Why is chess getting so popular all of the sudden in 2023?


My bet is Andrew Tate honestly. What are the chances that chess becomes overwhelmingly popular at the same time Tate rose to fame and made chess look cool rather than dorky? And chess.com and gothamchess were right there to guide everyone on how to play

My bet is Andrew Tate honestly. What are the chances that chess becomes overwhelmingly popular at the same time Tate rose to fame and made chess look cool rather than dorky? And chess.com and gothamchess were right there to guide everyone on how to play
you know unironically this might just be it
my brother was watching tate yt shorts today and he was talking about how his dad died playing chess and was praising his dad for being a chess player

It's 2023. It's been years since the pandemic lockdowns. It's been years since the 'queens gambit' series gained popularity. It's been months since the magnus scandal. Yet, chess seems to be much more popular than its ever been; chess youtubers are making record clicks, chess.com servers are at capacity with millions of games running and all of the guys in my class started playing.
What has happened in the last couple weeks?
Preppers. The apocalypse is near. Chess is a life skill.

gotham chess shorts, i found out about online chess through that, i mean before i already play chess , but only against my friends and family on board

quite a few of the nerdier kids in my school are playing chess but none of them are any good at all.... they only play 1|0 xd
They're not playing chess then.
Does seem like chess epidemic is not only on chess.com: reddit thread about everyone playing chess in school