# Mittens

> Chess.com reported almost 40 million January games against its cat bot Mittens.

- Owner: Chess.com
- Kind: Game
- Sector: Gaming
- Seed date: 2023-01-01
- Peak date: Week of Jan 23, 2023
- Date basis: Dates use the stated precision; chart positions are date anchors.
- Spread Score: 42 (Notable), v1.2
- Mechanics: Mystery & lore, Creator relay, Platform jump, Press loop, Scarcity drop

## Summary

Mittens supplied more than a strength test. Forum participants predicted a showdown, cast her as a hero and chose sides against M3GAN. Whalen later credited Sean Becker’s escalating dialogue and Marija Casic’s art, alongside early creator videos.

## Timeline

- 2023-01-01 — Chess.com (Open web) — Chess.com released its cat bots and invited users to play Mittens.
- 2023-01-03 — GothamChess (YouTube) — GothamChess published INSANE New Chess Bot, later linked in Slate’s Mittens interview.
- 2023-01-09 — tr4dingstocks / valjean76 (Open web) — Predicted a Mittens–M3GAN showdown and recast Mittens as the hero in a thread begun the previous day.

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/developers).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/mittens-chess-bot

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “Mittens.” Case HIS-00956. Spread Score v1.2: 42/100. Updated 2026-10-15. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-00956