In fact I think computers are the main reason why the game is so much more popular. It gives almost everyone access to what is going on in the board—that was previously unavailable. and you know exactly how your favorite player is doing. Imagine if we had to watch NBA games without knowing the score! That was pre-computer chess for most observers.
I would think that computers being orders of magnitude better than humans would diminish interest in chess, but that does not seem to be the case.
Human chess seems to be more popular than ever. What’s driving that? Is it a fad?
In fact I think computers are the main reason why the game is so much more popular. It gives almost everyone access to what is going on in the board—that was previously unavailable. and you know exactly how your favorite player is doing. Imagine if we had to watch NBA games without knowing the score! That was pre-computer chess for most observers.
We love watching the commenting computers tell us where the human is going wrong. There is a lesson in that!