Barry and I play chess a few times a month, and he’s always completely floored when I win. Why? He plays everyday on Chess⁠.com, and I only play with him.
Here’s a business success I bet you didn’t see coming, I know I didn’t. Chess. Yes, the game that’s been around for about 1,500 years is the center of a billion-dollar empire.
Chess⁠.com launched back in 2007, when two buddies scooped up the domain name for $56,000 (a bargain, if you ask me) and built a site for people to play, learn and connect. Growth was slow and steady, and then 2020 hit.
👑 Between a rook and a hard place
With everyone stuck at home, chess made a surprise comeback.
Then The Queen’s Gambit dropped on Netflix and made it downright cool. (If you haven’t seen the miniseries yet, watch it tonight. It’s fantastic!) Sign-ups on Chess⁠.com exploded, up 500% year-over-year.
Twitch tournaments like “PogChamps” pulled in hundreds of thousands of viewers. A game that used to be old and niche? Suddenly, it was pop culture.
Chess⁠.com runs on a freemium model. You can play for free, or upgrade for lessons, deep analysis and ad-free fun.
♟️ Control the center always
In 2022 alone, subscriptions brought in more than $150 million. Then came their checkmate move. They bought Play Magnus Group, the startup founded by world champion Magnus Carlsen, for $83 million. That gave them a treasure trove of content, training tools and more control of the chess world.
They didn’t just build a platform, they built the entire ecosystem. Today, they’ve got over 200 million users in over 60 countries. Wow.
So next time someone says, “That idea’s already been done, forget it,” so was chess. And now it’s worth a billion dollars. Bravo! Remember, if you ever forget the rules of chess, you’re allowed to check. (lol)
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