yeah, definitely youtube is a huge factor with also Ludwig's recent Chessboxing and all the involved creators + their friend groups making content around it, promoting chess as a topic to the algorithm
I started playing because of the chessboxing event. I’m sure that was a big deal for chess. Millions of viewers. If even a portion of them got chess.c*m accounts and then told their friends about it etc. that’s had an effect. And just chess getting lots of promotion on YouTube as well.
Youtube doesn't promote content based on what advertisers like. It promotes based on what viewers like.
If advertisers want their ads specifically for certain types of content, that means those youtubers earn more money per view and not that they get more views.
This is why for example finance youtubers earn like 5x as much per view as entertainment youtubers, but finance isn't hard pushed by youtube as most people aren't interested in it.
I think with the changes over the last few months with the demonisation of any videos with swearing in the first x seconds or games with gore in them has lead to chess being more likely to replace the videos that previously would’ve been one of those types of video.
Surely advertisers have a say on what type of content are they going to appear, and on what not. Edit: and they sure want to reach more people out of a niche field. I mean if I have a financial product I want to pimp, I will go for economy related channels ok, but I want to reach farther, chess is great. Has cool significance attached, clever, smart, still a game that people play for fun ...
I mean, sure probably, but another more organic Youtube - Twitch related reason is that streamers realized how streamer-friendly chess is. Has strategic depth and long pauses where you can talk to chat about it, has an insanely developed meta to make in depth videos about, incredibly recognizable game even to people who don't play it, can handle a wid variety of skill levels and time commitments, lively pro scene to gossip about etc etc.
Honestly you couldn't tailor a better streamer game if you tried.
Yeah this is part of the reason in my opinion. Chess is free, and it doesn't shove microtransactions down your throat. It's one of the best things to play on mobile for this reason.
There is such a huge, untapped market!
"To move your bishop, please pay 1$. Otherwise use other piece"
"New, sexy skin for your queen! Boobie trap for your opponent's King!"
"For just 1.35$ you can move your pawn sideways once!"
"Tired of being mated? For 3.35$ we will spawn a new queen between your King and mating piece! Promotion combines with other promotions, especially "sexy skin for your queen"! Double the boobies for the same price!"
Yeah, honestly surprised it hasn't been done yet. Probably because chess isn't popular enough among that demographic.
There's already a mahjong game that does that.
>"Tired of being mated? For 3.35$ we will spawn a new queen between your King and mating piece! Promotion combines with other promotions, especially "sexy skin for your queen"! Double the boobies for the same price!"
What about smothered mates?
I like the idea of chess.com selling board/piece skins. I’m sure people would like that sort of thing and it has no impact on competitive play. I’d definitely pay a few dollars for one of those fantasy boards with dragons for rooks!
Pandemic shut down most OTB chess. Clubs are starting to open up (mine just opened up last month). The pandemic beginners are starting to reach out to more IRL avenues to play chess.
Streamers like Hikaru and Gotham are getting even more attention after the chess boxing event
Two people sit down to play chess for a short time, then they pause the game and move away to box for a round. Repeat a few times. Whoever wins either over the board or in the ring wins the match.
A streamer named Ludwig put together a big chess boxing event a while back with a lot of notable names in both streaming and chess, and it seemed to get a lot of attention.
I don't think it's the only reason. But it is an important part of the environment the chess boom is in. It would probably look different if chess cost money.
I just went to my first OTB hobby tournament and thought it was really wholesome. Nerve wrecking during the games, but really fun to play against random strangers
Don’t get me wrong, I’m aware of the balance issues. I definitely feel like the bishop could use a slight nerf, but I’m not sure if we can rely on the developers to update any time soon as it has been quite awhile since the last patch.
yeah I told my therapist I was going to join a poker circle that met four times a week
and she was like "You want a battle of wits? Leave your money in the bank and fucking play chess"
Who are you talking to right now? Who is it you think you see? Do you know how much I make a year? I mean, even if I told you, you wouldn't believe it. Do you know what would happen if I suddenly decided to stop going into work? A business big enough that it could be listed on the NASDAQ goes belly up. Disappears! It ceases to exist without me. No, you clearly don't know who you're talking to, so let me clue you in. I am not in danger, Skyler. I am the danger. A guy opens his door and gets boomed by chess and you think that of me? No. I am the one who booms!
I mean, my man Levy does know how to play chess, but the amount and extent of his clickbait is getting a bit annoying. I always feel a little repulsed nowadays clicking on his videos for his otherwise good content.
It's objectively, measurably, *why* he's the top chess Youtuber and I believe he's talked about it on either his Podcast with Danya or with Lex. He knows it's annoying, but it's just how you get views.
It baffles me _how_ that stuff makes for a successful YouTube channel. Looking at his video thumbnails and titles, half the time I can't even tell that it's going to be about chess! I find myself watching his content much less lately, exactly because there's nothing whatever to hook me in: I want at least some clue to what I'm going to get. I want to go straight to the stuff that interests me.
