In a landmark move poised to redefine the future of chess in India, NODWIN Gaming, a leader in South Asia’s esports and gaming ecosystem, has announced a strategic partnership with the world’s largest chess platform, Chess.com and India’s leading chess media and grassroots organisation, ChessBase India. The collaboration brings together three powerhouses from the worlds of esports, content, and competitive chess to create a unified ecosystem that nurtures talent, expands reach, and builds India’s presence on the global chess esports stage. This strategic alliance unites the complementary strengths of three leaders in the chess and gaming ecosystem. NODWIN Gaming brings deep expertise in production, broadcast, and commercial strategy. ChessBase India offers unmatched access to India’s thriving chess community and grassroots networks. Chess.com contributes its expansive global platform, community, creator partnerships, and world-class tournament infrastructure. Together, they form a unique synergy that will fuel the co-creation and scaling of original IPs, deliver premium competitive formats, spark deeper engagement across both player and creator communities, and deliver great opportunities for brands to partner in the rapidly growing chess ecosystem. Speaking on the announcement, Akshat Rathee, Co-founder and Managing Director of NODWIN Gaming, said, “Chess is undergoing a cultural renaissance, from park benches and schoolrooms to sold-out esports arenas and creator streams. Chess has now become the fourth most-watched sport in the country after cricket, kabaddi, and BGMI tournaments. With this partnership, we’re not just supporting a heritage game, we’re aiding in its natural course of progression. By combining each organization’s unique strengths, we’re building a future-ready ecosystem that can take Indian chess from heritage to hype. It’s time the brilliance of our grandmasters meets the energy of our digital generation.” Chess is getting an accelerated global attention, with over 7.6 billion games played worldwide on Chess.com in 2024 alone. The platform now boasts over 200 million registered users, with India seeing 9 million+ monthly active players, and an erage of 550,000 new signups every month. Viewership has skyrocketed with 925 million total organic views, reflecting a 640% year-over-year growth. The surge in visibility was recently reflected during the World Chess Championship, which was exclusively streamed in India through the combined efforts of NODWIN Gaming, Chess.com, and ChessBase India. The Gukesh Dommaraju-Ding Liren final match, which saw Gukesh being crowned as the World Chess Champion, attracted over 24 million views, with peak concurrent viewership hitting 200,000. India is central to this surge. Cities like Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, and Chennai rank among the top chess-viewing regions globally. Indian users are predominantly mobile-first, with 80.9% of viewership on smartphones, and the largest age group being between 18 and 34 years old, highlighting the game’s deep connection with India’s digital-native Gen Z and millennial audiences. Speaking on the alliance, Sagar Shah, CEO of ChessBase India, said, “This partnership is not just a business alliance — it’s a vision to grow the chess community in India from the grassroots to the grand stage. For the last decade, we’ve focused on building a robust chess culture in the country, and now, with NODWIN and Chess.com by our side, we hope to bring forth more opportunities to all those involved in the chess ecosystem.” Avadh Shah, Country Director of Chess.com India, said, “Chess has been one of the most dominant and fastest growing sports in the last 3 years across India and the world. In terms of both participation and viewership, chess is experiencing record-breaking numbers—the highest we’ve ever seen. Given the excitement around the sport, it is only fitting that the leading companies within the ecosystem collaborate to further its development and invite partners to join this journey as well.” The partnership also aligns with the rise of chess as a recognised esports discipline. At the upcoming Esports World Cup (EWC) 2025, chess will make its debut with a prize pool of $1.5 million. Leading Indian esports organization S8UL is set to represent India in competitive chess at the Esports World Cup with its powerhouse roster of Grandmasters Nihal Sarin and Arindh Chithambaram, marking the first-ever representation of an Indian esports team in competitive chess on a global stage. Their involvement underscores the growing recognition of chess as a spectator-friendly, high-skill esport. As India prepares to make its mark on this new frontier, the alliance between NODWIN Gaming, Chess.com, and ChessBase India promises to build the foundational infrastructure needed for long-term growth, from top-tier broadcasts and influencer-led content to community tournaments and professional leagues. Together, NODWIN Gaming, ChessBase India, and Chess.com aim to build a robust ecosystem for Indian chess, one that honors the nation’s legacy, empowers creators, and establishes India as a global hub for online competitive chess. ENDS
About NODWIN Gaming
NODWIN Gaming, a material and independent subsidiary of Nazara Technologies Ltd. (BSE: NAZARA), holds a significant position in the global gaming and esports industry as a leader in emerging markets. Since its inception in 2014 by Akshat Rathee and Gautam Virk, NODWIN Gaming has grown rapidly and was last valued at valued at $410 million as of November 2024 and has established a global presence in regions such as South Asia, Germany, Central Asia, Singapore, the Middle East and Turkey.
The company’s business centres around building and monetising #TimeshareOfMindshare across the youth of the emerging world. It has in its arsenal- gaming and esports IPs such as Leagues, Tournaments, reality shows, festivals, conferences, content, influencers and merchandise. Notable investors include Nazara, KRAFTON Inc, Sony Group Corporation, and JetSynthesys.
A key focus for NODWIN Gaming is the expertise in the mobile gaming and esports sector, where it has established a dominant position worldwide. By catering to the youth demographic, NODWIN is expanding its Total Addressable Market (TAM) by becoming increasingly relevant in the rapidly evolving digital entertainment landscape. Their diverse range of intellectual properties that engage the youth spans esports, gaming, pop culture, music, and comedy. This strategic expansion and cultivation of new intellectual properties are crucial to NODWIN’s aim of maintaining a significant role in the new age media economy of the global youth.
About Chess.com
Founded in 2007, Chess.com is the world’s largest chess website, with a community of over 200 million members worldwide and more than 10 million games played daily. Chess is one of the most popular games globally and Chess.com is committed to growing chess as a positive influence in the world. Chess.com was recognized by Fast Company’s list of Most Innovative Companies in 2024, as well as included on TIME’s 100 Most Influential Companies in 2023.