Why are esports organizations signing chess players in 2025?

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Over the past few weeks, over ten top chess players, including the legendary Magnus Carlsen, have signed with esports organizations worldwide. The last time we saw a trend like this was during the pandemic, though most of those partnerships didn’t last long. So why is it happening again? Which grandmasters have already joined esports teams? Esports Charts breaks down the latest trend.

Which chess players have joined esports organizations?

Just hours ago, another major signing happened. Former world championship contender Ian Nepomniachtchi has joined Aurora Gaming, the Serbian organization, best known for its performances in Apex Legends.

Nepo is just the latest grandmaster to sign with an esports organization. The trend began in early February when Chinese team All Gamers added Russian GM Volodar Murzin to its ranks. Murzin had a standout performance just a couple of months earlier, winning the 2024 FIDE World Rapid Chess Championship and finishing in the top eight at the FIDE World Blitz Chess Championship.

Want to learn more about the size and demographics of chess tournament audiences? Find all the livestreaming statistics you need over at ChessWatch.com.

Esports organizations worldwide are making big moves in chess. South Korean powerhouse Gen.G Esports, French team Team Vitality, and American-Dutch club Team Liquid have all entered the scene. Team Liquid went all-in, signing probably two of the biggest names in chess, Fabiano Caruana and Magnus Carlsen.

Ukrainian organization Natus Vincere took an even bigger step, bringing in three grandmasters at once. Meanwhile, Chinese organizations have been particularly active, with Weibo Gaming and LGD Gaming following AG’s lead. LGD made headlines by signing none other than 2023 World Chess Champion Ding Liren.

Even Saudi Arabia’s Team Falcons is getting in on the action too, signing perhaps the most recognizable chess player in the content creation space, Hikaru Nakamura.

List of chess grandmasters who joined esports organizations in 2025

* - as of February 18, 2024

Why are esports teams signing chess players right now?

You may have noticed we highlighted the rankings of chess players in rapid chess, and that’s intentional. The main reason why chess players are joining esports organizations now is the highly anticipated Esports World Cup (EWC), where rapid chess will be one of the featured disciplines, alongside well-known video games like Counter-Strike and League of Legends.

The official announcement that chess would be included in the Esports World Cup (EWC) came at the end of December 2024, with Magnus Carlsen appointed as the global ambassador for chess at the event. The chess tournament will feature a prize pool of $1.5 million, an amount that far exceeds most third-party tournaments and is double the prize money offered at the 2024 FIDE Rapid Chess Championship (combining both men’s and women’s events). In fact, only the World Chess Championship’s title match for classical chess offers a larger prize pool.

The tournament will be played in a rapid format (10+0), with 16 players in total: 12 will qualify through online events in the Champions Chess Tour taking place in February and May, while the remaining 4 spots will be decided through a Last Chance Qualifier held in Riyadh just before the main event. As the organizers have stated, “the competition will be open to both amateur and professional players alike”.

The Esports World Cup has openly declared, “chess is esports”, and while we agree (at least when it comes to online chess), there’s no consensus within the chess world. It's still uncertain whether chess will become a permanent fixture in the EWC for years to come. Much will depend on the results of the upcoming tournament, and a lot will likely hinge on the audience metrics the event generates.

That being said, let's shift focus from the EWC for a moment. Although that’s the primary reason, chess players are also seen alongside influencers and content creators, a group that esports organizations are eager to sign. Many top chess players are also content creators, whether it's recording YouTube videos or livestreaming on platforms like Twitch. Hikaru Nakamura, for example, stands out as one of the most prominent chess influencers in livestreaming, drawing viewership numbers that sometimes rival those of the biggest streamers.

Signing grandmasters as content creators isn't a new trend for esports organizations. It all started back in pandemic times in 2020.

When and how did chess players first start joining esports organizations?

In 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic spread worldwide, most in-person chess events were either canceled or postponed. This was the moment when online chess really took off, with both gaming platforms and video content (especially live streams) about chess growing in popularity.

During this time, chess organizations began courting a younger audience by hosting tournaments featuring popular streamers like Félix "xQc" Lengyel, Sebastian "forsen" Fors, Ludwig "Ludwig" Ahgren, and others. These events were a huge hit, with, for example, Chess.com’s Pogchamps 3 peaking at over 375,000 concurrent viewers, making it one of the most-watched online chess events in recent years, second only to the FIDE World Championships/World Cups.

Another factor that contributed to the initial rise in chess's popularity was the release of the hit Netflix series The Queen's Gambit, which significantly boosted the game's relevance, with both casual viewers and grandmasters praising the show. Just days after the series premiered, the weekly viewership of chess streams on Twitch saw a threefold increase.

Esports organizations, always looking to tap into new audiences through influencers, turned their attention to chess during this period. North American clubs, in particular, were very active. In 2020, Hikaru Nakamura joined TSM (later also representing Misfits Gaming), CLG signed Zhou Qiyu, and Cloud9 partnered with Andrew Tang. However, as the world began emerging from lockdowns, the trend faded, and reports of such signings became scarce by mid-2021.

It’s fascinating to see the return of a trend we saw just a few years ago. What’s especially interesting is whether this time it will have a more lasting impact. Much of that will depend on the success of the EWC, and hopefully, it will help bring esports and chess closer together.