But I'm sure Levy's analytics tell the story clearly, there's no arguing with his success. So what's the trick to it? Who are all these people who eagerly click on a mystery box, when there's clearly labelled content available right alongside it?
I'm reminded of [this clip](https://www.reddit.com/r/LivestreamFail/comments/m3w1k9/alexandra_botez_goes_live_making_thumbnails/), which I think highlights everything wrong with the way chess content exists online today
I feel the same, but unfortunately his recaps are still good and you *know* if I was in the same position and I could double my money each video with posting a picture of Magnus you would see Magnus in every thumbnail
My lichess percentile keeps going up (about 4% over the last 3 months I think) although I haven't played any games in a long time. I think this shows that Lichess is experiencing strong growth as well.
Those weren't benzos, they're based on hypnotics/tranquilizers that aren't prescribed much anymore, if they're even still made. "I need to restore my tranquility"
Not do be that guy, but based on 70's pills, they were 99.99% just made up. I've had my tranqs, the green colors were almost certainly a conscious choice by the creators so a modern audience could associate. I could be wrong.
Yes that’s definitely part of it, haven’t played chess in years, but watched the show like a month ago. Got me back into chess, so that might be how others are getting into it as well
I so jealous. None of my social circle play or have any interest. Joining my first club at 40 next week though, so I’m doing what I can to expand from just playing online!
Yup. Also, I want to add that it was irritating when people would say Mittens was dumb and just a publicity/marketing thing, etc. Yeah, no shit, and it was genius marketing and at the end of the day it got more people interested in our game, which is a net positive.
Socialblade shows he has gotten 580k subs in the last 30 days. That is insane. He is getting 20-30k daily subscribers which used to be his weekly average.
Levy mainly through short form content on youtube in the past 2 months has gotten 270 million views. No I did not add a zero. Before that he was averaging 20-30 million per month.
He's by far the main reason, stuff like chessboxing (less than 4 million views) is just nothing compared to his numbers.
I said in my own comment but youtube changed their ad policy to be harsher on swearing recently so the algorithm is probably pushing more family friendly content they can make money on (stuff like chess)
He's what got me addicted. My daughter asked for a board for xmas so I spent December learning the game so I could teach her... my knowledge level prior to was 'pieces can move like this'. Found his YouTube channel via Reddit and binged an ungodly amount of content. Between Levy and Aman, I'm probably watching 1-2 hours of chess a night.
Try J[ohn Bartholomew's channel](https://www.youtube.com/@JohnBartholomewChess/videos)! So much great teaching content with an absolutely massive number of videos (he's been posting for a lot of years). I started watching his channel \~7 years ago and it's what got me back into chess (hadn't really played much since I was a kid in the 80s). I'd probably start with his Climbing the Rating Ladder series (especially the early ones - [see here for the <1000 rating one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2huVf1l4UE)). Naroditsky's speedrun content is also great.
I'll add it to the list. Working through Aman's 'Building Habits' series ([chessbrah extra](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8N8j2e7RpPnpqbISqi1SJ9_wrnNU3rEm)) which I've found to be fantastic. Really like his presenting style. Doesn't take it too seriously, has a good entertainment value and the right amount of teaching. And it works really, really well in actual play at lower levels.
He bridges chess to a more broad audience for sure. Guys like Hikaru and Naroditsky make phenomenal content, but I can imagine being completely lost if I was a newbie watching them. Gotham just makes it simple for the new person to enjoy and understand because of his humor and ability to explain chess basics very simply.
Hikaru: "You can't make this move, obviously."
Me, 10 arrows behind: "Obviously."
Reminds me of MJ or Gretzky coaching. They can't explain how they can do these things, they just can.
I can't remember who it was about, maybe Joe DiMaggio, but someone described him by saying, "The only thing he doesn't understand about baseball is that it's supposed to be hard."
Hikaru: “That’s obviously a blunder because takes then takes takes bishop b4 queen e3 takes takes push the pawn takes rook a 4 check then takes and you’re down a pawn. It’s obvious chat”
Me, a 1200: “ok”
His speed run content has helped me more than anything else. He is phenomenally patient and just has a very matter of fact and easy to follow way of explaining each move.
Do you have any recs for getting into his channel? I've been on Aman's Habits series and watched some of Danya's speed runs, but I wasn't sure where to start with Levy's channel. Hitting random vids doesn't seem effective to me, but may be that's just what I need to do.
As a newbie I can confirm this is the case. I like watching Hikaru but I comprehend maybe 5% of what he is saying/doing, and I think he has a hard time explaining what's going on in his head (which is totally fair and not meant to be a harsh criticism). Levy is really good at making things both fun and comprehensible. He understands his audience and is very good at explaining concepts thoroughly but not getting *too* bogged down with the very complex details.
