I've been getting into chess more recently. I'm a fan of Titled Tuesday and have been sucked into the drama of the chess world. This is a breakdown for people who don't know:

The Top Players

Magnus is the undisputed world number 1 and has been for a few years, number 2 is Hikaru, then after that it becomes debatable.

How the Game is Changing

The formats are pretty fun. In each of these tournaments the time conditions drastically change how the game is played. Freestyle chess has been quoted as being the future of chess.

Streaming and e-sport culture is significantly changing chess. Chess.com have chess bots that the best players in the world can't beat. 12 year olds are beating grandmasters online, there are constantly tournaments to watch. The chess esports world cup is coming, and players are trying to qualify for it by placing high in online chess tournaments.

The evaluation bar lets onlookers know who is winning vs losing by the computer's standards. The eval bar is invisible to those playing, so the audience might oooh or aaaaah when a certain move is played, or you'll see the bar dance between saying white has 100% chance of victory to saying white is completely hopeless 3 moves later.

The Drama and Personalities

There are a bunch of antics like Magnus putting his finger to his mouth and hushing the crowd. Hikaru winning a speed chess tournament, taking the opponent's king, throwing it into the crowd and waving the american flag to cheers and applause and music. There are villains like Hans Niemann, there are heroes like Vishy Anand. People have nicknames like "The Madman." People are still creating new moves like "The Cow opening."

My Experience

It takes 5 minutes to play a game of speed chess online. And as a noob or someone who doesn't have the time to be studying openings and pawn structures and whatnot, you typically have to rely on your blind intuition and focus on putting your opponent in positions to where they need to think. I win most of my games by a method the chess world calls "Dirty Dirty Flagging" - it's when you win because your opponent ran out of time. Follow me on chess.com if you want to get whooped (I'm thewildhustle over there as well)

Conclusion

The thing about modern chess is that it's actually entertaining now. You don't need to be a grandmaster or even understand half of what's happening to get sucked in. The drama, the trash talk, the personalities - it's all there. And if you want to play? Just hop online, lose a bunch of games in 5 minutes each, and slowly get better through pure trial and error. It's never been easier to be part of the chess world, whether you're watching the pros battle it out for championships or just trying to flag some random person on the internet before your coffee gets cold.