What are the best youtube channels on chess? (Solved!)
Youtube is one of the best platforms to learn any information that we need, content creators cover those regularly. It is one if the hottest social media platform right now.
This is why when it comes to chess, people have been searching for the right youtube channels that satisfy their experience, and that’s what I’m going to discuss today. There are so many good youtube channels about chess, I just have to discuss them.
Which youtube chess channels are exactly right for your needs? I have discovered a lot of fan bases and are a part of some myself. I’m really excited to be talking about this since a lot of these influencers are important in my journey.
Of course we all have different tastes, but I believe some aspects of the quality are applicable to a lot of people. These are just some chess channels that are likely to be fitting a lot of people’s wants and needs, which I’m going to be showing today.
I will share the good stuff using this article, let’s begin.
Are you looking for a chess channel with a beginner-like analysis?
The best youtube channel that gives beginner-like chess analysis of top games is agadmator’s chess channel, with over 900,000 subscribers on youtube.
1.) agadmator’s chess channel
This is the most popular channel than any of the options out there, providing beginner eyeglasses to games of very famous players. The host of the channel Antonio Radiç, gives very digestible insights even for people that have never touched a board before.
And the reason why I think this channel is fitting for every beginner is interest, the host makes the game interesting enough for you to pay attention to the moves.
Chess after all can become boring really fast if you’re not the one playing, having it presented in a fun way will help you long term (since you will eventually like the game).
A big plus for this channel is consistency, the host is updated on most tournaments and will even upload 2-3 videos a day.
You are most likely to be updated on occurrences of the chess world if you subscribe to his channel since he covers it really fast.
He also expresses little things around the game explaining the context, like a previous tournament or a photo of a player, making you learn about the atmosphere.
One can easily familiarize themselves with various players by watching some of his videos, you will not only learn about the game but also the people around it.
This is actually the Youtuber that has made me start liking chess (someone who hates it), I decided to train due to this channel and have improved enormously since then.
I’ve been in this fanbase since his early days when he barely has 100,000 subscribers, he almost has a million now.
Are you looking for a channel that is about general chess knowledge?
The best channel for general chess knowledge talking about rudimentary and advanced techniques is Chess school with over 130 thousand subscribers on youtube.
2.) Chess School
This I know since way back but have not paid a lot of attention to, however, it is definitely the place to go if you’re trying to learn general chess information.
Chess school has suffered an increase in members over the years reaching over 130,000 subscribers.
Everything about chess, principles in the opening, middlegame, and endgame as well as secrets of very famous grandmasters.
There are two reasons why I recommend this over a plethora of options that could be chosen out there, one being snackable, and the other is being reliable.
Most of the content is only around three to ten minutes long but does not fail to deliver the information sufficiently, something others cannot do.
When you watch very long lessons you are unlikely to actually finish them and therefore not learning everything, being snackable allows you to only learn the important stuff.
Next is being reliable, other information out there is given by hosts that are not players themselves, therefore is a suspect for accuracy.
This one I can verify is a chess coach themselves and therefore has the experience to know and teach these things, making the information reliable.
It is more fitting for players who do not know what knowledge they need to learn, and just letting the host teach some things to them.
This is where you go when you are not looking for something specific and just want to sit there and say “give me every chess-related thing you got”.
Are you looking for a chess channel that is more about chess openings?
The best youtube chess channel for players aspiring to improve their openings is thechesswebsite, talking about general and specific openings with over 500,000 subscribers on youtube.
3.) The chess website
Ok, this channel does not only focus on openings but also on other things, but a lot of their videos cover openings sufficiently. This is one of the channels I trained with during my early days of learning chess, it has a wide spectrum of interesting lines.
If you’re looking for a very specific opening that does not have a lot of blog posts around it (or you don’t prefer to read), just go in here and learn everything.
They cover even really unpopular openings that you might find interesting, something other creators don’t do (since people mostly talk about popular ones).
They have such good coverage that in fact, you can find reasonable openings that you’re not exactly looking for, but liked anyway.
This is really good for beginners who don’t know what openings they need to know (which applies to all beginners), where they can view everything.
Are you looking for a chess channel to take your game to the next level?
The best chess channels to reinforcing one’s repertoire in an advanced way is Saint Louis Chess Club with over 300,000 subscribers, and iChess.Net with over 150 subscribers, both on youtube.
4.) Saint Louis Chess Club
This channel is gold not kidding, it provides information for the advanced study on players who are already good, but doesn’t see much improvement.
I don’t recommend this for beginners since their videos are really long and you are unlikely to understand the concepts expressed yet.
However for people that find it difficult to improve their skills, this might be the place where you can find the flaw in your game.
The host in this channel are a variety of grandmasters or titled players who are experts in the field, one can easily see the distinction from all other channels.
