It seems to me that chess may be even MORE popular than ever before. You can easily get a live game at freechess.org at any time. I think it would be more reasonable to assume that the general public is less interested in GM chess now than during the Fischer era.
Having also created a number of large board variants (e.g. see Insane Ninja Chess)
and needing to compare them playtesting-wise to orthodox chess, I was forced to play quite a few games and have come to realize that standard chess really does live up to the 'hype' touted by chess lovers.
Having also created a number of large board variants (e.g. see Insane Ninja Chess) and needing to compare them playtesting-wise to orthodox chess, I was forced to play quite a few games and have come to realize that standard chess really does live up to the 'hype' touted by chess lovers.