Levy Rozman

Levy Rozman (, ; born December 5, 1995), known online as GothamChess, is an American chess international master, content creator, and author. Often referred to as "The Internet's Chess Teacher", He lived back and forth between New Jersey and New York growing up.

Rozman was an energetic child, described by his mother as "a bit of a bruiser on the playground." At the age of five, his parents enrolled him in chess classes and noticed that the game had a calming effect on him. He obtained the title of FIDE Master in 2016 and International Master (IM) in 2018. In 2018, he reached his peak US Chess rating of 2520 and a FIDE rating of 2421. He announced his return to competitive over-the-board chess in April 2024, with the goal of becoming a Grandmaster (GM).

In July 2026, Rozman participated in the Naroditsky Memorial 2026 where he placed second in the Creator Invitational with a score of 7/9, two points behind the winner John Bartholomew.

Content creation While working to attain the title of Grandmaster, Rozman began streaming on his own Twitch channel on May 19, 2018.

In March 2021, Rozman gained international attention when he faced a loss in a Chess.com match against an Indonesian chess player, Dadang Subur (known as Dewa_Kipas online, translated as the "God of Fans"). Suspecting that his opponent was cheating, Rozman reported his account to the Chess.com Fair Play Team. As a result, Subur's account was closed due to cheating. This development, however, led to a backlash from Indonesian netizens, resulting in Rozman facing harassment on social media. To cope with the situation, Rozman opted for privacy by making his social media accounts private and took a brief hiatus from streaming. Subur later played a series of live matches against Indonesian IM Irene Kharisma Sukandar, losing 3–0, with an accuracy of less than 40%. Chess.com estimated his performance in the three games to be at an Elo rating of 1127; his online performance exceeded 3000 by their measurements.

By mid-2021, Rozman's YouTube channel reached one million subscribers, and in September 2021, he became the largest chess creator on YouTube, surpassing Agadmator. By November 2023, his YouTube channel had garnered 4.3 million subscribers and 1.8 billion views. On November 28, 2023, Rozman was included in the Forbes 30 Under 30 2024 under the "Games" category. In it, he sacrificed a rook, which is associated to him as an internet meme.

Personal life Rozman has a younger brother named Leo. His family is originally from Kazan.

Rozman authored the book How to Win at Chess: The Ultimate Guide for Beginners and Beyond, which was released on October 24, 2023. It reached fourth on The New York Times Best Seller list in the category "Advice, How-To & Miscellaneous".

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. ChessKid, a subsidiary of Chess.com, administers the fund, and schools can be awarded between $5,000 and $15,000 to pay for the costs of training, tournament fees, and travel expenses.

Awards and nominations Ceremony Year Category Result The Streamer Awards 2021Best Chess Streamer 2022 2023

Listicles

2024 30 Under 30: Games Placed