Andrea Botez | |
---|---|
Country | Canada |
Born | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | April 6, 2002
FIDE rating | 1906 (June 2024) |
Peak rating | 1906 (June 2024) |
Twitch information | |
Channel | |
Years active | 2016–present |
Genre | Gaming |
Games | Chess |
Followers | 1.3 million [1] |
YouTube information | |
Channel | |
Subscribers | 1.46 million [2] |
Total views | 589.2 million [3] [2] |
Last updated: April 5, 2024 |
Andrea Botez (born April 6, 2002) is a Canadian chess player, commentator, and internet personality. [4] She is mostly known as part of the BotezLive Twitch channel with her sister Alexandra Botez. She is also credited as one of the creators who popularized chess on Twitch. [5]
Botez's Romanian parents moved from Romania to Canada after Alexandra Botez, Andrea's older sister, was born in Dallas, Texas. The family relocated to Vancouver, British Columbia, before moving to Oregon when Alexandra was in high school. [6] [7]
Botez began playing chess at the age of six. She started playing in the USChess tournaments at the age of seven. In 2010, she won the U8 Girls Canadian Youth Chess Championship.
In 2015, at the age of thirteen, she became the Women British Columbia Chess Champion. [8] In the same year, Botez also won the Susan Polgar National Open. [9] [10]
In 2016, at the SPFNO 2016: U14 Girls, Botez placed fourth in the tournament [11] [12] and 13th in the 2016 Susan Polgar Foundation Girls' Invitational. [13]
Botez attained her highest FIDE classical rating of 1825 in 2024 and her highest USChess rating of 1933 in 2019. [14] As of March 2024, her ranking among active players in the world is 65175, based on her rating. [15]
Alongside her sister, Botez runs the Twitch channel BotezLive, which, as of May 2022, has 1.1 million followers with more than 18.3 million views. [16] She began assisting her sister in 2020 [17] by playing chess and in other variety streams and the YouTube channel BotezLive, which, as of May 2022, has over 800k subscribers and 140 million views. [18] She took a gap year to focus on streaming, before becoming a full-time streamer. [19]
She is credited, along with her older sister Alexandra Botez, Hikaru Nakamura, GothamChess, and more, for popularizing chess on Twitch. [5]
On December 21, 2020, Andrea and Alexandra signed a contract with Envy Gaming as content creators at the launch of the organization's creator network and ambassador program. They would later move to Los Angeles, CA, where they would join other content creators such as JustaMinx and CodeMiko in the Envy Content House. [20] [21] [22]
On July 20, 2022, Andrea and Alexandra signed with Creative Artists Agency. The agency will work with them on the development of original content, new IP ventures, and “strategic growth across platforms and talent”. [23]
In August 2022, it was announced that Andrea and Alexandra had joined OpTic Gaming after Envy Gaming announced the retirement of their Envy brand. [24]
In 2023, Andrea and Alexandra were named to Forbes ' 30 Under 30 list in the games category. [25] Later in April 2023, they appeared on Rolling Stone 's list of the 20 Most Influential Creators in 2023. [26]
Aside from their regular chess streams and other activities, the two sisters host a show on their Twitch channel called "Botez Abroad", a Twitch Original travel show where they travel to cities around the world and stream their in-person chess matches at various venues. The show has generated more than 20 million views and reached peak livestream viewership of 36,000 people. [23] [27] [6]
In the second iteration of the online amateur chess tournament Pogchamps, Botez was part of the commentator team. [28] In 2021, Botez took part again in the Pogchamps 3 tournament, doubling as a coach for CodeMiko [29] and as a commentator, [30] [31] and, once again, she joined the commentator team for Pogchamps 4. [32]
In April 2023, Botez lost a boxing match against fellow YouTuber Michelle Khare in Creator Clash 2, a charity boxing event held by YouTuber iDubbbz. [33] [34]
In December 2022, Botez competed against WGM (Woman Grandmaster) Dina Belenkaya in the Mogul Chessboxing Championship; hosted by Ludwig Ahgren. [35] Initially, Belenkaya was deemed the winner, but after a post-fight review, the organizer announced an updated result: "...[Botez] should have been awarded a TKO after the referee initiated the fourth standing count of the fight". [36] The update resulted in both Belenkaya and Botez being winners. [37]
In 2020, Botez participated in the Zoomers Play Chess team match to help raise funds for children in need affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. [38] [39]
In 2020, Botez and her sister Alexandra Botez lived in New York. [6] In 2022, they moved and now reside in Los Angeles, California. [5]
In December 2023, Botez revealed during a livestream that she has been diagnosed with ADHD. [40]
1 fight | 0 wins | 1 loss |
---|---|---|
By knockout | 0 | 0 |
By decision | 0 | 1 |
No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Loss | 0–1 | Michelle Khare | UD | 5 | Apr 15, 2023 | Amalie Arena, Tampa, Florida, U.S. |
1 Fights, 1 Win (0 KOs, 1 TKO, 0 CMs) | ||||||||
Date | Result | Opponent | Event | Location | Method | Round | Time | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2022-12-11 | Draw | Dina Belenkaya | Mogul Chessboxing Championship | Galen Center, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | Win | 7 | ||
Legend: Win Loss Draw/No contest Notes |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2022 | The Streamer Awards | Best Chess Streamer | Won | [41] |
2023 | Nominated | [42] | ||
2024 | Nominated | [43] | ||
Best Shared Channel | Nominated |
Publisher | Year | Listicle | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Forbes | 2023 | 30 Under 30: Games | Placed | [25] |
Rolling Stone | 2023 | 20 Most Influential Creators | 4th | [26] |
Aman Hambleton is a Canadian chess grandmaster and Twitch/Kick streamer. He is a member of the Chessbrahs, along with other grandmasters such as Eric Hansen (founder), Robin van Kampen, and Yasser Seirawan.
