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Garry Kasparov launches a community-first chess platform

techcrunch.com

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Re: Garry Kasparov launches a community-first chess platform

#11

Post by iratewizard »

faeriechangling wrote: post #6

Chess.com not only ran forums but held community events like collaborative games vs master players early on. This just seems to be copying the community aspect of MOOCs and incorporating that into a chess course promoted by a strong brand (Garry Kasparov). It's pretty derivative.

Chess.com and lichess have done wonders for chess, and its revival can mostly be attributed to Chess.com's collective smart decisions and hard work. If it weren't for that, Kasparov's copycat wouldn't catch the slightest bit of traction.

Re: Garry Kasparov launches a community-first chess platform

#12

Post by beforeolives »

iratewizard wrote: post #11
faeriechangling wrote: post #6

Chess.com not only ran forums but held community events like collaborative games vs master players early on. This just seems to be copying the community aspect of MOOCs and incorporating that into a chess course promoted by a strong brand (Garry Kasparov). It's pretty derivative.

Chess.com and lichess have done wonders for chess, and its revival can mostly be attributed to Chess.com's collective smart decisions and hard work. If it weren't for that, Kasparov's copycat wouldn't catch the slightest bit of traction.

Isn't the revival attributed mostly to The Queen's Gambit being released on Netflix?

Re: Garry Kasparov launches a community-first chess platform

#13

Post by raspyberr »

mustafa_pasi wrote: post #2

The community first chess platform is lichess, which doesn't even get a mention because it is non-profit. This thing sounds like some botched together platform with Kasparov's name attached to add legitimacy. It will 100% fail.

I have to add to the commendations of Lichess here. It's amazing. You don't need an account to just jump in and play with people. Amazing stuff.

Re: Garry Kasparov launches a community-first chess platform

#14

Post by Cullinet »

torgian wrote: post #5

I read about this man and his chess stuff religiously when I was a kid. Loved it and it’s pet of what got me into chess. I’m pretty happy he is making a platform like this, it’s bound to be excellent.

there's just something about Kasparov that reeks of a lifetime away from the board that's looks to me like it has been a very unsatisfactory if not even unhappy excercise in trying to parlay undoubted excellence in the game into a intellectual halo of unassailable and unquestionable superiority, from political motivations to commercial exploitation and branding.

honestly I really hope that I'm entirely wrong about the man's life and success, but at the very least I'm convinced that Kasparov has never associated with the best available public relations and marketing minds, certainly no one equal to his genius for the game.

Re: Garry Kasparov launches a community-first chess platform

#15

Post by Grakel »

I had a "Gary Kasparov" "computer" chess board when I was a kid, maybe 1995. On one hand it was cool in that you hard pressed your move into the board with the piece, and it would tell you where to move it's piece. On the other hand it had 64 difficulty levels which were all either extremely easy or impossible to defeat.

He's been putting his name on stuff for years.

Re: Garry Kasparov launches a community-first chess platform

#16

Post by rlayton2 »

beforeolives wrote: post #12
iratewizard wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chess.com and lichess have done wonders for chess, and its revival can mostly be attributed to Chess.com's collective smart decisions and hard work. If it weren't for that, Kasparov's copycat wouldn't catch the slightest bit of traction.

Isn't the revival attributed mostly to The Queen's Gambit being released on Netflix?

Not really. The revival for me was due to agadmator on youtube but obviously I only started seeing his videos once they were popular and I dont know the cause of that (other than the quality of the channel of course!)

But Queens Gambit did push chess to be even more popular.

Re: Garry Kasparov launches a community-first chess platform

#17

Post by codethief »

beforeolives wrote: post #12
iratewizard wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chess.com and lichess have done wonders for chess, and its revival can mostly be attributed to Chess.com's collective smart decisions and hard work. If it weren't for that, Kasparov's copycat wouldn't catch the slightest bit of traction.

Isn't the revival attributed mostly to The Queen's Gambit being released on Netflix?

Definitely not. I remember watching chess games on Twitch when the pandemic started last spring and being surprised how popular chess had gotten.

Re: Garry Kasparov launches a community-first chess platform

#18

Post by Scarblac »

lasfter wrote: post #3
mustafa_pasi wrote: post #2

The community first chess platform is lichess, which doesn't even get a mention because it is non-profit. This thing sounds like some botched together platform with Kasparov's name attached to add legitimacy. It will 100% fail.

100%. Lichess is an astounding achievement of FOSS and I wish it got more love in general. I can't think of any other open-source website with as much traffic and with as much complex functionality.

And with multiple paid employees, funded _only_ by small donations. No ads, no corporate sponsors, no investors etc.

Re: Garry Kasparov launches a community-first chess platform

#19

Post by Scarblac »

beforeolives wrote: post #12
iratewizard wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chess.com and lichess have done wonders for chess, and its revival can mostly be attributed to Chess.com's collective smart decisions and hard work. If it weren't for that, Kasparov's copycat wouldn't catch the slightest bit of traction.

Isn't the revival attributed mostly to The Queen's Gambit being released on Netflix?

It's chess streaming becoming mature at the same time a global pandemic forced people indoors, combined with TQG.

Re: Garry Kasparov launches a community-first chess platform

#20

Post by darepublic »

lasfter wrote: post #3
mustafa_pasi wrote: post #2

The community first chess platform is lichess, which doesn't even get a mention because it is non-profit. This thing sounds like some botched together platform with Kasparov's name attached to add legitimacy. It will 100% fail.

100%. Lichess is an astounding achievement of FOSS and I wish it got more love in general. I can't think of any other open-source website with as much traffic and with as much complex functionality.

to dogpile more -- the lichess open source library is amazing and the site itself is a joy to use.
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