The original author became interested in chess after watching Magnus Carlsen play Sergey Karjakin in the 2016 World Championship match on Norwegian television. Chessbrah, Eric Rosen, Hikaru Nakamura and Magnus Carlsen then helped turn that interest into years of regular viewing.
That personal shortlist still deserves a place here, but the online chess landscape has changed. This guide now separates news, instruction, analysis and entertainment so you can choose sources that match what you want from the game.
Quick recommendations
| What you want | Good starting point | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Tournament news | FIDE and Chess.com News | Official announcements plus accessible reporting |
| Free game analysis | Lichess blog and studies | Open tools, community analysis and instructional material |
| A complete weekly record | The Week in Chess | Dense results, reports and downloadable games |
| Long-form improvement talk | Perpetual Chess Podcast | Interviews with players, coaches and authors |
| Entertaining instruction | Eric Rosen and Chessbrah | Strong personalities with real teaching value |
| Fast elite-level entertainment | Hikaru Nakamura | High-level calculation explained at streaming pace |
Chess news and tournament coverage
- FIDE News is the primary source for official federation announcements, championships, titles and regulations.
- Chess.com News combines tournament reports, interviews and explanatory coverage for a broad audience.
- The Week in Chess is less polished but exceptionally useful when you want a reliable weekly record of events and games.
- The Lichess blog covers platform projects, major events and open-source chess work.
Instruction and deeper analysis
A good instructional source should explain the decision behind a move, not only display engine lines. Look for material aimed at your level and follow one series long enough to apply it in your own games.
- The Perpetual Chess Podcast offers long interviews on improvement, coaching, books and competitive experience.
- Lichess studies let authors combine positions, annotations and interactive analysis in one place.
- Chess.com blogs vary widely, but established coaches such as Dan Heisman maintain substantial archives for improving players.
Creators preserved from the original review
The original reviewer’s four favourites were Chessbrah, Eric Rosen, Hikaru Nakamura and Magnus Carlsen. That list reflected genuine viewing rather than a scraped popularity ranking.
- Chessbrah mixes strong play, humour and recurring improvement series. Aman Hambleton’s educational ratings climbs are particularly useful for club players.
- Eric Rosen’s calm explanations and practical opening ideas make complicated positions approachable.
- Hikaru Nakamura provides elite calculation, speed chess and tournament commentary, although the pace can overwhelm beginners.
- Magnus Carlsen appears less like a conventional tutorial channel. His games and commentary are most useful once you can pause and analyse the decisions yourself.
How to turn content into improvement
- Choose one weakness, such as calculation, endgames or time management.
- Follow one structured series instead of sampling dozens of unrelated clips.
- Pause before each key move and calculate your own candidate moves.
- Save two or three positions from the lesson and revisit them later.
- Test the idea in slower games and review what actually happened.
Avoid stale lists and hidden promotion
Chess channels change ownership, schedules and focus. Treat any ranked list as a snapshot, and check whether a recommendation is sponsored or linked to a paid course. A famous player is not automatically a good teacher, just as a smaller creator is not automatically less useful.
For the site’s other preserved chess material, compare Chess.com and Lichess, read how to choose a chess coach, or explore chess books for improving players.
