wesley So is only in a position to earn significant money sitting at home BECAUSE of his classical chess accomplishments. Same goes for his contemporaries.
Champions Chess Tour for example. Would it have gotten off the ground, with THAT kind of money and sponsorship, if it didn't feature famous OTB players? Heck no
We do 'classical' Tuesday nights - one round per week, 90 minutes + 5 sec.
We are finding that our Rapid OTB tournaments are very popular - 5 rounds completed in 5 hours on a Saturday. Probably driven by the online streamers, etc. Classical, 5 rounds over 15+ hours on a weekend - only for the hardcore these days I fear.