Pokimane criticized for joking about chess streamers ft. Hikaru Nakamura 

Popular Twitch streamer Imane "Pokimane" Anys courted controversy recently. She joked about the relevancy of chess streamers and invoked the ire of the online community.

The 24-year old Moroccan-born Twitch star has jumped onto the Chess bandwagon off late, which has become one of Twitch's most popular games over the last couple of months.

During one of her recent streams, she appeared to make a joke at the expense of chess streamers. The joke was a little off though, as seemed to have come across a little condescending.

She speaks about the game's popularity and the streamers associated with the game as she goes on to compare them to "a drought in the desert."

"It was very fun. I had so much fun with chess. Everyone's really nice. I feel like maybe chess streamers, they're almost like in the desert. Like in a drought and they're like somebody's interested in our game? Please, Yes!'"

While her remarks were clearly in jest, fans are not too happy, as they perceive her comments a tad bit offensive to the chess community.

Pokimane is so condecensing the way she talked about chess streamers. Why does she act like suddenly getting an interest in chess saved their whole streaming community..? She's a year late to the chess boom

— shanti⁷ (@PeaceYoongi) January 15, 2021

Despite her light-hearted tone, a few members of the online community proceeded to call her out for allegedly throwing shade at the Chess community.

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Fans react to Pokimane's statement on chess streamers

In another clip that has gone viral online, chess grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura reacted to Pokimane's recent statements, with a puzzled and judgemental expression on his face.

He is one of the most well-known chess players in the world and is also a Twitch streamer. He recently coached Pokimane in a memorable session of chess.

His expression seems to echo the thoughts of the online community perfectly. People took to social media to ponder over her joke. Here are some the tweets on the same:

What was with that Pokimane "Joke" about Chess. It came off weird and nearly rude tbh which i dont think it was her intent but wow lol

— LoveNChaos 🔥🐉 (@_LoveNChaos_) January 14, 2021

Image via Chess Videos/ YouTube

Image via Chess Videos/ YouTube

Nevertheless, Pokimane continues to make waves online, most recently in the Chess circuit as she gears up for PogChamps 3. This a highly anticipated, $100,000 all-star Chess tournament featuring the likes of MrBeast, xQc, Ludwig, and others.