Chess growth on Youtube has outpaced PUBG, Minecraft and Fortnite

Chess has had some of its best years ever with millions of players becoming more and more interested and making the news, we have had drama, many tournaments and content creators born out of this trend that has been bigger than even major releases like Hogwarts Legacy.

Chess on youtube and twich has had 4 billion plays in all of 2023 with the likes of Nakamura, Gotham Chess and former World Champion Magnus Carlsen himself as the main faces of the whole explosion.

I personally have watched a huge amount of Gotham videos, it has personality and cautiousness to explain and there is that kind of entertainment in something that can sometimes be very difficult to get the thrill out of like chess.

There are many jokes that he is "just" an IM and not a grandmaster like many of his other colleagues in the trade but in Levy I think I find him an efficient disseminator and much more entertaining than other masters who are a bit more into the whole profession.

my brother was inspired to join his school chess club after seeing Levy at one of the classical tournaments in the states, it's amazing how magnetic he can be and how with just a video of his face and the board he can move so many people.

Then if we get into the grandmasters who have made streaming a main income I think Nakamura is the one that comes to mind and the one I turn to when I want new ideas in my openings and positions.

It's so refreshing to see the thought process of a grandmaster when he plays one of your openings, you understand a bit more of the meaning of the position, possible plans and moves, and then he crushes the opponent, you come out playing better just by watching him I'm not kidding.

I don't know if it's because I'm a chess geek but I really enjoy this trend of many new creators talking about my favourite game, we need to see a bit more of this on Hive.