How a 1,500-Year-Old Game Became an Online Sensation

It started as a simple idea in 2005—a hub for chess enthusiasts to connect, chat, and share their love for the game.

Erik Allebest and Jay Severson, two college buddies with a shared passion for strategy, had just purchased the domain Chess.com for $55,000. 

Initially, it was a forum, but then the demand for online play began to soar.

In 2007, they launched the first subscription-based version of Chess.com. 
Within a few years, the platform began to gain members and marked its place as the go-to site for chess lovers.

In 2023, it hosted the first-ever Champions Chess Tour, offering a record-breaking $2 million prize pool.

Last year alone, 12.5 billion games were played on Chess.com—an astonishing 35 million games per day.

In this episode of the NEON Show, Erik Allebest, co-founder of Chess.com, discusses his journey from a chess enthusiast to creating the world's largest online chess platform. He talks about his entrepreneurial start, the hurdles in building a sustainable business, and key moments in Chess.com’s success, including lawsuits, early VC rejections, a $600 million valuation, and scaling during the pandemic.

Timestamp
00:00 - Introduction
02:06 - Family influence on Erik’s entrepreneurial mindset
05:00 - Falling in love with chess at 18 through books
07:25 - Selling an e-commerce business to fund chess.com
09:00 - Founding challenges and initial growth struggles
13:50 - Why conventional careers didn’t suit Erik
18:30 - Settling lawsuits, including the vodka-based case
21:50 - Persevering despite doubts about the chess market
22:55 - General Atlantic’s investment in chess.com
26:10 - Key insights learned from investor partnerships
29:56 - Shifting from entrepreneur to CEO
33:24 - Erik’s passion for creating products
37:18 - How media boosted chess’s popularity globally
44:23 - The downsides of rapid monetization
46:53 - Managing chess.com’s pandemic-driven growth
50:06 - Erik’s focus on sustainability and future growth
56:00 - India’s cultural impact on global chess
59:24 - Erik’s views on digital security risks
01:03:40 - Why employees stay for passion, not just pay
01:07:26 - Erik’s belief in chess’s continued global growth
01:09:00 - Embracing errors as learning opportunities
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Hi, I am your host Siddhartha! I have been an entrepreneur from 2012-2017 building two products AddoDoc and Babygogo. After selling my company to SHEROES, I and my partner Nansi decided to start up again. But we felt unequipped in our skillset in 2018 to build a large company. We had known 0-1 journeys from our startups but lacked the experience of building 1-10 journeys. 

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This video is for informational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the individuals quoted and do not constitute professional advice.

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