Levy Rozman

Levy Rozman (born December 5, 1995), known online as GothamChess, is a chess International Master[2] and commentator. He produces content on the online platforms Twitch and YouTube.

Levy Rozman
Rozman in 2019
CountryUnited States
Born (1995-12-05) December 5, 1995
Brooklyn, New York
TitleInternational Master
FIDE rating2337 (November 2021)
Peak rating2421 (August 2018)
YouTube information
Channels
Years active2018–present
GenreOnline chess
Subscribers1.29 million (GothamChess)
102 thousand (Gotham City)[1]
Total views286 million (GothamChess)
19 million (Gotham City)[1]
Associated actsHikaru Nakamura, Anna Rudolf, Eric Rosen, Antonio Radić, BotezLive
100,000 subscribers 2020
1,000,000 subscribers 2021
Updated: December 11, 2021
Twitch information
Channel
Years active2018–present
Followers505 thousand
Total views38.2 milion
Follower and view counts updated as of November 12, 2021.

Early life

Rozman was born in Brooklyn, New York, on December 5, 1995, and lived in both New York and New Jersey growing up.[3][4] He began playing chess at the age of 6 as an extracurricular activity and entered his first tournament at the age of 7.[5][6] Rozman attained the titles of National Master in 2011 through the US Chess Federation, FIDE Master in 2016, and International Master in 2018.[7][2] Rozman started as a scholastic chess coach in 2014.[8]

Online career

Rozman is a Twitch streamer and YouTuber. As of October 2nd, 2021, he has the most subscribed chess channel on YouTube, with 1.18 million subscribers.[5][9][10] Rozman works closely with Chess.com and has been part of their streaming partnership since 2017.[11] Rozman is a regular commentator for the platform, analyzing tournaments like PogChamps and the 2020 Candidates Tournament.[3]

Like many online chess personalities, Rozman experienced a surge of growth during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly following the release of The Queen's Gambit.[6][12] Rozman has multiple videos with more than one million views. These include an instructional opening overview where he discusses how to play the Queen's Gambit and a video where he plays against the Beth Harmon bot on Chess.com.[6] He has done in-depth explanations of games played in the series.[13] Rozman's YouTube channel reached 1 million subscribers on 1 June 2021.[14]

Rozman entered international news in March 2021 when he was defeated by an Indonesian chess player nicknamed Dewa_Kipas or "Fan God".[15][16] Rozman suspected that his opponent was cheating, and reported his opponent's account to the Chess.com Fair Play Team. Dewa_Kipas' account was later closed for cheating (and Dewa_Kipas later was unable to play at a high level in a series of live matches),[17] which drew backlash from Indonesian netizens and resulted in Rozman being harassed on social media. Rozman later went private on his social media accounts and took a short hiatus from streaming.[15][16]

Philanthropy

On October 14, 2021, Rozman announced the Levy Rozman Scholarship Fund, through which he is donating $100,000 to elementary, middle, and high school chess programs. The Fund is administered by ChessKid, a subsidiary of Chess.com, and schools can be awarded between $5,000 and $15,000 to pay for the costs of training, tournament fees, and travel expenses.[18]

References
  1. "About GothamChess". YouTube.
  2. "Rozman, Levy". ratings.fide.com. Retrieved 2021-06-26.
  3. "Levy Rozman". Chess.com. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  4. Alostatz, Steve (30 January 2020). "International chess master coming to campus". The Lantern. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  5. Greenwald, Morgan. "This chess teacher quit his full-time job to become a streamer: 'It's become [the primary source of income]'". Yahoo! Entertainment. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  6. Stevens, Ashlie D. (13 November 2020). "How "The Queen's Gambit" is inspiring a wave of new chess fans, especially women". Salon. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  7. "12879834: Levy Rozman". US Chess Federaton. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  8. About page, gothamchess.com
  9. Copeland, Sam (18 September 2021). "The Top YouTube Chess Channels | Congrats To GothamChess On #1!!!". Chess.com. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  10. Toffa, Chandler (26 November 2021). "GothamChess: How Levy Rozman Became The Internet's Chess Teacher". YouTube. Chess.com. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  11. "Chess Streamers Directory". Chess.com. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  12. Gregory, Molly (19 November 2020). "The Queen's Gambit Has Caused a Huge Surge in Chess Set Sales and Online Classes". MentalFloss. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  13. Ellis, Philip (5 November 2020). "The True Stories Behind 7 Pivotal Chess Matches in 'The Queen's Gambit'". Men's Health. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  14. 1 MILLION SUBSCRIBERS!, retrieved 2021-06-04
  15. "Indonesian Chess Player Beats Online Grand Master, Causes Backlash". go.kompas.com. 9 March 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  16. "A Bird-Feed Seller Beat a Chess Master Online. Then It Got Ugly". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2021-03-16.
  17. Doggers, Peter. "Cheating Controversy Results In Most-Watched Chess Stream In History". Chess.com. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  18. "IM Levy Rozman Announces Chess Scholarship Fund". ChessKid. October 14, 2021. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
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