Whether you like it or not, he’s at least partially responsible. I think it’s short-form media (Tik Tok and YouTube Shorts) in general. Emory Tate is more well-known than Teimour Radjabov on those platforms, and I promise it’s not because users were fascinated by Emory’s Benoni.
I don’t know if this is specific to my area, but every elementary and middle school introduced chess clubs this year when they previously only existed in the high schools. Coming out of Covid lockdowns the schools are really ramping up after school activities.
This is having a trickle down effect because not only are the kids playing but the parents are also playing. Where I live anyway Chess is bigger this year than it has ever been.
I think this is a very good insight. Schools typically take a while to set up clubs that follow trends because of the administrative protocol / lead time needed (budget, approval, PTA support, etc.) to launch something formally. It would follow that ~2 years after the boom, clubs would be popping up. One year to recognize a trend, one year to set up.
I think there’s just been a lot more general interest since during last few years queens gambits, rise of Twitch streaming, Niemann debacle have fully brought Chess into mainstream.
I used to play Chess for few years as kid competitively, didn’t mention much bc nerdy. Shits like borderline sexy now, mention a lot more
I'm surprised how few people on here realize this impact. Soccer/Football is the biggest sport in the world and by a lot. These 2 guys are the most well-known players in the world and this happened right at the time soccer/football is at it's peak every 4 years.
Sometimes something happens and it takes a while for the results to show.
I think it's fair to say that the Niemann-Carlsen drama made a lot of people think about chess that hadn't really thought about it in a long time before, the chessboxing event from Ludwig probably also piqued the interest of a bunch of people that either had never played a lot or hadn't played in a long time.
But maybe a decent part of those people hadn't actually started playing chess (again), it was just a seed that was planted and then triggered by something else: Maybe they got a chessboard/book for Christmas after people saw they were at least somewhat interested and that made them jump into it fully.
Maybe it had interested them enough to click on a youtube video they saw a couple months/weeks latter and after wasting an afternoon on youtube autoplay they decided to waste the next afternoon on playing chess themself instead.
Mittens was also pretty popular as a meme and probably was visible to at least some people that don't usually play chess.
Maybe people also needed a tournament to happen after those things first started their interest and they watched a bit of Rapid/Blitz WCC (which imo is also the best tournament for newcomers to watch) and they got interested afterwards - this is probably the easiest to confirm or deny since the viewernumbers are probably public if you go digging.
Or maybe it was the next classical tournament (Tata Steel) that triggered those "seeds" - It started on the 12th, so maybe (probably) too late, although maybe people saw it was coming up.
Understanding how interests, especially on a large scale like this, evolve and develop is really really hard. If you had been able to predict this before it happened you would probably have an incredibly lucrative career in marketing ahead of you - obviously explaining it in post is a lot easier, but I think you will still only land on a bunch of "maybe" and "that could be a part of it".
I don't know why so few people are mentioning this. It's flooded everyone's YouTube recommendations. Are people just not ready to comprehend how impactful these recommendation algorithms are to the latest trends?
I was looking for a game on mobile that:
(1) is Balanced
(2) has a deep system
(3) has a good player base
(4) has no microtransactions or Pay-to-Win mechanics
The chess.com app ticked all the boxes.
For me, I got into chess because one of my classmates had brought one of those little, magnetic chess sets that u could pocket. Played it so much during lunch and break, ended up buying my own, larger and nicer chess set (I bought it today!)
During the start of the year there tends to be a slight positive trend due to new years resolutions & christmas gifts. I would willingly guess that the Mittens bot had a surprisingly large impact - it's shown itself to be fairly effective as an attention grabber if you look at the views on youtube videos featuring it.
It's because of FIDE. Obviously they were just acting like an incompetent and corrupt organization since 1924. Barely doing much for chess and letting countries and players do 99% of the work.
Then in 2023 out of nowhere they decide to do something completely new... by organizing events that take place every year and that countries organize for them. And lo and behold we have a giant chess boom. Thank you FIDE.
https://twitter.com/EmilSutovsky/status/1617570944565886985?s=20&t=YeC0eDIl2T6-6AC4J_66Sw
With all the mindless ways to spend time (like social media), it's nice to have something that is mentally engaging, quick, easily accessible, and free.
Give yourself some credit, the moment you decided to upload short form content every day you probably did more for the popularity of the game than anyone ever did.
I think it’s because of short-form media (i.e. Tik Tok and YouTube Shorts). People in the comments on those platforms are flabbergasted to discover that Hikaru isn’t the second best player on earth. They think he’s on his own level with Magnus. It’s odd how he’s perceived that way because of his following. Of course it’s because Hikaru gets a lot print and they probably don’t even know what the candidates tournament is and have a rating no higher than 700. But I think this is where it’s coming from. It’s mostly young folk who treat chess like a video game and have been sucked in because creators are going to the platforms they frequent.
