Photo courtesy of IM Levy Rozman
IM Levy Rozman is a 24 year-old, New York-based chess streamer, Chess.com announcer and instructor. Levy has quickly found an audience online due to his ability to explain chess in a humorous and accessible way. In our conversation, we talk about the origins of Levy’s announcing career, his chess ambitions, and about the fast-changing world of Twitch chess streaming in 2020.
Please read on for lots more details, and timestamps. Embedded hyperlinks can be found on the podcast website here:
https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/new-blog
Click here to download the episode.
0:00- We dive right into a discussion of the ways that chess coverage on Twitch has been making news recently. This includes the continued ascension of GM Hikaru Nakamura’s popular Twitch channel
Mentioned: GM Ben Finegold, Chessbae94, Alexandra Botez, GM Daniel Naroditsky
6:45- Levy traces the origins of his popular Twitch channel, Gotham Chess.
Mentioned: IM Eric Rosen, IM Alex Ostrovsky, Alexis Parades, Brooklyn Castle, Baruch College,
15:00- Friend and Patreon supporter of the podcast, Chris Wainscott, asks Levy about whether he plans to pursue the Grandmaster title.
Mentioned: Chess.com’s I am not a GM tournament
23:00- What are Levy’s goals for his Twitch channel? What recommendations would he give to others thinking of getting into Twitch streaming?
28:00- The Magnus Touch by Magnus Carlsen is still on sale at Chessable.com. Get it here:
https://www.chessable.com/the-magnus-touch-chess-strategy/course/39478/
29:00- Levy tells the story of how he got his start as an announcer for Chess.com.
Mentioned: GM Robert Hess, GM Daniel Naroditsky, IM Danny Rensch, Levy’s Recap of one of Magnus’ Recent Blitz Games, Mr. Dodgy’s compilation of GM Magnus Carlsen’s recent Twitch stream, GM Peter Leko, GM Alexander Grischuk, GM Anish Giri, GM Fabiano Caruana, GM Jan Gustafsson
35:00- Chris Wainscott asks Levy about the status of his amusing chess show, Post Mortem.
39:00- We also dive into a recent controversy involving Chess.com and Chess24.com, and the way that the sites broadcast events that are sponsored by their competitors.
44:30- Levy answers another question from the Patreon mailbag, and gives some advice to a newer player who is having trouble avoiding blunders.
Mentioned: You can buy Levy’s opening repertoire course here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf-75djkXcEvJns9wvhony5bItA8Bv_f63lLUyXmvMPlCfIRg/viewform
51:00- A related question has to do with how a newer player should be using Chessbase.
Mentioned: The London System, The King’s Indian Attack
59:00- Levy fields a few fun questions from Twitter, and tells the story of why he got kicked out of legendary GM Arthur Yusupov’s chess camp as a kid.
Mentioned: International Chess Academy, Sam Copeland’s interview with Levy Rozman, Greg Shahade, IM Teddy Coleman, Jen Shahade, IM John Bartholomew, IM Alex Ostrovsky
Thanks to Levy for coming on the show. Here is how you can keep up with him:
Twitch:https://www.twitch.tv/gothamchess
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQHX6ViZmPsWiYSFAyS0a3Q
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GothamChess?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor