In 1999, Garry Kasparov, then world champion, played against over 50,000 participants on the Microsoft Network, ultimately winning after a four-month battle. More recently, in 2022, Viswanathan Anand emerged victorious from his own "vs. The World" match on Chess.com, facing nearly 70,000 players.

Magnus Carlsen is vastly successful against just one opponent. And even when he came up against many more, the Norwegian showed he can hold his own.

The world’s top-ranked chess player, Magnus Carlsen, has drawn an unprecedented game where he played against more than 143,000 players from around the world. The event set a new record for someone facing the biggest number of opponents in an online chess match.