Pogchamps 2 final 9pm Sunday 06 Sep

[Paul Cooksey]

I don't think we have had a thread on Pogchamps yet.

My feeling is, as the chess establishment, we are supposed to be dismissive of chess.com organising a tournament of very weak chess players. A transparent attempt by a site to increase its viewership by inviting players with large audiences playing other games. Something of an affront to our dignity.

But I have to admit I am quite enjoying it. The final is between the Hearthstone player Rumay Wang (Hafu) and the League of Legends player Jesper Terkildsen (Gripex90). Realistically, both players probably below 100 ECF. I expect the final viewership will be better than top GM events.

Not all the players treated chess with respect, but some of them certainly have. Hafu's 80 hour a week grind to improve her Elo 300-400 points in a month is quite inspiring.

With a nod to our pedantry thread, I am also quite enjoying hearing eSports players using their terminology when trying to find their way playing chess. The Hearthstone players unselfconsciously referring to checkmate as "Lethal" amused me. But I particularly like the verb "to throw", not just in the sense "I threw that game" (away). But also used mid game if the trend of the game is negative. "I am throwing so hard, I need to concentrate"

[Wadih Khoury]

It is a very good thing for chess to widen the reach. And while weak at chess, some of these champs are quite competitive as you point out.

By the way, "I threw away the game" is a very common expression amongst juniors nowadays. Quite a few I am sure today in the Terrafinals day 2

[Roger de Coverly]

"I threw away the game" is a very common expression amongst juniors nowadays.

I would think that's always been a feature of post game analysis conversations. Use of it during the game as in "I'm throwing it" is novel.

[Joey Stewart]

Its nice to see elites stepping out of their comfort zone like this too - they would be the equivalent of grand masters in their own specialist games but to reduce themselves back down to a very low level in a chess and risk embarrassment takes some guts.

And adding to the chess player pool is never a bad thing