Royal game’s viewers especially engaged
By Shelby Lyman
Friday May 4, 2012 6:33 PM
Chess games shown on television or streamed on the Internet elicit a high degree of active mental participation.
Although watching sports on television is often accompanied by second-guessing — an active and respectable mental activity — the passive nature of the TV audience tends to create couch potatoes rather than interactive viewers.
Important chess events are rarely televised but can often be watched move by move online. Those who follow such games on their computers become de facto kibitzers and proxy players who analyze and anticipate along with the grandmaster competitors. Cogent grandmaster commentators add to the mix.
All of this stimulates audacious second-guessing. In the luxury of their homes, members of the Internet audience often find effective moves overlooked by the experts.
When Bobby Fischer adjourned a “hopeless” position in the first game of his 1972 world-championship match against Boris Spassky, the commentator jokingly suggested that anyone with a saving move should contact Fischer.
About 300 viewers watching the match on PBS called New York’s Channel 13 with possible moves.
Source: http://www.dispatch.com
Fischer rules.