Secretlab, the award-winning international gaming chair specialist, has partnered with Play Magnus Group (“PMG”) to be the Official Chair of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour.
Magnus Carlsen, the reigning World Chess Champion, is a founder, active shareholder, and ambassador of PMG. The two companies had collaborated in April of 2021 to launch the Secretlab Magnus Metal Desk. With this new partnership, Secretlab is positioning the company to become one of the major equipment suppliers to the rapidly growing chess esports ecosystem.
Secretlab has been the long-time chair of choice for global esports powerhouses, and premier tournaments around the world including League of Legends World Championships, Dota 2’s The International, and VALORANT Champions Tour. Secretlab plans to bring the same tournament-grade chairs to the world’s best chess players.
With a growing number of tournament viewers, competitive chess has seen a rise in popularity.
Ian Ang, co-founder and CEO of Secretlab.
“Chess, especially online chess, has grown significantly in recent years, especially during the pandemic where the number of Twitch chess streamers quadrupled within two years. With a growing number of tournament viewers, competitive chess has seen a similar rise in popularity. Just like esports professionals, chess professionals need to be completely focused to perform at their best, and the chair plays a crucial role in helping players achieve this. Play Magnus Group wanted to equip the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour with pro-grade equipment, and we’re now set to bring our award-winning chairs to the top chess professionals,” said Ian Ang, co-founder and CEO of Secretlab.
As a part of the partnership, Secretlab will create chairs especially for the Tour, and furnish the world’s first chess eSports arena at PMG’s studio in Oslo. Tour players, such as World Champion and 2021 Champions Chess Tour winner Magnus Carlsen, will play in Secretlab chairs moving forward. Already in last season’s Tour Final, chess stars had the chance to experience Secretlab’s comfort.
Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Poland’s 2021 Tour finalist and World Cup winner, said: “I’ve genuinely enjoyed the design and comfort of the chair in Oslo at the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Final. This is absolutely the level of quality a professional online chess player requires – comfortable and reliable.”
“Chess players sit for long hours when competing, making the chair one of the most crucial elements to players’ success and long-term health. We are thrilled to kick off this partnership with Secretlab to outfit the world’s leading online chess circuit with the highest performance chairs in esports,” added Champions Chess Tour Director Arne Horvei.
The 2022 season of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour will start on February 19 with the Airthings Masters, the first of nine monthly events in the year-long season.
