A profile of Chess.com, which has popularized online chess among pro athletes, as CEO Erik Allebest says the site has over $100M in annual revenue and 35M MAUs
Ira Boudway / Bloomberg : X: @sarthakgh , @willdkpalmer , and @business . LinkedIn: Avinash Persaud X: Sar Haribhakti / @sarthakgh : https://chess.com/: “Between June 2020 and December 2022, accounts on the site jumped from 35 million to 100 million. (It had taken 14 years to bring in those first 35 million.)” [image] William Palmer / @willdkpalmer : Since it's a slow news day, check out this story about athletes and online chess. It was an honor to be asked to tell my story, and I was not expecting to be featured this prominently. Thank you @iboudway and @MoSalah let's get a rematch to settle the score. @business : Social media is a minefield for professional athletes. But online chess is giving them a chance to climb leaderboards and interact directly with fans. https://www.bloomberg.com/... LinkedIn: Avinash Persaud : I am very flattered to be amongst Bloomberg Green's “13 Ones to Watch” around the world in addressing the climate crisis …
Context & Ripple Effects
Chess.com’s current scale follows an earlier shift in which chess became a major streaming category: Twitch viewing had already surged, and Chess.com’s streaming momentum helped turn play into spectator content. The platform’s reported account growth from 35 million to 100 million between mid-2020 and late 2022 provides the backdrop for its present reach.
The profile also connects online chess to professional athletes, extending the audience beyond dedicated players and stream viewers. That makes Chess.com a useful case study in how a digital game can combine participation, creator-led distribution, and mainstream cultural visibility.
First-order effects
- Chess.com’s stated $100M-plus annual revenue and 35M MAUs establish it as a scaled digital chess business rather than solely a community or tournament service.
- Professional-athlete participation gives the platform an additional mainstream audience channel alongside the streamer ecosystem that fueled chess’s Twitch breakout.
Second-order effects
- Chess creators, organizers, and broadcasters can address a larger recurring audience, increasing the value of live content and events; Chess.com previously brought its Global Championship back in person amid heightened attention to fair play during chess’s streaming boom.
- As visibility broadens, trust and competitive-integrity systems become more consequential: cheating controversies can affect both serious players and a larger casual audience.
Third-order effects
- If audience growth and revenue remain durable, online chess may increasingly operate as a hybrid of game platform, media outlet, and competitive-sports ecosystem rather than as a narrowly focused utility for players.
- The lasting constraint is likely to be maintaining credible competition and engaging content at the same time, as engine-driven play has already changed elite chess strategy and incentives.
The trend: Chess is evolving from a traditionally niche game into a creator-distributed digital entertainment category with recurring platform audiences.