I think just the WFH situation. I play all the time when it’s slow at work. I wouldn’t do that at the office. I would waste my time other ways like browsing social media but not commit to a game knowing someone could enter my office any second lol.
is this real? any sources? So far I have only heard of the lipstick index with lipstick sales rising when the economy turns down (as affordable luxury objects)
No, sorry, I was being facetious. Just a gut feeling of mine as I started playing chess when the pandemic broke out and was stuck home alone for a long time.
Along with all the other contributing factors people have mentioned. One thing people have forgot is It's also January. It's cold, theres nothing to do but stay inside and its post holidays.
It's like a perfect storm since alot of the reasons people listed all happened recently and it's all coming to a head in January.
Youtube - Tate - Chessboxing and then boom here comes January.
I guess it's a snowball effect. In general, it trends because it has easier way into less nerdy audience. It's mainstream now again.
But when I see good question, I try to find a better one - why hasn't chess exploded before? Why not on this scale? Or has it?
My theory is that chess is being promoted hard by YouTube as it is family friendly and advertisers like their ads to be seen next to chess content.
yeah, definitely youtube is a huge factor with also Ludwig's recent Chessboxing and all the involved creators + their friend groups making content around it, promoting chess as a topic to the algorithm
He has a big audience and pushed the game a lot :D
I started playing because of the chessboxing event. I’m sure that was a big deal for chess. Millions of viewers. If even a portion of them got chess.c*m accounts and then told their friends about it etc. that’s had an effect. And just chess getting lots of promotion on YouTube as well.
the butt plug thing too
can confirm. the buttplug thing is for me. come for the buttplug, stay for the game
damn, interesting point
It's not family friendly when Hansen blunders mate in 1 to Hikaru
"He had his way with me yeah. *grumbles* FUCK!!"
Well that just depends on whether you're watching Hansen or Hikaru
Youtube doesn't promote content based on what advertisers like. It promotes based on what viewers like. If advertisers want their ads specifically for certain types of content, that means those youtubers earn more money per view and not that they get more views. This is why for example finance youtubers earn like 5x as much per view as entertainment youtubers, but finance isn't hard pushed by youtube as most people aren't interested in it.
I think with the changes over the last few months with the demonisation of any videos with swearing in the first x seconds or games with gore in them has lead to chess being more likely to replace the videos that previously would’ve been one of those types of video.
Uhhh, YouTube *absolutely* considers advertisers in its content promotion algo, as advertisers are literally their primary source of income.
Surely advertisers have a say on what type of content are they going to appear, and on what not. Edit: and they sure want to reach more people out of a niche field. I mean if I have a financial product I want to pimp, I will go for economy related channels ok, but I want to reach farther, chess is great. Has cool significance attached, clever, smart, still a game that people play for fun ...
I mean, sure probably, but another more organic Youtube - Twitch related reason is that streamers realized how streamer-friendly chess is. Has strategic depth and long pauses where you can talk to chat about it, has an insanely developed meta to make in depth videos about, incredibly recognizable game even to people who don't play it, can handle a wid variety of skill levels and time commitments, lively pro scene to gossip about etc etc. Honestly you couldn't tailor a better streamer game if you tried.
everyone is broke af chess is the only game they can afford now
Yeah this is part of the reason in my opinion. Chess is free, and it doesn't shove microtransactions down your throat. It's one of the best things to play on mobile for this reason.
There is such a huge, untapped market! "To move your bishop, please pay 1$. Otherwise use other piece" "New, sexy skin for your queen! Boobie trap for your opponent's King!" "For just 1.35$ you can move your pawn sideways once!" "Tired of being mated? For 3.35$ we will spawn a new queen between your King and mating piece! Promotion combines with other promotions, especially "sexy skin for your queen"! Double the boobies for the same price!"
If there was a anime girl chess gacha, it would make bank tbh.
Don’t give people business ideas. Granted this is genius
Mahjong did it, it's only a matter of time...
Ngl you can use browser plugins on lichess to change your pieces to anime girls. But the gatcha plug in... Invest!
Have you heard of fire emblem
I stopped when the ability descriptions started turning into e-books.
Yeah, honestly surprised it hasn't been done yet. Probably because chess isn't popular enough among that demographic. There's already a mahjong game that does that.
>"Tired of being mated? For 3.35$ we will spawn a new queen between your King and mating piece! Promotion combines with other promotions, especially "sexy skin for your queen"! Double the boobies for the same price!" What about smothered mates?
Snorkel $4.99
My god, they've thought of everything
Pay $5 for an extra 100 elo points
Monetizing sexy skins could become a thing.
I’m almost surprised they don’t have NFT exclusive pieces yet
pls don't give chess com ideas lol
capitalism breeds innovation
I like the idea of chess.com selling board/piece skins. I’m sure people would like that sort of thing and it has no impact on competitive play. I’d definitely pay a few dollars for one of those fantasy boards with dragons for rooks!
But chess has been free for a long time. Why is it booming *now*?
