Magnus Carlsen and Viewers at Freestyle Chess Las Vegas (Screengrab & Stev Bongage) New Delhi: Have you ever entered the playing hall of the chess tournament? The atmosphere feels almost sacred. Huge space, rows of tables that endlessly stretch with chess and pieces in their eternal black and white distance. Players sit brisk, eyebrows perverted, as if the weight of the world was on every move. The silence is so strong that the softest tap on the clock is reflected as a drumbeat. That was the scene at the recent Grandmaster Chess tournament in the capital.Go beyond the border with our YouTube channel. Subscribe!Big names were missing, but there was no lack of intensity. Once the game starts, no audience is allowed and only the media can have phones, strictly in silent mode. Even the murmur attracts the sharp look of the arbitrator and forces you to think twice before reopening your mouth. There is not only an etiquette, but basic expectations.
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But halfway around the world, a chess event appeared in a completely different environment.In Las Vegas, on freestyle chess Grand Slam, viewers were allowed to testify to the event live for the first time last month.The fans in the arena had access to live commentary through headset and infamous evaluation bar on the screen set before seating, while players wore the headphones to block the DIN.
Viewers could listen to live commentary through headset (photo Stev Bongage for Freestyle Chess)
For the first time they were visible to the live audiences of control machines and mistakes. And he yelled with every bad move like a boxing match.Drama enthusiastic audiences, but players. The American GM Fabiano Caruana, who lost his countryman Hikaru Nakamura, fired fast shots.“In the match I started to poison very much for the whole tournament … Not to apologize, but I think viewers basically just scream when we have five seconds. It was all shouting in the audience and you can’t play with five seconds,” he said. “So we both mistaken. I could basically mate him and also won my queen on two different occasions. It just leaves bad taste.”His frustration, which was bare, has not yet solved the problem: can the game really play with a live audience?Just a few weeks back, 19 -year -old Divya Deshmukh won the World Cup of Women in Batumi in Georgia.
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Her biggest triumph, however, became an empty hall, without any living viewers. Even her family and Indian team officials were asked to leave for Fide’s anti-cheating rules.“It’s good to have the audience around. That pushes me and forces me to better. But if viewers make noise and everything, I wouldn’t play the way I would do it when there are no viewers. I understand it could be very worrying,” GM Pranav in Timesofindia.com.After the freestyle chess, players at the ESports 2025 World Championship also had headphones with noise suppression. However, doubts persist whether they can actually work at the highest level.“I’m not sure if these headphones can block everything. I feel that chess is still not ready for live viewers,” adds Pranav, now 18 years.Twenty -year -old Rohith Krishna, who has recently become an Indian 89. GM, believes that the time -format format could be a decisive factor.“Yeah, I think I only watch some chess games as a spectator. For example, I like (watch) fast games (more than any other formats),” he admits.“I feel that chess can happen (more environmentally friendly) as if they had faster control of time like Rapid and Blitz, but the classic format may not be spectators for viewers because it is too long.”Also read: “Chess is not rightYet the charm of chess as a viewer is undeniable, because the streaming platforms have brought millions of young fans to the fold, hungry for high -betting drama, fast tactical fireworks, and yes, the emotional roller coaster of the crowd in real time.Catch? The accuracy and Poise itself, which make Grandmasters exceptional, can disintegrate in the slightest distraction.Where even a drop of pin can tilt concentrations, how do you celebrate the marketing requirements for the game with fans of the carnival atmosphere? As GM Pranav summarizes sincerely: “Chess is difficult to play with a live audience.”As long as this is not the case, the silence of the hall can continue to be its most true soundtrack.
