Chess is one of the fastest-growing areas for content creation in live-streaming culture across recent years. Chess has become hugely popular on video-on-demand sites such as YouTube, and the game experienced a pandemic boom on live-streaming services such as Twitch. Not only are established and experienced Chess enjoyers leading this charge in live-streaming communities, but creators with little or no past Chess experience are joining in too.
With community events like PogChamps and various other chess-related events for streamers to take part in, Chess has reached a wider audience of streamers who have begun to create their own Chess content on sites like Twitch, YouTube Live, and other live-streaming platforms. Let’s take a look at the most-watched Chess creators on live-streaming platforms, by their watch time.
Most watched Chess channels in September 2023
Leading the charge of Chess into the live-streaming sphere is Hikaru Nakamura. Hikaru is one of the most well-known players in Chess, not only because of his fantastic Chess ability and rivalry with Magnus Carlsen but also because he is an established content creator on various platforms. Hikaru produces video content for YouTube, and streams on Twitch and recently signed a non-exclusive deal with Kick.
Hikaru is represented on both Twitch and Kick by his alias GMHikaru. He received 373K hours of watch time through his Kick channel, and 249K through Twitch. Although he did receive more watch time on Kick, his airtime on Kick for September was almost triple his broadcasting time on Twitch. Despite being live for a lot longer on Kick throughout September, his viewership on Twitch remains much stronger.
After Hikaru is the oldest streamer on these rankings, Grandmaster Sergei Shipov. Shipov streams under the Crestbook Шахматы alias on YouTube Gaming and despite his high ranking on our list for September, he actually received below-average viewership for the month. Shipov is a kind of community caster for Chess and frequently covers Chess events for a Russian-speaking audience on his YouTube Live stream.
Finishing up our podium places with another Grandmaster, Magnus Carlsen was the third-most-watched channel of September for Chess content. The Norwegian is no longer the World Chess Champion but remains a quintessential name for the game and the strongest player in the world.
Carlsen returned to streaming after taking a break during August, and his usual content was back to normal on YouTube. The Chess mogul broadcasts his own matches and events he competes in for his fans, and this has proved largely successful as he amassed 159K Hours Watched throughout September.
There are some streamers on this ranking who we’ve seen before in our monthly Chess streamer recaps, namely GMNaroditsky, AnnaCramling, and akaNemsko. GMNaroditsky is an American Grandmaster and managed to achieve 5th in this month’s top 10 ranking. The American showed stable viewership comparing September to August, with no discernable difference in watch time nor average viewership.
AkaNemsko is a Canadian Woman Grandmaster and streamer on Twitch, and AnnaCramling is a Woman FIDE Master and the daughter of two Grandmasters. Both of these creators have slipped down the rankings compared to last month, but they both took a break from streaming in September, with their airtime being down roughly 50% compared to August. Raffael Chess also broadcasted less Chess in September than in August, but he managed to climb one spot up the rankings thanks to other streamers also taking a break.
Of particular interest, Hans Niemann, an American Grandmaster, returned to Twitch for the first time since his disappearance after a controversy. Niemann was accused of receiving external assistance in games by Magnus Carlsen, and this started a long public legal issue between the two.
At the end of August, the hatchet was buried and Niemann returned to the world of Chess. Niemann has experienced more than a warm welcome in his return to Twitch live-streaming, and he earned 157K hours of watch time for the month.
Loltyler1, a well-known name in live-streaming culture, was also present in this month’s rankings. Last month, Tyler was the most-watched Chess streamer in our database, accumulating 443K hours of watch time. Although his passion for checkmates still remains, he has streamed much less Chess in September than he did throughout August. Although he still ranks within the top 10, he slipped down from his previous ranking as the most-watched creator.
Finally, the Botez sisters were the final broadcaster to rank in our top 10. The Botez sisters, Alexandra and Andrea, are two of the biggest names in online Chess content creation, but they rank only 10th for September. The sisters achieved international success during the pandemic boom, but they’ve stepped away from purely streaming on Twitch as their brand has diversified.
Compared to previous years, the sisters’ airtime is quite low and this limits the amount of watch time they are able to garner. If you’re interested in learning more about how the two sisters launched themselves to celebrity status, check out our dedicated article on their story.
Although some Chess content creators and streamers have taken a backseat from broadcasting live content during September, other streamers have been hard at work to become some of the most-watched creators of chess-related content. Hikaru has reclaimed his spot as the most-watched Chess creator in the industry, but others such as Chessbrook, Magnus Carlsen, and Hans Niemann have been hard at work to draw in viewership and become some of the most-watched creators for the month. If you want to stay updated on everything our vast statistics databases have to offer Chess, trust Chesswatch to bring you new updates on the Chess live-streaming industry.
