Anna Cramling Reaches Million Milestone

Swedish chess player, celebrity, and content creator WFM Anna Cramling has joined YouTube's exclusive One Million Subscribers' Club, becoming the 11th to hit the milestone.

Chess content creators have played a pivotal role in the surge of chess interest in recent years, bringing millions of new chess enthusiasts into the game with their content. Among these influencers is the 22-year-old from Sweden, who has emerged as one of the foremost figures in the field, boasting a massive 424k Twitch followers.

This week she celebrated another milestone when she hit one million subscribers on her captivating YouTube channel. The electrifying moment was captured live on her Twitch channel as she was screaming with joy "This is so insane!"

The coveted one million mark was first reached by Agadmator in 2021, a number that has since been surpassed by (at least) nine other YouTube channels. IM Levy Rozman's GothamChess surpassed Agadmator later the same year, and has now become the biggest with an incredible 4.93 million followers.

GM Hikaru Nakamura is the only other creator above two million followers, while Chess.com's channel is currently fourth with 1.77 million subscribers, a few thousands behind the mysterious ReyEnigma.

12 Most Subscribed YouTube Channels With Chess Content

Cramling celebrated the milestone with a video showcasing some of her career highlights.

22-year-old Cramling was born right into a chess family as the daughter of GM Juan Manuel Bellon Lopez and GM Pia Cramling, two legends of the game, so it's no surprise that she has become a strong player as well.

She competed in the 2016 Chess Olympiad for the Swedish team, which finished 23rd out of 140 countries, and obtained the WFM title in 2018 when her FIDE rating jumped from 2043 to 2175. She began streaming on Twitch in February 2020 and has since gained 424k followers.

While Anna has become a chess celebrity through her roles as a commentator, streamer, and content creator, she does have aspirations to reach a higher level in her career. She competed at the Reykjavik Open in March, and in the Menorca Open in April, streaming her games with commentary by her mother. 

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A post shared by Anna Cramling (@annacramling)

During an interview with Swedish TV in March, she talked about her success, and how her mother reacted when she first started streaming.

"In the beginning she was like 'Anna, are you going to stop competing? Are you going to do videos about chess? What's going on?' It was so new for her. But now I think she's really happy that I am playing so much chess. She is sometimes in my videos. I think she likes that I have found my way and can have chess as my profession."

She also talked about being a girl in a male-dominated sport.

"It's still pretty unusual, but it has improved. When I was younger, it was almost like only me and four-five other women who were competing in tournaments with 150-200 people. There were very few of us. But after the pandemic, it has improved, even though it's still not enough."

Cramling's most popular video, where she plays a certain Norwegian five-time world champion, has more than 13 million views. Another favorite with 12 million views is when her grandmaster mum plays a chess hustler in New York City.

Cramling will next be in action in Chess.com's Kids vs Stars, a series of matches between young talents and your favorite stars. The event takes place on May 21.

[Update May 17: Added ReyEnigma as the third most subscribed YouTube channel]