Chess creator collabs: let us make something together
Vibe Chess makes its own chess content on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and is looking for other creators for joint videos, battles and streams - so that both audiences grow.
This is not an ad exchange and not an agency. We are a creator just like you, and the offer is simple: meet up, play a game and film something real together.
Why a creator would collab with Vibe Chess
A chess creator collab means two authors actually making something together, not just tagging each other in the comments. Most chess channels run into the same difficulties on their own.
The usual problems of working solo
- Finding a fresh hook every week is hard
- An audience eventually tires of the same format
- With nobody else on screen, the content stews in its own juice
- Growth slows down without new people arriving
- There is nowhere live to film actual chess
What Vibe Chess offers
We shoot our own reels and videos about chess and run city tournaments and evenings in several Russian cities. The offer is to combine that with your channel: play a game on camera, work through a position together, or film at a live event.
You get a new audience and a real reason to film; we get a fresh format and someone interesting to film with.
Eight concrete things out of a single collab
You do not have to organise anything - the venue and the equipment are on us
No hunting for boards, no negotiating over a room, no inventing a script from nothing. Vibe Chess handles the organising side of the collab, from the idea to the publication.
Four formats for different channels and different audiences
From a short head-to-head battle on camera to filming at a live Vibe Chess event in your city.
A collab with Vibe Chess, step by step
You write on Telegram
A short note about your channel, your audience and your idea - what you want to film and in what format.
We agree the format
Battle, game analysis, filming at an event or an interview - whichever sits naturally on both channels.
We pick a date and a place
We settle the time, the shooting format and the location - a studio, a city or the nearest Vibe Chess event.
We prepare the position or the topic
We choose the game, the study or the list of questions in advance, so the shoot runs without pauses and improvising on the fly.
We film
At an unhurried pace, with no rigid script and no clock hanging over it.
Each of us edits our own version
The same material, told differently for each channel's audience - one shoot, two different videos.
We publish at the same time
We try to release on the same day so both audiences see the collab at roughly the same moment.
We cross-promote
We tag each other in stories, keep the links in the descriptions and mention it again a couple of weeks later.
An urban audience that already watches chess content
The Vibe Chess audience is made up of people who follow chess parties and tournaments in several Russian cities, plus the viewers of reels and clips from live events. People drawn not only to the games but to the atmosphere and the emotion over the board.
Who they are
- An urban audience aged 25-40 across several Russian cities
- Followers who keep up with Vibe Chess tournaments and chess evenings
- Viewers of reels and clips from live events
- People drawn not only to the theory but to the atmosphere and the emotion over the board
- An audience willing to follow a good format from one channel to another
The formula
Your channel + Vibe Chess + a real chess occasion = content you do not have to invent
A simple idea that works: two audiences see the same material told two ways, and neither creator has to film alone every week.
A collab adds audiences together, it does not split them in half
Every format has its own growth mechanic, from a single story tag to a run of joint videos.
Cross-promotion in stories
Tagging each other the moment the videos go up brings the first wave of traffic from the partner's audience.
A joint video in the feed
One piece of material is watched by both audiences at once, and the organic reach beats a solo post.
A mention in the description
A link to the partner in the profile bio or the video description keeps sending traffic long afterwards.
A joint live stream
Talking live to two audiences at once - viewers of both channels see you in the same stream.
A series of collabs
Several joint videos in a row - the audience gets used to seeing the two of you together.
Filming at an event
A live Vibe Chess tournament hands you both the people and the atmosphere without having to invent anything.
Scenario
A one-off collab
A single joint video or battle. A good way to test how far the audiences overlap and whether the format suits both sides.
Scenario
A series of collabs
Several joint videos in a row. The audience gets used to seeing the two of you together, and the reach on both channels steadies out.
These are rough scenarios, not a promise of growth. The actual result depends on the format, on how far the audiences overlap and on how natural the collab looks on both channels.
A short list - no demanding requirements on the channel
Teaching, comedy, conversation - the format bends to fit the channel
Teaching channels
Opening breakdowns, lessons for beginners, tactical motifs explained.
