Top 10 chess grandmaster compares the act of watching esports to the act of watching chess In an interview with Chess24, Alexander Grischuk said that despite his best efforts, he once watched a Dota 2 championship and " I didn't understand anything," he said.

"Instead," he said, "I could see what it was like for people to watch chess." Of course, the computer can tell you who has the winning positions, but what is really interesting is only a few thousand people with a certain level of knowledge and skill." In essence, Grischuk was trying to say that the game is only really interesting when one understands how it is played.

This answer was in response to a question about the importance of fans and spectators in a chess game. Grischuk stated that he understands why chess is not as important or widely popular and attractive to people and does not find it upsetting. He believes that his experience trying to watch the Dota 2 championship has led to some sort of peace with the unpopularity of chess.

"One time I had some free time and decided to watch the world championship of the computer game Dota. I downloaded a special coaching video. He had played Dota semi-professionally. I turned on the broadcast and selected the commentary for beginners: ...... For three hours into the final, I still didn't understand anything."

Grischuk is well known in chess circles for his frankness and honesty, often telling the media when he thinks he or his opponent played poorly. Last year, he told people who find the endgame of chess boring to stop watching chess.

Nepomniachtchi is Ian Nepomniachtchi, the fourth-ranked chess player in the world, who once played Dota as a semi-pro and won a regional tournament in Kiev in 2011 Nepomniachtchi then, Nepomniachtchi is also a fan of Hearthstone and brought fellow Russian Chess Grandmaster and World No. 27 ranked Peter Svidler to Blizzard s card game.

In addition to Neponmniachtchi, several other well-known contemporary chess grandmasters are interested in Dota. Wesley So, ranked 9th in the world, is from the Philippines, where Dota is very popular, and has said in a stream that he has played Dota 2. World champion Magnus Carlsen, who is also considered the greatest chess player of all time, says he also enjoys Dota 2. Carlsen was once photographed by a fan eating lunch with famous Dota 2 player Clement "Puppey" Ivanov, whom he ran into at the airport.

Speaking of Carlsen, chess has become increasingly popular in the gaming world over the last year as top players have joined Twitch for tournaments and daily practice. We even got to see Carlsen and another great player of our time try out the infamously silly Double Boncloud Open, a game that is now a favorite of many chess players.