Ahead of the Champions Chess Tour Finals 2023, organiser Chess.com has announced a collaboration with YouTube channel and music label Lofi Girl Records.
The partnership sees the music label create a Lofi Girl playlist that features more than 20 tracks. The original lofi tracks have been described as ‘chess-inspired’ with the Youtube video titled ‘chill beats to play chess to’.
Lofi Girl, who has 13.6m subscribers on YouTube, is best known for the long-running ‘lofi hip hop radio – beats to relax/study to’ 24/7 livestream.
Alongside the playlist, which has been made available across a variety of streaming platforms, the video depicts Logi Girl’s character playing chess whilst having a promotional poster of the Chess Champions Tour Finals 2023. Fans will also have the opportunity to buy vinyl copies of the playlist, with signed copies being given away throughout the partnership.
Further details on the partnership have yet to be disclosed however, the announcement by Chess.com teased that Lofi Girl would play some part in the official tournament broadcast.
This year’s 2023 Champions Chess Tour Finals will take place December 9th-16th with competitors battling it out for $500,000 (~£400,000) in prize money. All events take place on the Chess.com platform.
Chess.com’s CEO Erik Allebest said: “We’ve known for a long time now how good Lofi Girl is to work, study and play chess to. In fact, I love it myself.
“So this partnership is the perfect gift to the chess community and beyond. We hope this unique playlist helps you focus even better when you play and find more of those brilliant moves on Chess.com.”
Chess, which walks a narrow line between esports and traditional sport, has nonetheless managed to secure a range of notable sponsors that have been seen in esports. This includes the likes of Displate and noblechairs.
This isn’t the first time Lofi has been used to tap into younger fans, even in the esports sector. Last year European esports organisation Fnatic even launched its own lofi album.
