The spectator experience

 Watching live chess normally involves just wandering up to a board and standing next to it for a while. That of course is most common in weekend or casual events. It is a bit harder to have a similar experience when watching the worlds top players.

In the case of the Global Chess League, spectators could follow the games from the stands, while watching the moves displayed on a screen hanging from the roof. Unfortunately in both cases, if you were seated too far back it was a little harder to follow the action. The ban on phone usage during the round, as sensible as it was, meant you couldn't follow the moves on a personal device, which might have been better. 

Despite this I was able to follow enough of the action with my aging eyes to at least get a feel for what was happening. Fortunately the top boards were closer to the spectators so I was able to witness games such as this.

Anand, Viswanathan v Firouzja, Alireza
2024 Global Chess League

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d6 3. Nc3 Qc7 4. f4 e5 5. Nf3 Nd7 6. Bd3 Ngf6 7. O-O Be7 8. Kh1 O-O 9. Qe1 exd4 10. Nxd4 Re8 11. Qg3 Bf8 12. Bd2 g6 13. Nf3 Bg7 14. Rae1 b5 15. a3 a5 16. Qh4 b4 17. axb4 axb4 18. Nd1 Ba6 19. Bxa6 Rxa6 20. e5 dxe5 21. fxe5 Nxe5 22. Nxe5 Rxe5 23. Rxe5 Qxe5 24. Qxb4 Ra1 25. Re1 Qh5 26. Nf2 Rxe1+ 27. Bxe1 Qe2 28. Nh3 Bf8 29. Qd2 Qf1+ 30. Ng1 Bc5 0-1