Popularity of Chess since Magnus Carlsen became World Champ

Carlsen's playing style is IMO anything but boring.

http://www.chess.com/livechess/game?id=724302085

Obviously not, see post #25.

chess is huge in india and norway thanks to the world championships between anand and carlsen.  in america, carlsen has had an effect only within chess circles.  more kids are taking lessons and playing tournaments.  more adults are joining clubs and playing online.  but does the average joe on the street know who is carlsen?  of course not.

I play both videogames and chess, there are no hackers in chess and its are pure skill. So I like both.

Chess became huge in Norway since Carlsen became World Champion.

http://www.regencychess.co.uk/blog/2014/01/chess-in-norway-explodes-in-popularity-following-magnus-carlsen-world-champion-crowning/

In my school during boring lectures lots of people are playing chess on their mobiles. Yesterday we started an unofficial class chess tournament. I left chess.com for 6 months but I came back to get a bit of practice, I don't play that good but I'm still better than 95% of the people in my class.

u mean what i said about chess not being mainstream in the US and magnus being unknown to the average joe or that a few of my friends started playing chess again after the world championships?

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/08/world/asia/chess-looks-to-young-norwegian.html?_r=0

From the article:

"Despite a record number of chess players worldwide, the game has lost the spotlight it basked in when Bobby Fischer, an American, defeated Boris Spassky, a Russian, to claim the world championship title in the international sensation known as the Match of the Century in 1972."

From my own experience:

I've noticed more people at the chess club and local tournaments recently.

I think it's safe to say that chess is more popular in the US now than the pre-Carlsen period.  Is it anywhere close to the Fischer period?  Not at all.

do they play chess.com on their mobiles?

No we don't use the Internet. We don't get signal in the class but we use a chess app and people sitting beside each other play against each other or we use the bluetooth to connect the phones so two people not sitting so close to each other can play.

All the Anand fans now play checkers.

Anand fans became Magnus fans.  It's surprising how well received Carlsen is in India even after beating their national hero.

Fair weather fans aren't real fans, anyway.

Carlsen has sparked a wave of young kids playing chess in Norway, as he is a real celebrity there.  In the US, unless you already follow chess, it is unlikely that you know who Carlsen is.  Carlsen might be known in Europe, but (for better or worse) Snooki is better know in the US.  Both of my sons, who both play chess, were not aware that Carlsen won the WC.  When I told them that he beat Anand, they didn't seem to care -- and they are in the age demographic that is supposed to comprise the core fans for Carlsen.

Just curious... how popular is chess in Canada anyway?

True enough, no one follows professional chess at all.

Ya I agree... Magnus hasn't had much exposure yet in the US amongst the non-chess playing crowd.   You said your sons were not aware that Carlsen had won the WC.  But do they know who Carlsen is?  If so, how much do they know about him?

Nice comparison!  I'm not surprised at the results, because chess at the highest level is way beyond what the casual chess player can understand.  And also the fact that a game is way too long to be watched.

With that said, I DO think that Carlsen has made quite a bit of impact on the popularity of chess in the US and in many parts of the world.

Would u put him behind Fischer and Kasparov at #3 in terms of world champions that are recognized by society?  In today's world of social media it shouldn't be too hard to get his name out there more.