India's first chess features print magazine published quarterly from Lucknow since 2004 by Aspire Welfare Society.

Tuesday, May 17, 2022

IM Nubair, WIM Rucha Stream Vote Team Chess with SquareOff Pro and Fans

Two young stars of Indian chess - International Master (IM) Nubair Shah Sheikh and Women's International Master (WIM) Rucha Pujari - came together to host a novel chess event combining online with over-the-board (OTB) chess as hundreds of their fans tuned in to play as teams!

The two popular Indian chess stars upgraded their home studio acoustic systems and linked their computers to what is the world's first rollable eboard.

Though the two chess masters were connected online from different cities, they were actually making the moves on a board instead of on the screen!
 

"Chess witnessed an online boom during the lockdown and after the initial fizz, we all missed the real otb experience," said WIM Rucha Pujari. IM Nubair Shah added, "Staring at screens in deep thought for hours can really strain your eyes. We decided to get around that." Both IM Nubair and WIM Rucha are top streamers among professional chess players of India on YouTube and Twitch. While IM Rucha brings a modern tech style to her shows, IM Nubair is the one adding all the crazy hilarious comments.

"All our followers joined in from around the world and Indian fans were still awake even as the game continued till 3 am. We called it vote chess. Nubair's team played White versus my followers as Black. According to the majority move suggested by my team, I made the move on the board. No staring at the screen. Similarly, IM Nubair played with his team. The moves got transmitted automatically."

Midway, WIM Rucha Pujari even switched off the lights in her home studio to show the eboard glowing beautifully in the dark even as both the players exchanged in fun banter. Some chess fans tuned in to both the streams and starting voting for moves for both the sides, laughed IM Nubair. He said, "I had to step in to ask that at least don't play traitor. This was our first trial show. We are going to do several with prizes and gifts for our fans in the near future."

Rucha's team set up an exciting trap for White's Queen, but if Rucha's team dared captur the Queen, they would get checkmated. The audience was smart enough to spot everything, said Rucha. The exciting game hung dangerously for both sides for over 20 moves with neither set of fans willing to give up. Finally, the players stepped in to declare a draw around 3.30 am.

IM Nubair Shah Sheikh is awaiting his final norm to be the next Grandmaster from India while WIM Rucha is working on her next title jump. They are both active on social media bringing lots of international players to their shows for Indian chess fans. They also host shows while explaining their thinking patterns during live online tournaments.

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