Chess.com has launched a search for its new CEO. Current CEO, Erik, co-founded Chess.com in 2006 with his friend and co-founder Jay, and for 17 years

BREAKING: Chess.com Hiring New CEO

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2023-04-01 02:00:07

Chess.com has launched a search for its new CEO. Current CEO, Erik, co-founded Chess.com in 2006 with his friend and co-founder Jay, and for 17 years has grown the company from an idea to the number-one chess platform with more than 125 million members.

Erik announced that he will be stepping down later this year when a replacement has been found. Per the announcement video, Erik gave the following reason:

“For more than 20 years, I have been working in chess which has taken all of my time and focus. I have never had the mental space to actually pursue my dream of becoming a chess master. I’m about 1800 online, and my USCF rating is 1665. I want to focus on studying the game rather than building the community and I hope to achieve a rating of 2200 and the title of master.”

When Erik was asked if he was influenced by GM Magnus Carlsen's abdication of his world chess championship title, he responded: “Actually, yeah. I’ve had a chance to really put myself in Magnus’ shoes in the past—to literally feel like I was him in certain moments, and I resonated with his mentality. I’ve already achieved everything I want to as CEO, and now it’s time for me to focus on other chess-related pursuits.”