[yesenadam]

Watching high-level tetris does nothing to improve your own tetris skill.

Is that actually true? It's hard to believe. Surely you'd learn a lot about good strategy and other aspects of the game.

Chess is...a great spectator sport

Hmm yeah well...Watching someone think for 30 minutes about a move isn't that thrilling. Not uncommonly, both players will be away from the board at the same time. Most big tournaments seem to have hardly anyone actually going to them now - the experience of watching online with expert commentators is so much better. Even if you watch live in the room, you're looking at big screens on the wall, not the actual board.

Having said that, chess is the only game/sport I follow these days, I love watching tournaments and matches with commentary online, and analysis videos, banter blitz (grandmaster plays the public online while speaking their thoughts), chess lectures etc. I used to play a lot (it's extremely addictive) but gave up recently - playing (and peoples' behaviour online) can be quite disturbing, but watching is 100% enjoyable. I try to watch in Spanish when possible to improve my Spanish at the same time!