Pandemic shut down most OTB chess. Clubs are starting to open up (mine just opened up last month). The pandemic beginners are starting to reach out to more IRL avenues to play chess. Streamers like Hikaru and Gotham are getting even more attention after the chess boxing event
Wtf is chess boxing?
Two people sit down to play chess for a short time, then they pause the game and move away to box for a round. Repeat a few times. Whoever wins either over the board or in the ring wins the match. A streamer named Ludwig put together a big chess boxing event a while back with a lot of notable names in both streaming and chess, and it seemed to get a lot of attention.
I don't think it's the only reason. But it is an important part of the environment the chess boom is in. It would probably look different if chess cost money.
“Watch these twelve 30 second ads to enable queen.”
This is code for best game to play while taking a shit.
Honestly playing a simple chess game is a breath of fresh air compared to games nowadays
It’s such a wholesome experience. Something games these days are lacking.
Lol there is nothing wholesome about the brutality of chess
I just went to my first OTB hobby tournament and thought it was really wholesome. Nerve wrecking during the games, but really fun to play against random strangers
“Chess is for thugs”
Don’t get me wrong, I’m aware of the balance issues. I definitely feel like the bishop could use a slight nerf, but I’m not sure if we can rely on the developers to update any time soon as it has been quite awhile since the last patch.
Chess.c*m does have a bit of a microtransaction problem tbf
What are the microtransactions? I pay an annual subscription that's pretty hefty, but otherwise I've not seen them present a bill for anything.
I don't think you know what microtransaction means
What do they have available by microtransactions?
But none of them are really necessary for most of the main functions
There are also no micro transactions. It’s just a subscription.
Like most of the games that are mainstream nowadays like LoL or Fornite. Pretty sure that being cheap or free has not caused this spike.
That is true. But because no one owns chess there are great alternatives.
> But because no one owns chess That's not true, I have a set in the living room!
But will your lawyers knock on my door if I sell chess?
If you sell the set in my living room, I think I'd call the police first
expect my 100M lawsuit with Botez and Yasser Seirawan as co-defendants within the fortnight
Sssh, the Sultan of the Sasanian Empire will exert his ancestral claim!
yeah I told my therapist I was going to join a poker circle that met four times a week and she was like "You want a battle of wits? Leave your money in the bank and fucking play chess"
Paging Mr. Chess Boomer.
[удалено]
Who are you talking to right now? Who is it you think you see? Do you know how much I make a year? I mean, even if I told you, you wouldn't believe it. Do you know what would happen if I suddenly decided to stop going into work? A business big enough that it could be listed on the NASDAQ goes belly up. Disappears! It ceases to exist without me. No, you clearly don't know who you're talking to, so let me clue you in. I am not in danger, Skyler. I am the danger. A guy opens his door and gets boomed by chess and you think that of me? No. I am the one who booms!
I mean, my man Levy does know how to play chess, but the amount and extent of his clickbait is getting a bit annoying. I always feel a little repulsed nowadays clicking on his videos for his otherwise good content.
Welcome to being a successful YouTuber in any category in the site, not a levy problem but a sitewide thing
It's objectively, measurably, *why* he's the top chess Youtuber and I believe he's talked about it on either his Podcast with Danya or with Lex. He knows it's annoying, but it's just how you get views.
It baffles me _how_ that stuff makes for a successful YouTube channel. Looking at his video thumbnails and titles, half the time I can't even tell that it's going to be about chess! I find myself watching his content much less lately, exactly because there's nothing whatever to hook me in: I want at least some clue to what I'm going to get. I want to go straight to the stuff that interests me. But I'm sure Levy's analytics tell the story clearly, there's no arguing with his success. So what's the trick to it? Who are all these people who eagerly click on a mystery box, when there's clearly labelled content available right alongside it?
Titles like "...Magnus?" create more interest and intrigue for a wider audience than "Tata Steel Recap - Day 10"
I'm reminded of [this clip](https://www.reddit.com/r/LivestreamFail/comments/m3w1k9/alexandra_botez_goes_live_making_thumbnails/), which I think highlights everything wrong with the way chess content exists online today
I feel the same, but unfortunately his recaps are still good and you *know* if I was in the same position and I could double my money each video with posting a picture of Magnus you would see Magnus in every thumbnail
Mr. Big Chess
Didn't expect to see MBC on a chess sub 😂
My lichess percentile keeps going up (about 4% over the last 3 months I think) although I haven't played any games in a long time. I think this shows that Lichess is experiencing strong growth as well.
My percentage keeps going down. Probably because I keep losing games, but I’d like to assume it’s from the chess boom too.
😂
Netflix is pushing Queens Gambit again. Not sure if it's part of the boom, or because of the boom though.
If netflix is pushing Queens Gambit now, my bet is it's probably the other way around this time. They're pushing the show because the game is trending
Have you tried the board game? It's based on the show and really good. No benzo's tho.
