World Chess is plotting a £6.9m (€8m) listing on the London Stock Exchange.
The company, which was founded in 2017 with the aim of 'promoting chess to the mass market globally', is hoping to list in November, trading under the ticker CHSS.
Chess has boomed in popularity in recent years, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic and following the release of Netflix series The Queen's Gambit.
World Chess is set to take its next move with the aim of raising £6.9m ahead of a listing on the London Stock Exchange
An article in the Michigan Journal of Economics details the 'rapid resurgence' of chess.It says the so-called 'New Chess Boom' describes 'the increase in viewership and playing of chess across the world starting in 2018 and picking up speed in March 2020 as people were forced to turn toward the internet for more of their entertainment'.
In a statement, World Chess CEO Ilya Merenzon praised this renewed interest in chess for enabling a stock market float. He did not mention if there had been any interest from buyers in regards to the IPO.
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He added: 'I am pleased to be announcing our intention to float on the London market at a transformational time for chess and for our business.
'There continues to be an explosion of interest in chess, which has accelerated through recent years and even more during the pandemic. To keep pace with this growth we are scaling up our operations and expanding our range of services internationally.
'We believe chess is the only remaining mass participation sport not yet fully benefitting from the creativity and investment of the commercial sector.'
World Chess was incorporated as a holding company in 2017 to provide commercial chess related activities.
This includes the organisation of top-level tournaments, the operation of the official online gaming platform of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) and other sport, lifestyle, and merchandise related to chess.
The business is headquartered in London, with offices in Germany and Georgia, but operates internationally.
Following the onset of the war in Ukraine, World Chess effectively ceased all business activities in Russia - selling all its
Russian assets and relocating staff.
World Chess estimates that there are now more than 600 million active chess players worldwide, with numbers increasing due to the growth of online platforms.
However, it added that chess is still much less commercialised than other sports and market expansion remains in its early stages.
For this reason, the company believes is 'well-positioned to take advantage of the sector's growth through online, in-person and hybrid chess events and activities, and by providing complementary product offerings to players, spectators, and partners'.
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