The Top Chess Players in the World

IM Levy Rozman

Levy Rozman
Full name
Levy Rozman
Born
Dec 5, 1995 (age 29)‎
Place of birth
Brooklyn, NY USA
Federation
United States

Rating

Bio

Levy Rozman is an American international master, coach, commentator, author, and superstar streamer. He hosts GothamChess, one of the most popular chess channels on Twitch and YouTube.

Rozman is a chess personality and a strong tournament player and has won multiple city and state tournament championships.


Early Career To International Master

Rozman started playing chess as an after-school activity when he was six years old. He rose through the scholastic ranks quickly and earned his USChess national master title in 2011 at the age of sixteen.

IM Levy Rozman.
IM Levy Rozman. Photo: Levy Rozman/Twitter.

He reached his peak USChess rating of 2520 and FIDE rating of 2420 in 2018. He currently holds the title of international master and has beaten many strong players, including legendary GM Peter Svidler during one of Chess.com's Titled Tuesday events.

In 2021, Rozman reached the final of the I'M Not A GM Speed Chess Championship on Chess.com, where he lost to IM Roberto Molina.

Rozman's playing style is active and aggressive. In the following game, you can see his creative attacking abilities on display against a strong grandmaster. Rozman gives his own thoughts in the game annotations below:

GothamChess Channels

Rozman is the founder and host of the GothamChess channel, named after his hometown, New York. Besides Rozman, chess celebrities like GM Hikaru Nakamura, WGM Anna Rudolf, IM Eric Rosen, and others have appeared on his streams. Rozman's wit and humor have made him one of the top chess streamers in the world.

On his Twitch channel, Rozman streams his games, online tournament performances, coaching sessions, and educational content to more than 1,000,000 followers (as of January 2024). He also commentates on online tournaments and hosts sub battles against other streamers like Hikaru.

On YouTube, Rozman posts highlights of his Twitch stream and other educational content. In September 2021, Rozman surpassed Agadmator to become the largest chess creator on YouTube. His educational content and analysis of games are big hits for his more than 4,500,000 fans (as of January 2024). Here is a video from his famous "10-Minute Chess Openings" series, where Rozman teaches the Queen's Gambit opening.

Chess.com Commentating And Content Creation

Rozman has also worked with Chess.com as a commentator for major events like the Pro Chess League, Titled Tuesdays, PogChamps, and even the 2020 Candidates Tournament. He has also coached players and commentated on PogChamps, the chess tournament with the biggest audience in history.

Rozman has also authored the interactive lesson "Don't Let Them Castle." True to his aggressive and sharp playing style, Rozman teaches Chess.com members how to build successful attacks against their opponents.

IM Levy Rozman Don't Let Them Castle lesson.

Levy Rozman Scholarship Fund

In October 2021, Rozman announced that he would donate $100,000 to fund scholarship opportunities to help schools with competitive chess programs. He announced the 12 winners one month later after teaming up with ChessKid.com to select the winners.

How To Win At Chess

On October 24, 2023, Rozman published his first book, How To Win At Chess: The Ultimate Guide For Beginners And Beyond. It quickly became a #1 best-seller on Amazon in multiple categories.

Earlier in the month, he had been a finalist in the I'M Not A GM Speed Chess Championship, his second time reaching the final stage of the tournament after also doing so in 2021.

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Most Played Openings

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