Hikaru Nakamura joins Titled Tuesday, and the comments ask where Hess went
Chess.com's broadcast of its weekly speed event drew far more viewers than its long videos usually do, from a crowd split between Hikaru's draw and their usual voice.
Chess.com
Story of Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 174,022 views a day, 11 times a normal first day on this channel (16,286).
TITLED TUESDAY | Hikaru Joins The Best Weekly Speed Chess Event!!
Titled Tuesday is the record Hikaru Nakamura has made his own. The broadcast's description notes that he has won the weekly event more often than anyone since late 2020, ninety times, well ahead of Magnus Carlsen's thirty-seven. So the title "Hikaru Joins The Best Weekly Speed Chess Event!!" carried a promise, and it brought people in: more than 110,000 views in its first eleven hours, roughly ten times what a long Chess.com video usually gathers in a full day.
That stands out more because the channel as a whole is running a little below its usual pace.
Titled Tuesday is an 11-round Swiss tournament for titled players, held every week, and it now feeds the new Champions Chess Tour, which brings it together with the Speed Chess Championship and the returning Global Championship to qualify twelve players for the 2027 Esports World Cup.
The comment section, already several times busier than usual, has its own subject. Many viewers came looking for GM Robert Hess, a familiar voice on Chess.com broadcasts, and some still remember the TakeTakeTake coverage before that. Others answer that Hikaru beats a broadcast with no commentary at all, and one suggests running both. A few simply mourn the final game.
The same day, the channel posted a lighter moment from Magnus Carlsen's evening at the Grandmasters premiere.
Published on Trari
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What viewers say
I do like Hikaru - but I want to watch the whole titled Tuesday. Missed Hess (and TakeTakeTake before that).
@lukevader6038See it on YouTubeMissed Hess 😢
@chessflashspeedSee it on YouTubeLast game hurt 😢
@christianBBBSee it on YouTube
Public comments from the video's page on YouTube
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- Channel
- Chess.com
- Subscribers
- 2,940,000
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 5,763,101
- Channel views, pace per day
- 494,652 (on a normal day: 712,748)
- Video published
- October 6, 2026
- Video views so far
- 112,210 (less than a day online)
- Video views, pace per day
- 174,022
The numbers
Here is how the Titled Tuesday broadcast compares with the channel's usual start for a long video.
💡 Test your knowledge
Hikaru Nakamura, five-time U.S. chess champion, was born in which country?
Nakamura was born in Hirakata, Japan, and moved to the United States with his family as a small child.
