The highly confidential world of online chess takes its first steps on the Oslo Stock Exchange on Monday.
Play Magnus, the group co-founded by the Norwegian Magnus Carlsen, world chess champion, hopes to raise funds of 30 million euros.
A first for the sector, boosted by the pandemic.
Read also: Covid-19 crisis: these sectors that are doing more or less well
The name of the company, Play Magnus, is also that of its flagship application.
Available on the App Store (Apple) and the Play Store (Google), it mimics the game of Magnus Carlsen to offer players the opportunity to train against the world champion.
“
We have more than three million registered users across our different services,
” says Anders Brandt, group president.
This fundraising will be used "
to improve and extend the offer (of Play Magnus, editor's note)
", continues the co-founder.
The company founded in 2013 indeed owns, in addition to its flagship application, other platforms including "Chessable" - a site dedicated to online courses and training -, "CoChess" - developed this year, including the goal is to put players in touch with teachers - and “Chess 24” - an online gaming platform.
Laurent Fressinet, two-time champion of France, has been developing the French version of Chess 24 since its merger with the Norwegian group in March 2019. "
We are a team of 5 for France and have around 100 employees around the world
", details the great international master.
Originally, Chess 24 is a site created in 2014 by the great German player Jan Gustafsson.
It is now developed in 10 languages (English, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, German, Chinese, Turkish, Portuguese and Norwegian).
A boom in chess in full containment
The fundraising will also help develop the “
Champions Chess Tour
”, a tournament scheduled for November.
It is the logical continuation of the "
Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour
", created in the midst of a pandemic to compensate for the stoppage of competitions, for which the prize of one million dollars was won by Magnus Carlsen.
For Brandt Anders, the success of the tournament is the materialization of a certain fervor for chess.
“
Since the start of the pandemic, the popularity of professional chess games broadcast online has exploded, as has the use of gaming and learning platforms
,” says the president.
“
There has been a real boom with confinement,
” confirms Laurent Fressinet.
“
For a period, I spent more time traveling than playing.
With chess we have the chance to be able to practice from home.
The health crisis has accelerated this practice,
”adds the champion.
To read also: Magnus Carlsen: "Internet chess is a revolution"
An observation shared by other players in the sector.
Three major platforms share the market: Chess24, which has become the specialist in "
tournament broadcasting
", the American Chess.com and the French Lichess, respectively n ° 1 and 2 in the world for the "playing
area
", ie. ie online parties.
"
The confinement has almost doubled the traffic, with in particular strong demand from schools and chess clubs, looking for a service free of advertisements and trackers
", observes Thibault Duplessis, founder of Lichess.
France at the forefront of the online chess sector
If traditional platforms are financed by their subscriptions, paid services (courses, tournaments against grandmasters, etc.) and by advertising, Lichess stands out from its competitors with a model based on free access.
"
It is a non-profit association under the 1901 law, motivated by humanist objectives
," explains Thibault Duplessis.
It all started in 2010, when the developer released chess software online.
"
The chess community took hold of it and, with the help of contributions, it became an extremely popular project
," says the computer expert.
As on other platforms, Lichess allows you to face opponents anywhere in the world or to confront artificial intelligences.
“
Hundreds of professional coaches give lessons every day.
Lichess is also a social network with forums, teams, chats, player tracking and news feeds.
We play tournaments there, including the famous “Arenas” that we have since been copied, with a chance to meet Magnus Carlsen himself
”, adds the founder.
Thus, “
the material costs and salaries of developers, system administrators, community managers and moderators
” are only financed through donations.
“
All of our source code is published and reusable, including by our competitors,
” adds Thibault Duplessis.
The world n ° 2 in online chess records “
10 million unique visitors per month, 4 million games per day and 8 million player accounts while all services are accessible without registration
”.
“
What he created is extraordinary, but doesn't this free model threaten the diversity of the offer?
»Asks Laurent Fressinet.
“
There are other ways of doing it, more common and more lucrative.
Play Magnus has made its choice, and we wish them success, being attached to the diversity of the online chess ecosystem
”, answers Thibault Duplessis.
In the sector, another French site stands out.
Far from the “
big three
” in terms of attendance, Europe Echecs is a pioneer in the field.
Founded in 1959, the company was originally a topical magazine specializing in millennial board games, before becoming a site in 1997 and a "
gaming zone
" in 2001. The company "
is the one of the top five chess platforms in the world and the first in France.
Unlike our competitors, we want to stay on a human scale.
Most of our users are French
”, explains Sami Kouatly, president of the company.
Read also: The health crisis is boosting board games
The site has retained its paid magazine and is accessible online.
In total, Europe Echecs employs “about
fifteen employees
” for a turnover of 1.2 million euros.
Like its competitors, Sami Kouatly is witnessing an increase in the number of users.
"
The stopping of classic chess tournaments has allowed a boom in online tournaments
", observes the director who is delighted with the IPO of Pay Magnus, proof, according to him, of a "
real enthusiasm
" for the game played all over the world.
