Chess Broadcast Shares Big Screens During Olympics At Dave And Buster’s
The Paris 2024 Olympics are underway. Head to your favorite pub to watch the current action. Or even better, watch the broadcast of a chess tournament. Do you know that chess has been one of the featured sports on the big screens at Dave and Buster’s, a popular restaurant chain with 160 locations?
Chess And Sports Watching
In 43 of the 50 states plus locations in Canada and Puerto Rico, Dave and Buster’s brags that it has “the best sports watching experience in town.” Each location features pub food, a full bar, and a video arcade. As the kiddies wander the arcade aisles to play games, adults enjoy drinks and food as they watch… chess.
Speed Chess Championship On 40-Foot Video Wall
Recently, Dave and Buster’s began to reimagine its format and improved its viewing areas by adding larger screens and a 40-foot video wall. Watching GMs Robert Hess and Daniel Naroditsky commentate as GMs Hikaru Nakamura defeats GM Magnus Carlsen in a speed chess championship displayed on a screen at a pub is not an everyday experience, at least in my life.
Chess On Pub Screens
Most customers expect the usual lineup of sports at Dave and Buster’s, which regularly features auto and motorcycle racing, baseball, basketball, boxing, football, golfing, lacrosse, martial arts, rugby, soccer, softball, tennis, as well as Olympic Games. Seeing chess on a screen in a pub may raise a few eyebrows—however, what surprised me is that the chess broadcast was from 2022.
2022 Speed Chess Championship
It was the final match on Dec. 18, 2022, of the 2022 Speed Chess Championship, which Nakamura won by dominating the 5+1 segment. If you missed the broadcast at your favorite pub, relive the glorious moments with the following video on YouTube:
ESPN8 The Ocho Broadcasts Speed Chess Championship
Unfortunately, for chess fans, the broadcast was part of what began originally as a spoof by ESPN, which has continued to showcase seldom-seen sports annually on its networks. ESPN creates a special program block known as ESPN8 The Ocho that is aired in early August (the eighth month of the year). Initially the program was on just one day (Ocho Day, August 8), but it was expanded this month to four days. In addition to chess, the 2024 broadcast included these “obscure sports”: juggling, cornhole, jump rope, dog surfing, and paintball. For more information about “Ocho Day, see the blog post “The 64—How Variants Can Help Your Chess” by @UncleButchy87.
What do you think of the speed chess championship being shown on the big screens of a pub? This may not be surprising in Norway but in my neighborhood, it’s an unusual experience. Incidentally, Nakamura won his won his fifth title at the 2022 Speed Chess Championship.
Ray Linville’s high point as a chess player occurred when he swiped the queen of GM Hikaru Nakamura in a 60-second bullet game in 2021. This game was reported in a “My Best Move” column of the Chess Life magazine, published by the U.S. Chess Federation.
At Chess.com, he has been an editor (part-time) since 2019 and has edited news articles and tournament reports—including those of the Candidates and World Championship Tournaments and other major events—by titled players and noted chess writers as well as Game of the Day annotations by leading grandmasters. He has also been a contributing writer of chess terms, e-books, and general interest articles for ChessKid.com.
He enjoys “top blogger” status at Chess.com. His blog has won the award for Best Chess Blog from the Chess Journalists of America for several years. In addition, he has also been the recipient of first-place CJA awards for feature article, humorous contribution, online review, and educational lesson as well as honorable mention in the categories of personal narrative and historical article.