If there's any indicator that chess is continuing to grow in popularity on Twitch it's The Chessbrah. 

The Chessbrahs just reached 20,000 subscribers on Twitch, which is the highest in the chess category on the streaming platform. This is a big accomplishment for the chess community and shows just how popular the sport is becoming in the esports industry. 

The milestone was reached while The Chessbrahs were celebrating their six-year streaming anniversary. Grandmaster Eric Hansen created Chessbrah as a username for online chess servers around 2011. That's also when he started broadcasting chess live. The name was inspired by the phrase "chess bro" as an attempt to challenge the traditional stereotypes of chess players being introverts. 

"More chessbrahs needed. Changing the stereotype," Hansen said in a 2015 interview. 

The Chessbrahs became a show of sorts when Hansen started inviting other chess players to stream chess with him. This included International Master Aman Hambleton, GM Robin van Kampen, and GM Yasser Seirawan. These top chess players focus on speed chess while streaming together on Twitch, in addition to tournament commentary and even chess lifestyle vlogs. 

The participants of Chessbrah are well known throughout the chess community. Many of them post videos of their activities on YouTube. They also provide commentary for other tournaments and events. This includes commentating the 2017 US Chess Championship and the Tata Steel Chess Tournament. 

Many of the top chess players in the world have become personalities, similar to how top esports professionals have become personalities on Twitch. This is why it's no surprise that The Chessbrahs has become one of the most popular chess channels of all time. It's more than chess. This is a channel full of well-known personalities and talents coming together to entertain the chess community similar to other esports. 

For many in the chess community, Chessbrah paved the way for chess to become more than a serious competition. It's entertainment. It's content creation. They have continued to change the chess community and expand the viewership of the sport.