While we can see new forms of entertainment each day, some classic old games like chess came into the spotlight recently.
Of course, streaming and gaming have gone hand in hand for over a decade since the inception of Twitch. Still, it was a surprise that chess had attracted a large audience in the last three years, similar to most popular video games.
What is Twitch?
Twitch is a video streaming platform launched in 2011 and has hosted millions of hours of video games gameplay so far. The new audience is turning away from classic TV, and most game enthusiasts follow Twitch streams religiously. Most developing studios also promote streaming platforms because they raise the popularity of the games.
Meanwhile, Twitch attracted more content creators outside gaming that offer different streaming content, including health professionals.
Learn about iGaming
Among the content that gains enormous popularity on Twitch are iGaming tutorials. For example, you can see streamers play various casino games or discover how to win at roulette online by watching popular streams.
In many ways, Twitch is a viable alternative to YouTube and, in some cases, even better because of the focused content and fewer fluff videos. For example, roulette, poker and blackjack are among the most popular iGaming content.
The most popular content remains video games like Fifa, CS: GO and Genshin Impact. But, lately, chess has been among the top recommended channels on Twitch.tv.
Increase in chess popularity
The Netflix drama The Queen Gambit created a huge buzz for the chess game. Consequently, many chess clubs saw an uprise in new membership, and online platforms saw an increase in new players. Like a perfect storm, along with the popularity of the series, one of the top global chess grandmasters, Hikaru Nakamura, started his Twitch video streams.
Nakamura started his channel in 2015 and slowly gained viewership. He wisely created visually attractive content with pop scene images. A five-time US champion collaborated with popular Twitch streamers and boosted chess popularity further.
He played the game blindfolded or without using the queen and with similar other gimmicks, which appealed to the new audience. As a result, the average number of chess streams is now over 4000, while the most watched stream had over 45,000 viewers.
When Twitch started, it was unimaginable for chess to have almost 40 million hours of chess viewed, which is what happened in 2020.
Big money tournaments
Nakamura is not the only chess streamer. There are numerous channels, and just like iGaming content, you can learn the basics of the game while watching streamers.
The newfound popularity led to PogChamps tournaments with a prize pool of around $50,000, which Nakamura helped create. We have already seen four editions. The matches are played online with 2D virtual boards and Twitch streaming for a bigger and bigger audience each year.
Not all are thrilled
Some more conservative chess grandmasters are appalled with the Nakamura approach. They think that playing chess with unskilled players and with gimmicks undermine the value of the game. So you could see chess variants like King of the Hill or Crazyhouse, which is fun for a new audience and often annoying for purist chess players.
It’s hard to determine whether Nakamura’s match with streamer Cr1TiKaL is blasphemous for chess. Still, it certainly helped with the popularity despite unorthodox moves by streamers that led to its fast demise. The international chess organization doesn’t have such a rigid stance on the matter. They feel new players are precious. Some chess masters would disagree because they think lesser talent is promoted through streaming and stunts.
Numbers don’t lie
Whatever the opinions of chess royalties have, the number of viewers doesn’t lie. The latest PogChamp tournament had over 500,000 viewers at its peak. If a small percentage of those viewers pick up the game and start learning, the chess community will profit. Maybe among thousands of viewers on Twitch lies new talent similar to the lead character in The Queen’s Gambit.
PogChamp tournaments trump official chess events like the FIDE Candidates Tournament in viewing audiences by almost threefold. However, what critics fail to recognize is the transfer in popularity. With more viewers on Twitch, the most influential chess media, organizations and websites saw a considerable increase in popularity where they saw more new visitors in a few months than in the last ten years.
Chess is an old game with challenging gameplay, and countless books are written about the tactics. New players can’t tackle the game’s nuances quickly, but you can learn and progress through months if you catch the chess bug. Chess is again popular, and a vast audience is here to stay. It will be interesting to see whether new challengers will come out of the Twitch streaming community.
