Chessbrah

Chessbrah

Divisions	Chess
Founded	2011
Based in	Canada
Partners	Chess.com Mionix
Website	www.chessbrah.tv

Chessbrah is a web-based chess entertainment company and name brand of a group of titled chess players founded by professional chess Grandmaster (GM) Eric Hansen. GM Hansen came up with the name "Chessbrah" in 2011 and has since become a notable name brand in the global chess community; as of September 2017, Chessbrah has amassed more than 20,000 subscribers and 4,200,000 views on YouTube and more than 20,000 followers and 1,000,000 views on Twitch.tv.

History

Origin of "Chessbrah"

GM Hansen first created "Chessbrah" as one of his chess usernames he played under at various online chess servers such as the Internet Chess Club (ICC), ChessCube, and others as early as 2011 when he also began his first live broadcasts via the original Livestream.com. In a 2016 interview documentary piece by Canadian newspaper La Presse, GM Hansen commented on the inspiration of the name. "Chessbrah is like 'Chess bro,'" he said, suggesting it was meant to "contrast" or challenge the traditional stereotype of chess players as solely introverts, a mission he has previously advocated for. "More chessbrahs needed...changing the stereotype," he said in a 2015 BodyBuilding.com ask-me-anything (AMA)/Q&A forum.

One unofficial interpretation of the meaning of "Chessbrah" was offered in a welcome post by the Sicilian Defence page on Facebook (147,000+ followers), suggesting "Chessbrah" represented an attitude or appealing social identity other chess players could adopt, and that Chessbrah might represent a movement further popularizing chess:

You might have seen Eric in his native environment, pushing the limits of chess broadcasting under a name you probably recognize: CHESSBRAH. In fact, it's a name he coined, but doesn't keep it for just himself. He shares the name with a small group of his own close friends and streaming colleagues, other extremely gifted chess players who revel in their pleasures of online bullet and blitz (so, there are technically multiple CHESSBRAHs). CHESSBRAH is a clever, catchier version of "chess bro" or "brother," a moniker that invokes the sense of collegiality — brotherhood or sisterhood — that can be found in the chess world and many other sports (yes, chess is a sport, not merely a game) ... Are you a CHESSBRAH? ... Armed with this name, prodigy-level chess intuition, and mad bullet skills, and a penchant for electronic music, Eric has emerged as one of the most popular online chess personalities. He's known to be articulate, outspoken and charismatic, in other words, he's quite capable of rendering chess accessible to even more groups young or old alike.

Chessbrah Members

While Chessbrah began as GM Hansen's user name on a number of chess servers, it rapidly evolved to become a brand name often pluralized to include others aside from GM Hansen himself, including his close friends International Master (IM) Aman Hambleton, GM Robin van Kampen, and 2016 US Chess Champion super GM, Fabiano Caruana, and now even GM Yasser Seirawan, among others. Chessbrah(s) focus(es) on live internet broadcasts of speed chess on Twitch.tv, tournament commentary, and chess lifestyle vlogs actively broadcast on YouTube.

On YouTube, GM Hansen began posting bullet and blitz chess videos in 2014 and, shortly thereafter, streamed live chess with commentary on Twitch.tv, a frequent broadcast venue for Chessbrah team members. These other "Chessbrahs" have become regular contributors of the Chessbrah broadcast live on Twitch.tv and videos later posted to Youtube. Chessbrahs sometimes broadcast as individuals but frequently broadcast together.

Chessbrah IM Hambleton is frequently recognized as a Chessbrah by professional chess commentators, particularly recently in his bid to achieve the GM title at a number of chess tournaments, such as in interviews following his wins against GMs Alexei Shirov and Erwin l'Ami. IM Hambleton has produced notably popular Chessbrah YouTube videos, from bullet chess matches against Red Bull-sponsored super GM Hikaru Nakamura to Hambleton's chess impersonations and hair style guides.

Members of the Chessbrah team have acted as commentators for various internet chess events, including commentating the 2017 US Chess Championship and the 2017 Tata Steel Chess Tournament (featuring commentary by GM van Kampen and IM Anna Rudolf).

Many Chessbrah broadcasts on Twitch.tv are themed and episodically numbered. For instance, Chessbrah "Boiler Room" broadcasts on Twitch.tv typically feature energetic bullet or hyper-bullet speed chess accompanied by raucous electronic dance music and have exceeded 150 episodes (#159 as of June 2017). "Chess Lounge Session" episodes (#58 to date) feature slower blitz games (3 or 5 minute games). While these episodes feature a range of electronic dance music, more chillout, low-key, or down-tempo may be played.

Chessbrah Chess Commentary and Partnerships

Chess.com Partnership

In August 2015, the Chessbrah team partnered with Chess.com in August 2015 to provide professional chess commentary; the first Chess.com-sponsored Chessbrah commentary aired on Chess.com's "ChessCenter" on YouTube on August 24, 2015. Chessbrahs cover many of Chess.com's "Titled Tuesdays," including a notable kibitzing of World Chess Champion GM Magnus Carlsen's in May 2017.

Additionally, a bi-weekly "Chessbrahs" show is hosted on chess.com, featuring GM Eric Hansen and GM Robin van Kampen. IM Aman Hambleton hosts a "Material Odds" show where odds are given to viewers.

Chess24 and World Chess Championship Coverage

GMs Hansen and van Kampen were contracted by chess24 to provide commentary for the World Chess Championship 2016, alongside Jan Gustafsson and Peter Svidler.

Hansen and van Kampen, being recognized as "Chessbrahs," have also been featured in a number of Chess24-produced "Banter Blitz" and other chess analysis sessions.

Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis

Founding Chessbrah GMs Hansen and van Kampen have both served as expert chess commentators and instructors for the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. They have frequently been recognized as "Chessbrahs" by colleagues on live broadcasts, including by GMs Maurice Ashley, Yasser Seirawan, Alejandro Ramírez, and WGM Jennifer Shahade. Chessbrahs have served as on-air commentators in major live, global chess events broadcast from the St. Louis Chess Club and Scholastic Center broadcast studio, including the 2016 Candidates Tournament and the 2017 US Chess Championship, as well as numerous chess analysis and instruction lectures at the center by GMs Hansen and van Kampen.

Pro Chess League 2017: The Montreal Chessbrahs

In 2017, the Chessbrah extended into an actual professional sporting team dubbed the Montreal Chessbrahs, which debuted in 2017 as one of 48 teams in the Atlantic Division of the Pro Chess League. The Montreal Chessbrahs were led by 2016 US Chess Champion Fabiano Caruana.

In the March Madness playoffs, the Montreal Chessbrahs battled their way to the final four after defeating in a previous round the Norway Gnomes, led by reigning World Chess Champion, GM Magnus Carlsen, succumbing to the St. Louis Arch Bishops, led by GM Wesley So in the semi-finals.

The Montreal Chessbrahs 2017 Roster:

• GM Fabiano Caruana
• GM Li Chao
• GM Robin van Kampen
• GM Jorden Van Foreest
• GM Eric Hansen
• GM Alexandre Lesiège
• IM Aman Hambleton
• Raven Sturt
• FM Lefong Hua
• FM Michael Kleinman
• NM Elias Oussedik
• GM Anish Giri (also signed to the Chessbrahs roster as a free agent, but did not play any games).

References

This article "Chessbrah" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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