From the Queen’s Gambit television miniseries to the Covid-19 pandemic, it is hard to isolate a single factor behind chess’s unprecedented popularity. In the words of David Howell, the game’s transition from boards to screens is “a miracle we’re all quite grateful for” in the chess community.

Howell is a three-time British chess champion and the second-youngest person to achieve the title of grandmaster in the country. His online content and appearances, such as on the BBC’s show ‘Chess Masters: The Endgame’, have turned him into one of the most recognisable figures in chess. As a player and commentator, he has contributed to the game’s renewal by making complex matches accessible and entertaining.

When asked about what makes chess commentary unique, he explains that rounds can be six hours long, with tournaments lasting up to two weeks. “To keep audiences entertained for such a long period of time is difficult,” he elaborates, because chess “is not as high energy and constant as other sports”. He adds that, compared to a football match, chess can prove “less visual, intuitive, and obvious”.

“Each chess game is a rivalry. There’s always something at stake”

For him, narrative is the key to solve those two obstacles. And while it can seem abstract, chess has a unique potential for storytelling. “Each chess game is a rivalry” says Howell, “there’s always something at stake. There’s always a bit of history when two elite grandmasters play against each other.” Chess tournaments emphasise individual performance and evolution. For audiences, this environment can prove similar to the tennis world, where a handful of elite players face each other again and again.

This is why Howell argues that chess commentary is about going beyond “the trend of the game and the tactics,” instead focusing on the player’s “personality” and “the psychological clash”. Every game is a unique combination of what happens on the board and what has happened in the past, meaning commentators “get to learn every single day”.

This need for constant learning and growth has become obvious when chess has gone into the world of esport tournaments, starting with the 2025 Esports World Cup (EWC). Howell, who was commenting at the EWC, recalls the groundbreaking event: “This kind of atmosphere, and the viewing numbers we got on the big final with Magnus Carlsen and Alireza Firouzja, were almost unprecedented.” While traditionalists may frown upon the replacement of boards by screens throughout the EWC, Howell remains optimistic. Ultimately, it’s “still brain versus brain”, he argues, adding that the EWC brings the game to “new audiences and new communities”. This development in the video game world has certainly enlarged the fanbase of chess.

“Social media ‘has added a new kind of pressure’”

Another crucial factor is social media, with content creators like GothamChess mastering algorithms on Youtube, Instagram, and TikTok. When asked about the main impact of social media, Howell states that “the obvious thing would be more eyeballs,” while acknowledging that it “has added a new kind of pressure”. The modern obsession with numbers of views or likes has made “everyone more competitive” over online statistics rather than actual chess rankings. For the commentator, this represents a massive shift from his early chess days, where Elo (the rating system used for competitions, named after its inventor Arpad Elo) was the only metric. Now that the “number of followers is the defining factor”, entire career paths have been redrawn on the basis of virtual influence. “Players way outside the top 30 get amazing opportunities because they’re active on social media or give funny interviews”. An unimaginable reality just ten years ago.

Short videos from tournaments, like Carlsen’s famous ‘table slam’, have flooded online feeds and reached audiences unfamiliar with the game. The 35-year-old commentator remembers how table slams would also attract attention in the past, but never “become a meme or a household topic of discussion”. Social media has moved entire aspects of chess from fan circles to the wider public. When asked about the overall impact of this shift, Howell describes it as widely “positive”, highlighting the fact that “more people make a living from chess”.

Chess appeals to Gen Z online, but this youth engagement with the sport is not unprecedented: the game has historically been popular among young people. Reflecting on his experience as a very young competitor, Howell recalls facing “dilemmas” and “big decisions,” particularly when choosing “what to pursue and how soon to commit”. He remembers being “on the front of newspapers and TV” for being the youngest player to ever beat a grandmaster in an official game, in 1999. His early career as a child prodigy, he explains, was possible because of the brain’s ability to “absorb information” at a young age. Children’s “spongy” memory makes them competitive for a sport that is “all mental, all cognition”.

“Every time I go out in Norway, I will be recognised”

When comparing the chess culture in the UK and Norway for those young players, he describes a striking difference. Norway is the homeland of Carlsen, considered by some to be the greatest player of all time. Howell describes him as “one of the top ten celebrities in the country, alongside footballers and pop stars”. This “role model made chess super cool” for Norwegians, sparking interest about chess under all its forms: the game, the tournaments, the famous players, the history. Howell’s online commentary is especially popular with the Norwegian audience: “Every time I go out in Norway, I will be recognised”.

Our conversation ends with some pragmatic advice for casual players aiming to get better at the game (a situation shared by countless novices, myself included). “The main thing,” says Howell, “is just practice, to get those patterns in the mind. Then analyzing games with a friend, ideally, before looking at it with a computer. And the final thing: doing puzzles regularly”. Overall,the commentator’s genuine enthusiasm for the game is striking, as is his clear mission to make it more accessible and popular than ever.