PogChamps 5 Is Ready For Liftoff! Chess.com’s Spectacular Battle Of The Creators Is Back

It’s the amateur event that fueled a massive chess boom, spawned a mountain of memes, and became one of the game’s biggest sensations ever. Now Chess.com is delighted to reveal that its celebrity-packed PogChamps tournament is back for a fifth edition.

Starting at the end of July, fans will marvel at another epic rapid chess event pitting the world’s biggest creators against each other in a two-week battle for bragging rights... not to mention $100,000 in prizes. 

The 16-player group stage and play-offs run until August 5 before a live finals event—the first in PogChamps history—happening in Los Angeles, California, on August 18. This will be the first time fans get the chance to cheer for their favorite creators in person as they battle on the 64 squares.

PogChamps 5 will be hosted by Chess.com in partnership with Ludwig, the popular creator who has attracted more than 1.3 billion views to his channels. The famed creator and entrepreneur is a PogChamps veteran. With his breakthrough coming after his participation in the first PogChamps, he never looked back and has participated in every edition ever since. Ludwig was part of some of the most iconic moments of the franchise and is coming back once more to host watch parties on his YouTube channel and to be part of the live finals commentary team.

Fans can expect a lineup of talented creators and celebrities to grace the field of what promises to be the most fun and exciting edition of the event yet.

Coming back to the PogChamps arena for the third time is Misfits Gaming creator QTCinderella. While her experience is certainly going to help, she won't be the only player familiar with the world of chess competitions. The popular anituber CDawgVA, one of the finalists of Chess.com's Tournament Arc event, is also joining the action.

Stepping up to the PogChamps stage for the first time is the Youtuber and comedian I did a thing, famous for his homemade engineering stunts. Will his resourcefulness and creativity propel him to the top of the PogChamps peak?

PogChamps took the streaming world by storm when it launched in June 2020 and has since spawned a series of sequels. According to Esports Charts, more than 15 million hours of PogChamps have been watched online, with a peak viewership of 375,000—breaking viewership records at the time.

Can Pogchamps 5 do even better? Tune in this July to find out.