When I was in college, we had a chess team - we knew each other, had fun, went to tournaments together, etc.
It made sense to me.
What doesn't make sense to me is online chess teams.
Somebody puts together people who don't know each other from different countries. Why would anybody care how their team does ? Chess is already an individual one-on-one game - but if the players don't know each other, it seems like there is really nothing left.
I just ask the question out of curiosity - I am not looking to criticize anybody who enjoys online chess teams.
Two reasons I can think of:
1) with online chess becoming more popular it can be fun to be part of a "team" just like IRL. Especially in the environment today where very few OTB games/tourneys are being played, it fills a void.
2) You can make friends. I have made a number of friends from online teams, from around the world, a few I even talk to (actually talk to over Skype) on a regular basis. I know more about a some of them than I do about my co-workers (I work remotely, have for 21 years now).
I get very little opportunity to play OTB games so online teams allows me to be part of something while working (which I travel for). When I am on the road I can still play a team game, contribute to a team, have online banter with teammates, etc.
I think if the online team has over 20=30 members it becomes hard to really get to know them. I once belonged to a team of only 8 members and we specialized in vote chess. We were quite successful because of the discussions before each move. It was also a great learning experience, seeing different perspectives.
When I was in college, I had fellow students - we knew each other, had fun, went to the bar and library together, etc.
It made sense to me.
What doesn't make sense to me is online chess forums, chat, inbox, the possibility to ping another person on a chess site.
Somebody makes a chess site to bring together people who don't know each other from different countries. Why would anybody care about other people on a chess site? Chess is already an individual one-on-one game - but if the players don't know each other, it seems like there is really nothing left and it make no sense to me playing chess with people I don't know or posting in a forum where I virtually don't know anybody.
I just ask the question out of curiosity - I am not looking to criticize anybody who enjoys posting on a chess forum where he or she doesn't know anyone or who enjoys playing chess with people he or she doesn't know personally.
what do you have against anonymity? is information gained via books also fake because you aren't befriended with or married the author
ah yes, if anonymity is that crappy why don't you post your adress, telefone number and health insurance card number on your profile?
@MrBarnesMoustache@ambrooks: You definitely have a point.
I joined Lichess five years ago, until March 2020 I either never heard of teams, or I was not interested at all, I cannot remember. I was playing regularly OTB in my chess club in a yearly league as well as other tournaments occasionally. Then all of a sudden OTB chess more or less disappeared, we all know, why.
These battles are a substitute, they are not even remotely comparable with chess games with real pieces of wood and an opponent in front of you. By the way some of the battles are packed with very strong players. In one battle I faced three grandmasters in a row (and managed to draw the last game with Black convincingly without even being berzerked).
I would agree in the criticism regarding teams made "by casting". But that is not always the case. Many of them relay on actually chess clubs, whereas others come from another corners of the web. I.e. my team is based on a Spanish speaking chess group on Telegram, including people from many different countries. We organized intern tournaments in the past, and now the guys are very enthusiastic about showing up as a team against others. That makes the chess experience on this site just richer.
And it is not true that chess is ONLY and individual game - there are the Olimpiads, and team competitions since ever. Yet it is a logical develooment having that thing also online.
