Esports : The surprising rise of Chess in digital format 

While many esports gamers used to scoff at the idea of chess esports as the game has been confined to enthusiasts in its niche, Chess has not emerged as one of the fastest-growing games online. Chess has attracted millions of players both online and offline. It has successfully garnered a strong following on the streaming platform Twitch.

Catalysts for growth of Chess esports

Twitch: The exponential growth of Chess esports began on Twitch in February 2020. It all started with the launch of several chess events in 2020, including the June 2020 PogChamps by Twitch. The event featured 16 top creators, and some of their followers discovered a newfound love for the 1400-year olf board game.

The event successfully attracted several big chess players, such as the American grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura in addition to streamers. This event lit the spark for the unforeseen growth of the chess category as registrations on chess.com started to skyrocket.

The Queen'sQueen's Gambit: A fictional show about an orphaned chess prodigy Beth Hermon aired on Netflix in October 2020 and soon became the top show in 63 countries, further fuelling the growth of Chess among gamers. After the show ended, Chess.com recorded more than 1,00,000 new registrations on the platform daily.

Hikaru Nakamura joins Team SoloMid: Popular League of Legends team SoloMid signed Hikaru Nakamura. It was the first deal between a prominent chess Grandmaster and an esports organisation. Hikaru Nakamura gained a loyal following of chess fans on Twitch, further fueling the game's growth.

Many other chess players also contributed to the prolific growth of chess esports:

• GMHikaru is one of Twitch's most-followed chess streamers, with over 1.4 million followers. Thousands of chess fans regularly attend his streams.
• The Botez sisters manage the BotezLive Youtube and Twitch channels. Alexandra Botez is the current titleholder of Woman FIDE Master. They have more than 8,10,000 subscribers on youtube and regularly receive millions of views on their chess videos. The sisters are sponsored by Chess.com and signed by the Envy esports group.
• GothamChess
• Chessbrah
• GMNaroditsky

The CEO of Chess.com, Nick Barton, expressed his views on the growth of chess esports in an interview with Dexerto. He said, "Online Chess is the future of Chess itself because of its accessibility. In a matter of seconds, you can play a chess game with anyone from around the world, and you have a wealth of learning resources such as lessons, analysis and puzzles at your fingertips. The growth of online Chess, especially among brand new players, has shifted the definition of what it means to play a game of Chess."

Chess was seen as an archaic game by the current generation, but the opinion has shifted with the growth of online Chess. The evolution of chess esports has made the game trendy again and is giving rise to a new generation of chess experts, grandmasters and enthusiasts.