Félix Lengyel, better known as xQc, is a Canadian online streamer and former professional Overwatch player.
Alexandra Valeria Botez is an American-Canadian chess player and commentator, poker player, Twitch streamer, and YouTuber. In chess, she holds the FIDE title of Woman FIDE Master (WFM) and has a peak FIDE rating of 2092. She is a five-time Canadian girls' national champion and one-time U.S. girls' national champion. Botez has represented Canada at three Women's Chess Olympiads in 2012, 2014, and 2016. Alexandra and her younger sister Andrea Botez host the BotezLive Twitch and YouTube channels, which each have over 1 million followers and are one of the largest chess channels on each platform.
Ali Kabbani, better known as Myth, is an American YouTube live streamer and former professional Fortnite Battle Royale player. Kabbani has over 4.5 million subscribers on his YouTube channel.
Jeremy Wang, better known as Disguised Toast, is a Taiwanese-Canadian streamer, YouTuber, and Internet personality. He got his start on YouTube, creating videos about the digital card game Hearthstone. Wang later began streaming on Twitch, before signing an exclusive streaming contract with Facebook Gaming in November 2019. In November 2021, Wang announced his return to streaming on Twitch.
Dina Vadimovna Belenkaya is a Russian-Israeli chess player, commentator, Twitch streamer, and YouTuber who holds the title of Woman Grandmaster (WGM). She is a four-time St. Petersburg women's champion, and has represented St. Petersburg at the Russian Women's Team Championship and the European Chess Club Cup for Women. She has a peak FIDE rating of 2364.
Ludwig Anders Ahgren, known mononymously as Ludwig, is an American live streamer, YouTuber, podcaster, comedian, esports commentator, and competitor. Ahgren is best known for his live streams on Twitch from 2018 through late 2021, and on YouTube beginning in late 2021, where he broadcasts video-game-related content as well as non-video-game-related content such as game shows and contests. He is also known for his work as an esports commentator at various Super Smash Bros. Melee tournaments. He is the co-owner of the esports organization Moist Esports. He began streaming full-time on February 16, 2019.
Hasan Doğan Piker, also known as HasanAbi, is a Turkish-American online streamer, YouTuber, and left-wing political commentator.
PogChamps is a series of online amateur chess tournaments hosted by Chess.com. Players in the tournament are internet personalities, primarily Twitch streamers. PogChamps takes place over the course of two weeks. The first and second PogChamps had prize pools of $50,000 each, and the third and fourth iterations had prize pools of $100,000 each.
Leslie Ann Fu, better known as fuslie, is an American live streamer, YouTuber and musician. She is a content creator for the gaming organization and lifestyle brand 100 Thieves.
Mizkif, also known as Matthew Rinaudo, is an American Twitch streamer and YouTuber. He is a founding member and co-owner of the gaming organization One True King.
Charles Christopher White Jr., better known as Cr1TiKaL, MoistCr1TiKaL, or penguinz0 is an American YouTuber and streamer. He is best known for his commentary videos and live streams covering internet culture and video games. White and his content are characterized by his monotone voice, white shirt, deadpan comedic style, and long hair, earning him the nickname of Jesus. In addition, White is the co-founder and co-owner of the esports organization Moist Esports and co-founder and member of the musical duo, the Gentle Men.
Youna Kang, better known by her online 3D Virtual YouTuber persona CodeMiko and alias The Technician, is a South Korean-American Twitch streamer and YouTuber. Kang is best known for her live streams on Twitch, for interviewing other streamers, content creators, and internet personalities as her alter ego persona CodeMiko, and for pushing the envelope with regards to interactivity in VTuber technology.
Maya Elaine Higa is an American conservationist, falconer, wildlife rehabilitator, Twitch streamer, and YouTuber. She is the founder of Alveus Sanctuary, a non-profit exotic animal sanctuary and virtual education center based in Austin, Texas.
Emily "Emiru" Schunk is an American Twitch streamer and cosplayer. She is primarily known for streaming League of Legends and her cosplays on her Twitch channel, where she has garnered more than 1,100,000 followers as of January 15, 2023. She is a co-owner of and a content creator for the gaming organization One True King.
Blaire, known online as QTCinderella, is an American Twitch streamer, YouTuber, and podcaster. She is the creator and host of The Streamer Awards. She is also a co-host of the Wine About It podcast and the Fear& podcast.
Kai Carlo Cenat III is an American online streamer and YouTuber. He is best known for his live streams and comedy-based content he uploads on YouTube. He is currently the all-time most-subscribed Twitch streamer and the 10th most followed Twitch streamer with approximately nine million followers, surpassing Ludwig Ahgren's record during a February 2023 subathon. He was named "Streamer of the Year" at the 2023 and 2024 Streamer Awards.
The Mogul Chessboxing Championship is a hybrid sporting event where YouTube, Twitch and other Livestreaming personalities compete in alternating rounds of boxing and chess in accordance with the rules of chess boxing. Mogul Chessboxing Championship gets its name from its founder Ludwig Ahgren, whose company operates under the name Mogul Moves. The event premiered on December 11, 2022. at the Galen Center in Los Angeles.
Tobias James Smith, known online as Tubbo, is an English Twitch streamer and YouTuber who is primarily known for creating Minecraft content. He is also known for his time in the Dream SMP, an invite-only survival multiplayer (SMP) Minecraft server. As of May 2024, he had 5.2 million followers on Twitch, making him the 43rd most followed streamer on the platform.