Saturday 29 August 2020

Chess Fanatics

 The 2020 Olympiad Semi-Final between Poland and India was a real roller-coaster ride, with Poland winning the first match 4-2, India the second 4.5-1.5, and then India winning the Armageddon playoff to advance to the final.

The topsy-turvy nature of the match was best demonstrated by the Indian fans on chess.com, who had poured into the chat rooms to follow each game. At it's peak there were over 2000 observers for each game, and when it looked like India were going to get knocked out, they didn't hold back in their criticism of the Indian team. However, when India bounced back in the second match, they piled back onto the bandwagon, and suddenly the criticism that occurred in the previous hour simply disappeared! Quite remarkable, but then again, nothing out of the ordinary for most other sports teams and their supporters.


No comments: