It's been a busy Spring period for Chess enthusiasts and pros, with many events taking place across the first few months of the year. Adding to the thrill were the various streamer events that dotted the calendar, with fans getting to see some of their favorite content creators rack their brains to come out as the victors.
A list of the prominent tournaments that went by from March to May includes major championships like the FIDE Candidates Chess Tournaments 2024, where D Gukesh won and now has a shot at history. He challenges China’s imperious GM Ding Liren later this year with a shot at emerging as the youngest world champion ever.
There was also the Chessable Masters 2024, which opened the renowned Champions Chess Tour with the highest peak viewership in the series. Basically, it has been a good time to be a fan of the game, and with that in mind, here are the top tournaments held across the Spring season.
Most watched Chess events in Spring 2024
At the top of the ladder is the FIDE Candidates Chess Tournaments 2024 which hit 9.9M Hours Watched across almost 80 hours of airtime. It was quite a historic competition, with Gukesh emerging as the youngest winner ever after already setting a mark as the second youngest player ever to compete in the prestigious event. Adding to the festivities was that it finished as Chess' third-most watched competition of all time and its fifth-most popular one ever.
Next is the Reykjavik Open 2024 with 967.2K HW as Romanian GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac was victorious. A large part of this success was thanks to the likes of the Botez sisters and AnnaCramling keeping up with the action, with their combined popularity attracting thousands and making them the most-watched channels at this event.
Third is the Champions Chess Tour Chess.com Classic 2024 at a little over 900K HW. With a $300,000 prize fund and participants like GMs Magnus Carlsen and Alireza Firouzja, this tournament was able to keep up the good work seen so far this year from the 2024 Champions Chess Tour series.
The Sardinia World Chess Festival 2024 is fourth, which relied on the superstar sisters to make this top-five list. What helped was that Alexandra Botez — a Woman Fide Master (WFM) — won the Open B category dominantly, including a win over her little sister Andrea during their first-ever clash in a rated event. GM Daniel Dardha won the Open A category while the Open C segment saw Hanyu Sun come out on top.
Last but not least is the GRENKE Chess Classic and Open 2024 held in Karlsruhe, Germany. One of the most popular events in Europe had one of the most famous victors, as Magnus Carlsen won it for the third time. It was his sixth straight tournament victory, with another newsworthy moment coming in the form of 12-year-old Turkish IM Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus becoming the fourth youngest grandmaster of all time.
Most popular Chess events in Spring 2024
Four tournaments mentioned above find places in this top five leaderboard, with the FIDE Candidates Chess Tournaments 2024 topping the charts with 337.6K Peak Viewers. The Champions Chess Tour Chess.com Classic 2024, the GRENKE Chess Classic and Open 2024, and the Reykjavik Open 2024 follow with figures between 99K PV and 44K PV.
The only new entry is the Grand Chess Tour: Superbet Poland Rapid & Blitz 2024 with 41.4K PV. Part of the 2024 Grand Chess Tour, it also saw Magnus Carlsen come out on top via a ten-game winning streak that saw him claw back a 2.5-point deficit at the start of the last day to eventually sneak to the top of the podium by half a point.
Chess continues to impress viewers and players with its ability to be a highly spectator-friendly sport despite what many thought before the pandemic. It has also reached new viewership heights since that period, and with more people jumping on the bandwagon — either as spectators or players — this doesn't look to be ending any time soon.
