How chess streaming became the favourite pandemic pastime

It's late in the night and Aditya Sharma — a 9-year-old from Mumbai — is still hunched over his computer but instead of playing a video game like most youngsters, he’s pondering the next move on a YouTube channel livestreaming chess. Instead of sending him to bed, his dad joins him. What fascinates Sharma — who is still learning the nuances of chess — is that unlike the usual polite handshakes and poker faces of chess, he gets an inside view of leading players discussing their game, analysing tactics and bantering with each other. “Watching these streams gives me a ringside view of how the sport is played and the thought processes involved behind every move. One also gets to know the psyche of players,” says Sharma.

While the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown across the world brought most sporting action to a screeching halt, the world’s oldest sport found a new life online.