Chess is booming among teens

A lot of people seem surprised but honestly chess has always been one of the most popular games around. In most countries every sizeable town has chess clubs, leagues there's probably tens of millions if not hundreds of millions of players globally. As a chess player it's great to see that it has made inroads online with its popularity on Twitch among streamers and now kids in school, but it has always had a wide appeal.

Also encouraging that kids pick it over more distracting activities. One of the biggest benefits I've reaped from playing is just the ability to deeply focus and concentrate. Not a bad skill nowadays.

I've never been interested in chess because it seemed to be way too much work to be good enough to have fun.

Things have gotten much easier now, you can get endless stream of free puzzles that are as fun as any puzzle game and adapt to your skill level... I'm still not that interested in actually playing but it's really the ultimate single player game for phones, always slightly challenging and takes as little or as much time as you want.

This is the answer, my kids are all Into it and they really Love Gotham chess (I think that’s what it is called and Hikaru as well) I’m sure there are others but I’m already out of my element.

Speaking as someone who has gotten addicted to online chess in the past couple years, I think it's a combination of factors:

- Short time format makes for intense, fast paced games

- Starting a game only takes a few taps, and you can be done in a few minutes

- ELO ratings give you a number to obsess over improving, and online matching puts you against even opponents

- Instant post-game analysis

- Large amount of Twitch/Youtube content make it more fun to learn and follow the community

Chess is having its soccer moment now. Here is why:

1- The entry cost has fallen dramatically. Before at a minimum you'd need to afford a chess set and a couple of books. Now, all you need is a parents phone. This is similar to soccer, where the entry cost is any ball you can find.

2- its egalitarian. Your size, sex, height, and even age do not matter. This has always been true but now its more pronounced with apps blurrying entry further. This is also similar to soccer in that even age differences dont really matter

3 - learning curve has flattened dramatically. This to me is key. In soccer, anyone can jump in an play even if you cant learn by watching. This was not true for chess until apps came along. It is particularly powerful that kids no longer need to follow notation or boring books to learn how to play well. Everything can now be taught by video, at your own pace.

4 - chess is now hyper social. This is another key element also enabled by apps. By being a 2 player game, its not a game that is social by nature. However, now you can be social anytime, anywhere. No board required.