BY: DANFORD
The net Trainwreck Sports casts for coverage is pretty wide – from football, to soccer, to MMA, we make sure to have something for everyone. If you thought it couldn’t possibly get wider, let me introduce you to the “Game of Kings.”
That’s right folks – I’m talking about chess.
Hold your yawns for a hot second and hear me out, because the chess community is not what it was ten years ago, or even six months ago. With streaming services like Twitch so accessible to the general populace, droves of people have begun tuning in to their favorite personality to watch whatever that person chooses to stream. As fate would have it, some of the biggest names in the world happen to fancy the game of chess, playing while thousands of users tune in. Combine this with Netflix’s hit series, The Queen’s Gambit, and you’ve got yourself a massive craze for chess, the likes of which hasn’t been seen since the Cold War.
So what is PogChamps 3?
PogChamps 3 is the third edition of PogChamps, a chess tournament between celebrities from around the world. It’s a two-week-long tourney (Feb.14-Feb. 28) with 16 competitors, all of whom happen to be some of the biggest names in their respective industries. In the months leading up to the event, these celebrities are trained by some of the best chess players on the planet (who are now Twitch personalities themselves, by the way). What celebrities, you ask? Well, for PogChamps 3, we’ve got Mr.Beast, Logic (the rapper), Rainn Wilson (Dwight Shrute from The Office), and Pokimane, to name a few.
Now, some of y’all might not know the intricacies of chess. You might not even be interested in the game. Let me tell you, watching celebrities play an honest game of mental strategery is entertaining in its own right. These moguls of their industries absolutely LOSE IT playing chess. Doesn’t matter who they are or what they’ve accomplished up to this point – their expressions and emotions really show you just how human everyone is at the end of the day. On top of that, how often do you get to see Logic and Rainn Wilson interact? There’s a beauty in watching so many brilliant people who’ve mastered their crafts come together to play a game, and since the mix of industries is so vast, you get to hear some awesome banter between opponents.
We’re two days into the tournament and I have no complaints. As someone who was never into chess until three months ago and still doesn’t understand all the jargon, I’ve enjoyed watching every second of it. The games have been wild, the competition has been fierce, and the banter has been exquisite.
If you’re interested in watching one of the upcoming matches or want a full a list of the competitors, check out this link for more information: https://www.chess.com/article/view/pogchamps-3-all-the-information
If you are already following the tournament, let me know who you think the front-runners are so far in the comments below!
The Sports Desk can be reached at editorialtrainwrecksports@gmail.com