Surely not! I play chess and I meet people who play chess everywhere, it has a sudden boom every couple of years. The queens gambit, duck chess etc.

I have the same thing but with Go. I barely know the rules but wish I knew someone who would like to practice and learn the game together with me.
No one in my offline life is really interested :(

There are a lot of in-lerson chess clubs out there. Ask around at your local library or clubhouse. Ours is at the local Wests club.

Chess is everywhere now, not too long ago I saw a group of around 10 year olds all huddled around a chess board taking turns playing each other. This was in a somewhat rough neighborhood too. Was crazy, good crazy though, was a happy surprise. I'd have never have seen that growing up.

At work we also have some college kids (15-17 yo) that do work experience with us, they're always playing chess. And my partner works as IT at a school and she says they regularly have had the dilemma of whether or not they block chess.com because kids regularly play in class, but feel like blocking it outright would send the wrong message.