It is entertaining, and everything is getting pressed down on you in a way that is sufficient.
If you are already quite advanced, you are likely to already know a lot of things from other channels, this one will surely bring new perspectives out in the open (as per my experience).
They provide information in all three phases of the game, the opening, the middlegame, and the end game as well as very specific strategies.
They also do a very thorough study of specific positions (which sometimes lasts for hours), making you learn everything about little, but important ideas.
5.) Ichess.net.
This is a supplementary channel adding to the Saint Louis chess club for advanced players, though I prefer the one I mentioned before to this.
Nevertheless, if you are looking for a change in the atmosphere (since Slcc videos are too long) then this might be what you’re looking for.
It is also hosted by a lot of grandmasters (or title players) that know what they’re talking about, therefore they are likely to give reliable information. The way they deliver the teaching is more professional, not as entertaining as Slcc but pretty descriptive.
They also offer a wide variety of topics ranging from the opening, middlegame, and endgame as well as tips and tricks here in there.
Though the thing that I’ve noticed is some of their videos occasionally have a low audio frequency, those videos that do not have that issue are perfect for a lot of semi-advanced and advanced players.
Are you looking for a chess channel that will make you entertained?
The best chess channels that provide entertaining content are GMHikaru (over 550k subscribers), Magnus Carlsen (over 400k subscribers), Coffee chess (over 180k subscribers), and Chessbrah (over 160k subscribers).
6.) GMHikaru
This channel is one of the most popular chess channels out there apart from agadmator, he is one of the people responsible for the boom in chess activities.
It is hosted by one of the best players in the world Hikaru Nakamura, where he uploads to youtube interesting bits of his live stream in twitch.
Chess memes, reacting to chess videos, playing weird odds here and there you name it, GMHikaru does all of that. What I liked about him is his personality, he turned sometimes relatively stale positions into something interesting due to his commentary.
He even played against very popular influencers like Mr.Beast and penguinz0, he is involved with a lot of other great figures.
Plus, the way he communicates with the audience just makes you want to play chess even if you do not care about it just a while ago.
He has a great community, personality, and content, what more entertainment can you spill out from a chess channel? he already has everything.
7.) Magnus Carlsen
This channel is hosted by literally the best player in the world and probably the greatest of all time, world champion Magnus Carlsen.
This is the place where he does some banter blitz challenges and destroys everyone while being funny.
The videos are very digestible with memorable remarks, you can watch how the world champion plays while he comments on every move.
Just like with Hikaru his personality is something to look out for, this has allowed him to gain a lot of following on top of being the world champion.
You don’t need to watch long videos in order to be entertained, I sometimes scroll down my feed and see a video, click on it, and leave.
The community of this channel is very engaged, they comment on almost every video and likes it, which tells you about the quality of the content.
8.) Coffee chess
If the world champion plays banter blitzes online, this one is more about over the board play with trash talking and a floating chessboard.
They occasionally scheme a match between a chess hustler and a titled player, seeing what happens or how people will react.
They have interesting combinations too, they pair different people with different backgrounds and just make them play chess while being arrogant.
While the games occur over the board, the floating chessboard allows the audience to keep up with the game and the context behind the trash talk.
From my experience they never fail to make interesting content, you get to watch street chess and similar encounters on this channel.
Their biggest host is a great master that goes by the name of Carlini, he always makes spicy remarks during the games which adds fuel to the fire.
9.) Chessbrah
This is hosted by two main figures in the name of Chris Hansen and Aman Hambleton, though I’ve seen different individuals throughout the course of their video-making.
They make a series of interesting chess challenges (more often about blitz/bullet chess and odds) and just comment on everything in an entertaining way.
The personality of the people making the videos is what rings the bell for me, it’s similar to Hikaru Nakamura but slightly different.
With Hikaru you will just be amazed at how fast he can calculate lines, with Chessbrah (though they are still professionals that playfast) you know that they are more likely to lose than Nakamura.
They are more relatable, and their reactions to everything on the board is priceless (especially the mouse-slip rages).
In fact, they are the ones that pioneered the commenting to their own games style of making youtube videos, you just know that it will be good.
Their choice of topics are geared towards interesting things, cheaters, speedruns, popular memes, you name it, it’s just a good hub to get a good dose of chess.
Have you subscribed to the chess channels I’ve talked about?
There are definitely a lot of chess channels out there teaching a wide variety of niches in the game, but this is what I found to be the most helpful/fun.
Don’t get me wrong I haven’t explored every corner of the youtube world, there might be good undiscovered places here and there.
I will surely update this article whenever I find something like that, a good channel prepares the player for the challenges of chess, therefore it is important.
I’m sure you have your own opinion on the best youtube channels that are not included here, but these are the ones that worked for me.
And these are also what I believe to work for most people who are just starting their journey to learn chess on youtube, sleep well and play chess.