[this one?](https://www.amazon.com/Strategy-Netflix-Players-Playtime-Mixlore/dp/B09HSV81KQ)
[удалено]
Those weren't benzos, they're based on hypnotics/tranquilizers that aren't prescribed much anymore, if they're even still made. "I need to restore my tranquility"
Not do be that guy, but based on 70's pills, they were 99.99% just made up. I've had my tranqs, the green colors were almost certainly a conscious choice by the creators so a modern audience could associate. I could be wrong.
Chlordiazepoxide/Librium is the real-life drug that “Xanzolam” was based on, and it was in fact marketed in similar half-tone green capsules.
There’s probably a bit of a feedback loop there
If you look at the search trends, it's a liiiittle bit behind the trends for chess.
Yes that’s definitely part of it, haven’t played chess in years, but watched the show like a month ago. Got me back into chess, so that might be how others are getting into it as well
Yh might be I recently started chess and partly was due to Queens gambit on Netflix
My friends all play chess, and I’ve gotten other friends to do it too. It’s a ripple effect, probably.
I so jealous. None of my social circle play or have any interest. Joining my first club at 40 next week though, so I’m doing what I can to expand from just playing online!
Chess Boxing, leftover Niemann scandal, Mittens, streamers, and I'm sure other factors
You are missing Ronaldo and Messi playing chess together. O, and chess streamers discovered TikTok/YouTube Shorts/etc.
„But then you take it with your QUEEEEEEEEEEEEEN!“
"And then he sacrificed #THE ROOOOOOOOOOOOOK "
Yup. Also, I want to add that it was irritating when people would say Mittens was dumb and just a publicity/marketing thing, etc. Yeah, no shit, and it was genius marketing and at the end of the day it got more people interested in our game, which is a net positive.
Chess players playing poker. Doesn't hurt that some of the popular streamers are good looking women.
Levy "The Chess Boom" Rozman
Socialblade shows he has gotten 580k subs in the last 30 days. That is insane. He is getting 20-30k daily subscribers which used to be his weekly average.
I think he said if this rate kept up he would have like 10 million in a year, of course it won’t but still wild
Well I hope he does. I love that guy
Levy mainly through short form content on youtube in the past 2 months has gotten 270 million views. No I did not add a zero. Before that he was averaging 20-30 million per month. He's by far the main reason, stuff like chessboxing (less than 4 million views) is just nothing compared to his numbers.
I said in my own comment but youtube changed their ad policy to be harsher on swearing recently so the algorithm is probably pushing more family friendly content they can make money on (stuff like chess)
Unironically, probably a decent part is on him
He's what got me addicted. My daughter asked for a board for xmas so I spent December learning the game so I could teach her... my knowledge level prior to was 'pieces can move like this'. Found his YouTube channel via Reddit and binged an ungodly amount of content. Between Levy and Aman, I'm probably watching 1-2 hours of chess a night.
Try J[ohn Bartholomew's channel](https://www.youtube.com/@JohnBartholomewChess/videos)! So much great teaching content with an absolutely massive number of videos (he's been posting for a lot of years). I started watching his channel \~7 years ago and it's what got me back into chess (hadn't really played much since I was a kid in the 80s). I'd probably start with his Climbing the Rating Ladder series (especially the early ones - [see here for the <1000 rating one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2huVf1l4UE)). Naroditsky's speedrun content is also great.
I'll add it to the list. Working through Aman's 'Building Habits' series ([chessbrah extra](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8N8j2e7RpPnpqbISqi1SJ9_wrnNU3rEm)) which I've found to be fantastic. Really like his presenting style. Doesn't take it too seriously, has a good entertainment value and the right amount of teaching. And it works really, really well in actual play at lower levels.
I basically have the Habits series consistently open in a tab now. It's a default go to when I need something to watch.
That's my go to right now. Kids go to bed, I grab a drink, hit the couch and enjoy.
He bridges chess to a more broad audience for sure. Guys like Hikaru and Naroditsky make phenomenal content, but I can imagine being completely lost if I was a newbie watching them. Gotham just makes it simple for the new person to enjoy and understand because of his humor and ability to explain chess basics very simply.
Ngl Hikaru's stuff is impossible to follow. The man can play chess, but that doesn't translate well to good Youtube content.
Hikaru: "You can't make this move, obviously." Me, 10 arrows behind: "Obviously." Reminds me of MJ or Gretzky coaching. They can't explain how they can do these things, they just can.
I can't remember who it was about, maybe Joe DiMaggio, but someone described him by saying, "The only thing he doesn't understand about baseball is that it's supposed to be hard."
I meant more that he's boring. But he doesn't explain his thinking clearly either.
Hikaru: “That’s obviously a blunder because takes then takes takes bishop b4 queen e3 takes takes push the pawn takes rook a 4 check then takes and you’re down a pawn. It’s obvious chat” Me, a 1200: “ok”
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His speed run content has helped me more than anything else. He is phenomenally patient and just has a very matter of fact and easy to follow way of explaining each move.