Chess comedy
Memes, sketches and jokes about chess and chess players.
Coaches who make content
Teachers running social accounts alongside their in-person lessons.
Chess schools
Channels built around pupils, tournaments and pupils' stories.
Streamers
Games and analysis broadcast live.
TikTok creators
Short videos, challenges, duets and fast formats.
Game-analysis channels
Deep dives into grandmaster games and into their own.
Instagram creators
Reels, carousels and stories about chess and chess life.
Podcasters
Conversational formats about the road into chess and into making content.
Children's and family channels
Content for parents and children learning chess together.
Channels about thinking games
Chess as part of a wider brief covering board games and puzzles.
Local chess clubs
Venues and clubs running a blog or social accounts of their own.
Live Vibe Chess venues as a ready-made location
If the format calls for real people and a real atmosphere rather than the two of you in a studio, the collab can be filmed at a chess meetup or a chess evening in Moscow. For a position to work through, take a ready-made one from chess studies and problems, and a format the viewers can join in is nicely served by a simultaneous exhibition. If your channel leans more towards a business audience, look at chess tournaments at work.
Start with a single one-off collab
There is no need to commit to a series straight away. One joint video or battle will show you whether the format landed, how the audience reacted and whether it is worth filming together again.
- No long commitment - one trial collab
- You find out how far the audiences overlap
- You try a new format without putting the channel at risk
- You see how viewers actually react
- You come away with material ready to edit
- After the first one it is easy to decide whether to make a series
The app instead of arbiter software
Pairings are computed by bbpPairings, an open-source engine implementing the Dutch system by FIDE rules: score groups, floats on an odd field, colour alternation. Free to use.
proper rounds with correct pairings, not random matchups
a full circle, with the round count derived from the field
a light format with no tournament machinery
- 1The event is created in the app in a minute
- 2Players register themselves through the link
- 3The engine pairs every round, not the organizer
- 4The finished tournament exports as a TRF file that arbiter software accepts
What creators usually ask about collabs
How do I pick a partner if I make comedy and they teach?›
Different formats are fine, and often more interesting for the viewer. A comedy video can end with a serious look at a position, and a teaching channel can end with an unexpected joke on camera. Contrast usually works better than a perfect match.
I have 5,000 followers and they have 500,000. Is there any point in asking?›
Yes. Size is not the only criterion - engagement matters more, and so does whether the collab looks natural. Plenty of large creators are happy to film with small channels when the idea is good.
Who travels - do I go to them or do they come to me? Can it be filmed remotely?›
It depends on the format. Interviews and conversations are easy to record remotely. A head-to-head battle or filming at an event normally needs meeting in person, and we agree the place in advance.
Do you have to pay for a collab with a chess creator, or is it always a swap?›
Most Vibe Chess collabs are a straight swap of audiences: tags, posts and cross-promotion instead of a fee. If a format calls for different terms, we settle those separately before filming.
How do you split the reach and the benefit when the audiences differ in size and subject?›
Each of us shows the material to our own audience in our own way. The benefit is not divided, it is added: you reach viewers you would never have had without the collab.
What if we play at very different levels - I am an amateur and they are a grandmaster?›
That is part of the format, not a problem. A gap in strength often makes the game better viewing: play at odds, walk through the position with commentary, or do an interview instead of a game.
How long does it take to prepare and film a joint video?›
The shoot itself usually fits into 30-60 minutes. The preparation is agreeing the format and date on Telegram, which normally takes one or two short exchanges beforehand.
Do you need a contract for a barter collab?›
For a one-off barter collab, generally not. We settle it directly in messages: the format, the date, what gets published and when. If it grows into something regular, the terms can be written down separately.
Can a collab happen offline, at a live event, rather than only on video?›
Yes, that is one of the formats: you come to a Vibe Chess chess evening or tournament in your city, film the atmosphere and interview the people playing.
Let us make something together
Send a couple of lines about your channel and the format you fancy - a head-to-head battle, a game analysis, filming at an event or an interview. Then we settle the date and the place.
The button opens our Telegram. Say briefly which channel and platform you are on, who your audience is and what format interests you.