FIDE's commercial partner, World Chess, develops online chess platforms, professional tournaments and chess products for players worldwide. With an estimated 600 million chess players around the globe and a fan base exceeding one billion, there is a substantial market to serve. In a press release about their application, World Chess detailed the partnership's plans, noting "National federations will receive dedicated .chess domains, allocated in coordination with FIDE — a common, recognizable internet identifier system for organized chess in every country. Clubs, academies, organizers, platforms, media and players will be able to register names that instantly say what they are: a string built for the game, backed by the institution that has governed it since 1924, and operated by World Chess.

FIDE and World Chess have also chosen a technical partner to provide back-end services for .chess, ICANN Regsistered Service Provider .it.com Domains (a company that already operates its own .it.com namespace with over 150,000 active domains). .it.com Domains already had a successful working relationship with World Chess. In 2023 they entered a three-year partnership agreement under which .it.com Domains sponsored World's Chess's Armageddon Chess Series.

Acting FIDE President Viswanathan Anand said. “Chess deserves its own place on the internet — one where a player, a parent or a sponsor can see at a glance that a domain is genuinely part of the game. .chess will give our federations and our community a shared, trusted home online, and I am glad that FIDE is anchoring it together with World Chess.”