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.

Carlsen squared off against 143,000 players from around the world — but the tennis legend was unable to clinch a victory over Team World.