The best thing about Chihayafuru is it's a sport anime. Not as intense (well, sometimes may be lol) as Haikyuu or Hajime no Ippo, but it still follow certain conventions about the genre. You have training episodes, practice and official matchs, a set of losses but also a lot of winning. You may not care about the sport, but you care than the characters care the sport, and see their struggles and victories is why make it a interesting genre.
That is why I think March comes in like a lion is not an sport anime, some episodes are really focused to the shogi matchs but they are character-driven and not for the sake of the sport.
Now than Chihayafuru finished I think I will watch Cross Game. I haven't rewatched it in a couple of years and honestly it's a comfort series for me lmao
