EP 233- IM Levy Rozman Returns

IM Levy Rozman a/k/a “GothamChess” is a chess commentator, Twitch streamer, and, of course, creator of one of the most popular Chess YouTube channels in the World. His channel has seen explosive growth since his prior visit to Perpetual Chess, one year ago. It recently surpassed 1 million subscribers and is still growing quickly! In our conversation, Levy reflects on the success of his channel, and shares lots of advice for other aspiring content creators. We also discuss his recent return to competitive chess. Levy recently competed in the National Open in Las Vegas. He had pretty good results over the board, but perhaps more surprisingly, the videos analyzing his tournament games proved to be amongst his most popular ever! Why does he think that is? Will his comeback and pursuit of the Grandmaster title continue? Will he ever stop speaking out on political issues? We tackle all of these questions and many more in this fun, wide-ranging conversation. Please read on for more details, timestamps, and relevant links. 

0:00- We begin by doing a post-mortem on Levy’s recent return to over-the-board “OTB” chess. How does Levy reflect on his performance in the recently completed National Open in Las Vegas? 

11:00- Levy answers a Patreon mailbag question, relating to whether making videos during a tournament is distracting, and why he thinks his game recap videos were so popular (often with more than 400,000 views per episode)!

The first of Levy’s game recapps from Vegas is here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqNenU-sQZI

His recap of his game with IM Christopher Yoo is here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPBLVuVk1zw

Also mentioned: GM Alex Grischuk, Czech Open, GM Wojciech Moranda, FM Kyron Griffith 

25:30- With so much content coming out, what steps has Levy taken to avoid burnout? 

29:30- What aspects of his chess game does Levy think he needs to work on? 

34:00- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Chessable.com. 

Check out their latest offerings here: 

New Chess Courses Online - For All Levels- Chessable.com

Also be sure to subscribe to Chessable’s new podcast focused on chess improvement How to Chess (hosted by me), more info here:

https://howtochess.com/

35:00- Levy delves into some of the key decisions behind his YouTube channel’s huge growth in the past year. 

Mentioned: IM Eric Rosen, Agadmator, Guess the Elo, Kasparov vs. the World Video- 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOrLfEZav14, Hanging Pawns YouTube, Mato Jelic YouTube, Kevin Durant, Dewa Kipas, WGM Irene Sukander 

50:00- Levy answers another question from a Patreon subscriber, relating to explaining his YouTube success. 

53:00 Another Patreon question- “What advice does Levy have for new chess streamers? “

Mentioned: Agadmator, GM Daniel King, IM John Bartholomew, GM Hikaru Nakamura, Mr. Beast, TierZoo, Daily Dose of Chess

1:01:00- What encounters with celebrities has Levy had as a result of his success?

Mentioned: Levy’s lesson with Gordon Hayward, Joe Posnanski’s blog post about chess is here:

https://joeposnanski.substack.com/p/chess

1:03:00- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by AImchess.com. Check out their site, and if you decide to subscribe use the code Perpetual30 to save 30%. 

1:04:00- Levy made a few enemies with this tweet, Does he stand by the sentiment? We also discuss Levy’s penchant for tweeting about politics. 

Mentioned: GM Daniel King, GM Ben FInegold 

1:17:00- Levy also has been an outspoken advocate for helping to foster a more supportive atmosphere for women in chess. How did this issue come to his attention? 

1:24:00- How is Levy’s girlfriend’s game progressing? 

1:27:00- Has Levy made any big purchases in the wake of his recent success?

Mentioned: Joe Rogan podcast, Magnus Carlsen 

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