Chess has always been popular, and always will be.
It's possibly the summer weather that means people play outdoors, and possibly the fact that you've just noticed the popularity.
2013-07-15 14:26:15 UTC
Chess became popular with the general public in the late 1960's with Bobby Fischer's much publicized quest for the World Championship; he defeated Boris Spassky in 1972. The match had political overtones as the Cold War was winding down and Fischer (the lone American) battled a succession of Soviet grandmasters (with full support of their government) for the world title.
Today the popularity of chess is due to the internet (server play,) availability of inexpensive but powerful chess software for the pc, the publicity of man vs. machine matches (such as World Champion Kasparov vs. IBM's Deep Blue super computer) and the growing controversy over computer cheating in chess tournaments.
liberal_60
2013-07-15 14:26:52 UTC
Because Players from Russian no longer completely dominate the top levels of the game.
For example:
World Champion since 2007 = Anand from India
Top rated player and scheduled to play for the world championship = Carlsen from Norway
Most recent challenger for the world championship title against Anand = Gelfand from Isreal
Prior challenger in 2005 = Topalov from Bulgaria
The Russians are still strong, but they no longer own the game. And yes I know that Gelfand is a Belarussian, no need to point that out. He has been in Isreal since 1998.
There are also players like Carlsen, Nakamura(US), and Short(UK), who have some popular appeal for one reason or another.
Cheers.
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This content was originally posted on Y! Answers, a Q&A website that shut down in 2021.