TSM Signs Chess Grandmaster to Roster

TSM has signed a new player to their roster of esports and streamer roles, but he may not be immediately known to the community. Hikaru Nakamura is a chess grandmaster and now the newest member of Team SoloMid. Nakamura routinely streams on Twitch to an average of 14,000 viewers and is best known for his rapid chess and blitz playstyles. 

While adding a player of one of the oldest games in the world to a predominantly new-media focused roster may seem like an oddity, chess has steadily been climbing the Twitch charts and is often one of the top 20 most popular games being streamed. This trend has been seen gaining momentum as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to draw more and more people into the streaming platform.  

Noted upcoming matchups and streams on Nakamura's Twitch channel include Garry Kasparov, which will surely bring in some record numbers of viewers. 

Image: Nakamura via Twitter

Source: Polygon