Does anyone else hate how popular chess has gotten recently?

@CheerUpChess-Youtube said in #14:
> @Skittle-Head keep dreaming. They barely make it into the top 100. Personally I think women are just too smart to waste so much time into a game XD

Hmm, a backwards compliment...basically you are saying: Women are smart, but a woman who plays chess is too smart to want to be the best.

Not sure how I feel about that. I think some men and women are smart, but typically most women have more responsibilities in the home with children. My kids are grown and so I have more time to enjoy chess, but... starting late in life pretty much guarantees that a master level in chess is not achievable. So, why do women play? I think for much the same reason men play and most men don't become grand masters either. Most people just enjoy their personal achievements. I Love the way my brain memorizes patterns when I play, but really like the social component too.

About the topic, I watched the Queen's Gambit ... not a fan. In general, I don't like tv or movies not based on a true story, but the series was entertaining... just not my thing. There are so many great true stories about chess players that are more fun for me to watch. I started playing chess in September 2019 right before COVID shut down my city on lockdown. I was thankful to have online chess to keep me company. After the city reopened, I noticed a lot more people had started playing chess because of boredom during quarantine. I felt like there was a difference between me and these players because I started playing because a friend introduced me to it and I fell in love with the game. These new players started playing because of boredom. After other options were available in the city, they quickly faded away and quit playing. With Queen's Gambit, I think a lot of people started playing thinking they could become chess geniuses with little effort... they will fade away too OR they will actually get more involved in the game and get good at it. Either way, doesn't bother me a bit. I will play anyone.

why does it matter the motivation for someone to begin playing? as long as a player plays fairly, i have no problem with the player.

I play strictly, 100% on line and have no need to know the sex, gender, or age of my opponent. I simply enjoy playing the game. In my opinion, improved playing opportunities will come from increased popularity. That being said, I do get caught up in the social aspect of the forum from time to time, much to my chagrin, and step away occasionally. To each their own I suppose, live and let live as I was taught.

@IntuitiveTactics said in #1:
> I have been playing chess for almost ten years and recently I've seen that a lot of people just started playing because of things like "The queens gambit" and popular twitch streamers, I don't know why but I don't like how superficially people are looking at it, and it makes me not want to play anymore because it doesn't feel as special as it used to

Making it popular is not bad. However the way they do it is bad. Making silly, childish videos with idiotic faces (dat streamers!) is pure evil.

@IntuitiveTactics Nope' Not I

I can't help but feel like it led to more... childish people playing chess. You know the kind: tries to get a scholars mate, you prevent it, they just let the clock run out (bonus: if there's anything suggesting you are from certain group of people expect racist insults in the chat). Here of course it's not as big of an issue but on chess.com it's like half of people under 1000. Some of them are so zombified they premove and blunder their queen of move 4, funny stuff but gets boring and annoying after couple times.

@Letpchess said in #21:
> Hmm, a backwards compliment...basically you are saying: Women are smart, but a woman who plays chess is too smart to want to be the best. [...]

Yeah that is kinda what I am saying. Men tend to have a lack of dopamine, get addicted more easily and are more competitive.

The Corona Virus Chess Boom was the greatest Chess Boom Since The Fischer Chess Boom Case Closed' . Of Course there will be ups' & downs & pros 7 cons of it but that's the way it is/goes . Nice playing Chess these days

@CheerUpChess-Youtube said in #28:
> Yeah that is kinda what I am saying. Men tend to have a lack of dopamine, get addicted more easily and are more competitive.

Ok-dokie... fair enough...