Here's the YouTube video that broke all records. It was recorded five months ago, at the first super tournament on Indian soil, the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid and Blitz 2018, held in Kolkata. The ChessBase India team was covering the event and shot many of the blitz games in high definition videos. One of them showed 13-year-old Praggnanandhaa beating GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly, rated 2650. It is just under 20 minutes long and has become the most popular Internet chess video of all time. Currently 20,817,731 have viewed it, and it has chalked up 156,000 likes. Want to make it one more?
And here are the moves of the game, for you to replay and analyse (the fan icon switches on an engine):
Amruta Mokal and Sagar Shah in action
Responsible for the massively successful YouTube publications are Amruta Mokal and Sagar Shah, the driving forces behind ChessBase India, who have attended numerous tournaments in India and abroad — at the end of May they will be reporting on the Lindores Abbey Chess Stars Tournament, which will take place in the Lindores Abbey Distillery located in Newburgh, just an hour north of Edinburgh in Scotland. The stars are Carlsen, Anand and Ding Liren. Of course Praggnanandhaa (go on, try it: prag-na-nan-da) will be missing, but Sagar's videos are still bound to receive a very large number of viewers.
For the massively watched videos ChessBase India, which posted them, received a silver play button from YouTube. In the accompanying letter the CEO wrote:
"You have done something that very few YouTube creators accomplish. You had an astonishing 100,000 people subscribe to your channel. We know that numbers on YouTube can get really big, but we hope you do not lose sight of the reality behind the six-digit milestone. Each and every person who has subscribed has been touched by what you created. They were inspired, challenged or entertained. You achieved this milestone with hard work, perseverance, and probably a healthy sense of humour too. What you have accomplished can't be taken away from you. We would like to recognize you and all your hard work with this silver creator award – a small token of our esteem and respect. We know that you don't do this for rewards. You do it because you have a drive to create and share, and because you found an audience that cares. Believe us when we say that we can't wait to see what you do next. A million subscribers may seem a long way off right now, but you are closer than you think – and we are rooting for you. Congratulations, yours sincerely, Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube.
Sagar Shah and ChessBase India contributor Avathanshu Bhat unboxing the YouTube award
Sagar tells us that ChessBase India started uploading YouTube chess videos in late 2017, and in the beginning they were getting 20 or 30 views. But they kept at it, publishing 2400 videos in the next year and a half. That comes to an average of four videos each day! That consistency brought 151,000 subscribers, making it one of the most popular chess channels in the world with coverage of not just local events but tournaments and players all across the world, sometimes reaching millions for individual videos. Here are some more for you to watch:
Praggnanandhaa versus Anand – 7.9 million views
Vishy Anand vs Praggnanandhaa rematch – 4.6 million views
Nakamura vs Praggnanandhaa – 2.6 million views
Praggnanandhaa beats World Champion challenger Sergey Karjakin – 1.7 million views
