| Kasparov Chess | |
| Company Type: | Internet chess server |
| Language: | Multilingual |
| Location Country: | France |
| Ceo: | Louis Germain |
| Industry: | Internet |
| Equity: | 5.4M$ |
| Parent: | Vivendi |
| Registration: | Required |
| Current Status: | Active |
| Type: | Social networking service |
Kasparov Chess is a commercial internet chess server, internet forum and social networking website.[1] The former World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov is affiliated with this online chess club.[2]
The KasparovChess.com domain was first used to launch Garry Kasparov's chess website in early 2000.[3] To commemorate its opening, Kasparov played a simul with around 30 junior players from around the world, many of them online on his own chess server in 2000.[4] [5] Later, KasparovChess.com hosted a tournament of junior players.[6] Sometime after, the site became inactive, until this domain was used again in 2021.
Kasparov Chess is financed by private investors and Vivendi, through its subsidiary Keysquare,[7] a media conglomerate headquartered in Paris, France.[8] In October 2019, Keysquare was allocated a capital investment of €3.5 million Euros from Vivendi to start the project.[9]
Kasparov Chess has a freemium business model with a free option for some chess content coupled with a premium option charge of $13.99 monthly or $119.99 for a yearly subscription for all the available chess content.[10]
Kasparov Chess offers chess puzzles, online chess, tutorials, articles, documentaries, podcasts and a chess master class taught by Kasparov; however, some of these features are only available to members with a paid subscription.[11] At the launch of the company in April 2021, there will be available 50,000 exercises, 700 lessons and 400 hours of videos.[12]
In order to establish itself as a mainstream chess platform and a profit-making venture, Kasparov Chess will have to compete against many well-established Internet chess servers. These include entirely free online chess servers, such as Lichess and Free Internet Chess Server, and the several commercial chess communities including Chess.com, Chess24, FIDE Online Arena, Internet Chess Club and Playchess offering similar freemium subscriptions for chess content as Kasparov Chess.
In 1999, Garry Kasparov and Israeli investors attempted to establish a commercial online chess club called Kasparov Chess Online that never reached a profitable status and became defunct in 2002.