The same question combined chess and e-sports: Is it a sport? Now we can ask another person: Is chess an electronic sport? In some ways we can say yes, when played online. Vitality, the French sports club, has just announced the appointment of a six-time French chess player, Andrea Navrotescu.
Very proud to join Embed a Tweet As an ambassador. I will make sure to promote the values of vitality in the world of chess. The beginning of a great adventure begins! #VForVictory https://t.co/Fg4fgOJJUF
– Andrea Nevotsko (@andy_rekt_chess) February 6, 2021
This is a sign of the importance that online chess is taking on, especially in the world of live broadcasting and video games. Live streamers like Sardoche or Domingo highlight the wonderful work that Kevin “Blitzstream” Bordi, the pioneer of chess on the Twitch platform, has done over the course of nearly 10 years. This success is also driven by the performance of French champion Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, one of the best chess players in the world. Commentary with Bryce Nguessan, managing editor Video Games Magazine.
franceinfo: A few months ago, we noticed a sudden interest in chess, and video games started taking on this phenomenon?
Price Nguessan: In particular, the failures are back in the forefront. Very Popular Netflix Series Game mrs It brought chess back to the fore, boosting sales of chess boards, books, and audiences for online gambling sites. The video game industry first captured the phenomenon through the streaming platform Twitch or videographers like Domingo or Sardoche, who have nearly a million subscribers, and in general video game fans discovered their passion for this game or rediscovered it.
We find the same requirements as in strategy video games like League of Legends or DOTA: Predict, Predict, Catch & Calc at high speed.
Bryce NguessanVideo Games Magazine
Other video game players are interested in this phenomenon …
Seeing this phenomenon pointing at the tip of their nose, many professional electronic sports teams used to compete in games such as Fortnite, FIFA or Counter strike Show an interest in chess. We find the same requirements as in strategy video games like League of Legends or Dota. Predicting, predicting, trapping, and above all calculating everything at high speed, these are the qualities that are just as important for playing these games as they are in chess.
And this is how chess champions are recruited by the big sports teams!
It started last summer with American-born, Hikaru Nakamura, the number 20 player in the world and the first in Blitz – that is, in fast-paced play form – who joined the US team TSM. And last December, Envy, the US esports team, signed up with Andrea and Alexandra Botez, the two sisters who were hit on Twitch with 630,000 subscribers and over 6 million monthly views. Special interest in this duo since Alexandra, the 24-year-old older sister, is one of the few women in the world to be named FIDE Master.
And in France, then, is the Vitality Club that recruits?
In fact, a week ago, the famous Vitality team signed Andreea Navrotescu, the six-time French chess champion in the youth category. The idea behind these contracts is to be able to be featured in competitions that can be followed by millions of people, like PogChamps, which chess.com organized last summer and that totaled 120 million spectators.
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