Michael Brancato, formerly of streaming platform Twitch, has joined Chess.com as its Vice President of Esports. Prior to joining the online chess platform, Brancato spent over five years at Twitch where he held roles such as Senior Esports Product Manager and League Operations Lead. Under the alias Nintendude, Brancato was also a former competitive Super Smash Bros player. (ESI Illustration) Image credit: Chess.com RELATED: Tencent Games appoints Daniel Sanders as Global Marketing Lead Chess has been adopted by many esports organisations — as seen by TSM signing Hikaru Nakamura — following its growing popularity over the last few years. According to Esports Charts, the FIDE World Championship 2021 reached a peak viewership of 613,439 across various streaming platforms. Via LinkedIn, Brancato discussed his appointment: “This may be surprising to some of you, but this is actually the continuation of a journey I embarked on at Twitch in 2017 to grow the game as a competitive pastime, streaming commodity, and modern spectator sport. “It’s incredibly rewarding to see how much the game has grown in just a few years, and I’m so thrilled to be in a position to help carry the torch forward with such a passionate, smart, and hard-working…
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Michael Brancato departs Twitch to join Chess.com as VP of Esports