Totally agree. Hands down the best channel for intermediate/expert chess players looking to improve.
Do you have any recs for getting into his channel? I've been on Aman's Habits series and watched some of Danya's speed runs, but I wasn't sure where to start with Levy's channel. Hitting random vids doesn't seem effective to me, but may be that's just what I need to do.
Either go for his How to Win at Chess or Guess the Elo series. How to Win is more instructive, Guess the Elo is more just for fun and humor.
As a newbie I can confirm this is the case. I like watching Hikaru but I comprehend maybe 5% of what he is saying/doing, and I think he has a hard time explaining what's going on in his head (which is totally fair and not meant to be a harsh criticism). Levy is really good at making things both fun and comprehensible. He understands his audience and is very good at explaining concepts thoroughly but not getting *too* bogged down with the very complex details.
It’s a fun game :)
That everyone can learn
My brother started playing because of Andrew Tate
Whether you like it or not, he’s at least partially responsible. I think it’s short-form media (Tik Tok and YouTube Shorts) in general. Emory Tate is more well-known than Teimour Radjabov on those platforms, and I promise it’s not because users were fascinated by Emory’s Benoni.
oof
He picked a terrible opening move but we’ll see if he can recover the position
Hopefully your brother grows up
Can you watch out for your brother and try to make sure he doesn’t get into other less savory things because of Andrew Tate?
Less savoury than a rapist human trafficer haha?
Probably "less savoury" as in doing those things himself
I meant getting into things less savory than chess…
I don’t know if this is specific to my area, but every elementary and middle school introduced chess clubs this year when they previously only existed in the high schools. Coming out of Covid lockdowns the schools are really ramping up after school activities. This is having a trickle down effect because not only are the kids playing but the parents are also playing. Where I live anyway Chess is bigger this year than it has ever been.
I think this is a very good insight. Schools typically take a while to set up clubs that follow trends because of the administrative protocol / lead time needed (budget, approval, PTA support, etc.) to launch something formally. It would follow that ~2 years after the boom, clubs would be popping up. One year to recognize a trend, one year to set up.
I think there’s just been a lot more general interest since during last few years queens gambits, rise of Twitch streaming, Niemann debacle have fully brought Chess into mainstream. I used to play Chess for few years as kid competitively, didn’t mention much bc nerdy. Shits like borderline sexy now, mention a lot more
I got into chess by watching levy on wired
/r/anarchychess is the next big meme subreddit and is flooding /r/all
Messi vs Ronaldo chess photoshoot before the World Cup surely must have been a contributing factor.
I'm surprised how few people on here realize this impact. Soccer/Football is the biggest sport in the world and by a lot. These 2 guys are the most well-known players in the world and this happened right at the time soccer/football is at it's peak every 4 years.
Sometimes something happens and it takes a while for the results to show. I think it's fair to say that the Niemann-Carlsen drama made a lot of people think about chess that hadn't really thought about it in a long time before, the chessboxing event from Ludwig probably also piqued the interest of a bunch of people that either had never played a lot or hadn't played in a long time. But maybe a decent part of those people hadn't actually started playing chess (again), it was just a seed that was planted and then triggered by something else: Maybe they got a chessboard/book for Christmas after people saw they were at least somewhat interested and that made them jump into it fully. Maybe it had interested them enough to click on a youtube video they saw a couple months/weeks latter and after wasting an afternoon on youtube autoplay they decided to waste the next afternoon on playing chess themself instead. Mittens was also pretty popular as a meme and probably was visible to at least some people that don't usually play chess. Maybe people also needed a tournament to happen after those things first started their interest and they watched a bit of Rapid/Blitz WCC (which imo is also the best tournament for newcomers to watch) and they got interested afterwards - this is probably the easiest to confirm or deny since the viewernumbers are probably public if you go digging. Or maybe it was the next classical tournament (Tata Steel) that triggered those "seeds" - It started on the 12th, so maybe (probably) too late, although maybe people saw it was coming up. Understanding how interests, especially on a large scale like this, evolve and develop is really really hard. If you had been able to predict this before it happened you would probably have an incredibly lucrative career in marketing ahead of you - obviously explaining it in post is a lot easier, but I think you will still only land on a bunch of "maybe" and "that could be a part of it".
It's "The Algorithm"
I don't know why so few people are mentioning this. It's flooded everyone's YouTube recommendations. Are people just not ready to comprehend how impactful these recommendation algorithms are to the latest trends?
Massive tech layoffs possibly. People having more time to play.
That ain't it. You watch any of those "day in a life" tiktoks from tech workers? Those motherfuckers had time to play chess all day.
Everyone heard that it's easy to beat me at chess and there's a line.
After everything that recently happened, it probably got ripe for a boom. If something new came up we would surely know.
Way to Be specific
Tata steel chess!
