“Chess is growing in popularity. Lots of people flock to online chess platforms. In Russia, I started noticing people in the subway who play blitz online and are interested in sports in general. There is a chess boom in India right now. The young Indian recently received a $1.5 million contract. New competition formats are being introduced, heart rate monitors are being introduced, time controls are being speeded up. Sports in general are becoming more spectacular,” Shuvalova told Sovetsky Sport correspondent Daria Savinova.