♟️ Chess is everywhere on my phone now

My 11 year old nephew beat me at chess 3 times last Sunday, and he enjoyed it a bit too much. Two months ago he didn't know how the horse moved. Then he started watching chess streams on his tablet. He watches them in the evening with his dinner, the way I used to watch cricket highlights. His mother says it's the first thing that has kept him quiet for 40 minutes at a time. I thought chess streams would be boring. Two people stare at a board and nobody does anything. Then I sat with him for one and the commentator was explaining every move like a football match. My nephew was shouting when a player gave up a piece, and the chat went wild. I didn't understand most of it, but I stayed for half an hour and I was annoyed when it ended. A friend of mine has played in a local club since college. He says the club has more young faces now. Kids come in with the names of players they follow online and want to try the same openings. He's happy about it, though he complains that they all want to attack in the first 5 moves. Old members just smile. One of them told him that was how he started too. Last night I downloaded a chess app and played 4 games against the computer on the easiest setting. I lost 2 of them. My nephew has asked to see the games and I have said no. Before the weekend I want to learn one trick so I can win at least once against him. Has anyone else been pulled in by these streams, or is it only the kids at my place?

There is something oddly calming about watching two people quietly think for several minutes before making one single move, in a world where nearly everything else demands an immediate reaction from you constantly all day long without pause. This felt like a completely different pace worth getting used to slowly over a few quiet evenings of just watching it play out.

Watched a full length match online recently purely out of curiosity and the commentary pulled me in far more than I ever expected going in, explaining each individual decision in a way that made the whole thing feel considerably less intimidating than it always seemed from a distance before I ever gave it a proper chance one quiet weekend at home.