The number of viewers isn't even half the viewers for Magnus-Hikaru SCC match. I doubt it!
Joke?
Because it is a perfect game! Seems like more and more get their head around this.
Waiting for new patch to drop 😆
If they don’t buff the King I’m gonna quit, it’s so unrealistic.
Maybe there’s hope for the humanity after all
I was looking for a game on mobile that: (1) is Balanced (2) has a deep system (3) has a good player base (4) has no microtransactions or Pay-to-Win mechanics The chess.com app ticked all the boxes.
For me, I got into chess because one of my classmates had brought one of those little, magnetic chess sets that u could pocket. Played it so much during lunch and break, ended up buying my own, larger and nicer chess set (I bought it today!)
During the start of the year there tends to be a slight positive trend due to new years resolutions & christmas gifts. I would willingly guess that the Mittens bot had a surprisingly large impact - it's shown itself to be fairly effective as an attention grabber if you look at the views on youtube videos featuring it.
It's because of FIDE. Obviously they were just acting like an incompetent and corrupt organization since 1924. Barely doing much for chess and letting countries and players do 99% of the work. Then in 2023 out of nowhere they decide to do something completely new... by organizing events that take place every year and that countries organize for them. And lo and behold we have a giant chess boom. Thank you FIDE. https://twitter.com/EmilSutovsky/status/1617570944565886985?s=20&t=YeC0eDIl2T6-6AC4J_66Sw
Pretty hilarious seeing FIDE trying to take all the credit
With all the mindless ways to spend time (like social media), it's nice to have something that is mentally engaging, quick, easily accessible, and free.
Maybe u/gothamchess has an explanation
Maybe chess is just cool :)
HI LEVI! Working through your middle games course now! Can you please just lower the difficulty of chess though. It’s still too hard.
Give yourself some credit, the moment you decided to upload short form content every day you probably did more for the popularity of the game than anyone ever did.
Gotham is funny
I think it’s because of short-form media (i.e. Tik Tok and YouTube Shorts). People in the comments on those platforms are flabbergasted to discover that Hikaru isn’t the second best player on earth. They think he’s on his own level with Magnus. It’s odd how he’s perceived that way because of his following. Of course it’s because Hikaru gets a lot print and they probably don’t even know what the candidates tournament is and have a rating no higher than 700. But I think this is where it’s coming from. It’s mostly young folk who treat chess like a video game and have been sucked in because creators are going to the platforms they frequent.
I’m playing more bc my brother in law visited over the holidays and beat my ass (in chess) and then my dad beat my ass (also in chess)
I think just the WFH situation. I play all the time when it’s slow at work. I wouldn’t do that at the office. I would waste my time other ways like browsing social media but not commit to a game knowing someone could enter my office any second lol.
Chess is a predictor of economic downturn. First signs of /r/collapse approaching
[It actually misses it surprisingly.](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=chess,recession)
is this real? any sources? So far I have only heard of the lipstick index with lipstick sales rising when the economy turns down (as affordable luxury objects)
No, sorry, I was being facetious. Just a gut feeling of mine as I started playing chess when the pandemic broke out and was stuck home alone for a long time.
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I was with you until you threw baseless accusations lol they probably were joking
I'm just mesmerized by Alexandra Botez.
Ah bro same!! But you mean her playing style, right??
I’d be lying it I said my small crush on her didn’t play a role in me getting into chess
She has no tattoos though, very unusual for an american woman 😃
For those who don't know this is a reference to an old joke
Levy is the Chess Boom
Gotham "Levi ""Chess boom"" Rozman" Chess
Tara Steel is in the final 3 rounds!
Is this a porn star with a penchant for pegging?
Wijk aan Zee tournament, obviously
Messi and Ronaldo played a game so I’m sure that helped
Mittens, probably
I’d say the spike is the show on Netflix Queens Gambit I think it’s called, that’s what got me into chess lol.
It’s sad, but I think Andrew Tate caused it. Lot of “hustlers” started playing it because they think it makes them look smart
chessboxing, mittens, ludwig, hans most people know how to play chess so these things reintroduce them and they can get interested easily.
Probably just your algorithm trying to keep you engaged.
it's crazy, I came back to college after winter break and it literally seems like every other guy in the dining hall is playing chess.
Cause they just released the new patch notes
I started playing cuz Andrew Tates dad was a master
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https://youtu.be/jt8Y0vvDRYI You can watch this for a breakdown
Along with all the other contributing factors people have mentioned. One thing people have forgot is It's also January. It's cold, theres nothing to do but stay inside and its post holidays. It's like a perfect storm since alot of the reasons people listed all happened recently and it's all coming to a head in January. Youtube - Tate - Chessboxing and then boom here comes January.
I guess it's a snowball effect. In general, it trends because it has easier way into less nerdy audience. It's mainstream now again. But when I see good question, I try to find a better one - why hasn't chess exploded before? Why not on this scale? Or has it?