What did GothamChess say? Creator responds to drama over FIDE Head's viral tweet

American YouTuber and International Master Levy "GothamChess" Rozman recently shared in a comment that Norwegian chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen, Japanese-American chess grandmaster/ streamer Hikaru Nakamura, and he are the most well-known chess players in the world.

“People know three chess players: Magnus, Hikaru, and me. That’s bad. That’s not my fault. And I hope it changes,” GothamChess noted.

In the wake of his remark, Israeli chess champion and CEO of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) Emil Sutovsky took to X on June 17, reposted Rozman’s comment, and wrote in the caption:

“Do you agree with that? I don't - but maybe that's because my bubble consists of hardcore chess fans. But I do feel Levy's perception is extremely US-centric. And I also feel that in general, streamers/ Youtubers’ impact on the game is much less significant than it used to be a few years ago.”

Sutovsky added:

“But again, I might err.”

He also asked why the contest wasn’t considered East versus West, and asked his followers to share their opinions about the same. Emil’s tweet went viral and earned nearly 330K views as of writing.

Now, in response to Emil Sutovsky’s viral tweet, GothamChess has come to his own defense. He wrote in the comment section that his quote was taken “out of context,” calling it both “annoying” yet “understandable.”

“My quote was a reference to a previous point in the discussion, when I mentioned speaking to an athlete (casual chess fan) who could only name myself, Magnus, and Hikaru as chess,” he explained.

Levy Rozman clarified that he was “simply making the point that it's unfortunate if someone can only name us 3 as chess players, and it should change.” He also mentioned that it made him look like an “egocentric idiot,” which wasn’t “entirely true,” and in this case, “undeserved.”

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Exploring further the back-and-forth between GothamChess and Emil Sutovsky

Besides his original now-viral tweet, Emil Sutovsky shared another post. While he did not directly take GothamChess’ name in it, fans of the chess community speculated that he was talking about him and Indian chess player/ YouTuber, Sagar Shah.

“I think there is another aspect to it, often neglected. Say, youtuber G vs youtuber S. G has three times more subscribers, but how many of them become real chess fans? Play regularly? Start following events, take chess lessons, become a part of the chess ecosystem?” Emil wrote.

The FIDE leader further mentioned that S might have fewer subscribers than G, but they “become hardcore chess fans,” and “not just consumers of the channel’s content.”

“Whose contribution to the chess world is more important? I go with S,” Sutovsky concluded.

This tweet, too, gained a lot of traction and amassed over 164K views. In the midst of this, GothamChess shared a 52-minute video on his self-titled YouTube channel on June 20, titled “My Response to the Allegations.”

Emil Sutovsky responds to Gotham Chess

He began by saying how he had found himself in the “middle of a big chess drama,” where Emil Sutovsky tweeted about him “not once but twice” and questioned his contributions to the chess world and his overall standing as a chess content creator.

Rozman shared in his clip that he was going to take a “positive note” to the ongoing drama and not dig the hole any deeper. He continued by claiming that during his May 2025 Europe tour, he did an interview with Incredible New Chess Magazine, and his original comment in question about himself, Magnus, and Hikaru, was part of this chat.

However, the magazine seemingly published his quote out of context, which made him look “extremely arrogant,” which, according to Levy, was unwarranted.

“It was a very limited quote based on a previous reference. I was not trying to say I am so famous and so important. That was not the objective… My quote was not intended to put me above anybody else,” GothamChess reiterated from before.

He also shared his actual comment, which mentioned not relying on Hikaru and Magnus, or Gukesh in India to “push everything” in the chess community. Levy Rozman then went on to explain the context further.

“I once had a conversation with somebody I was doing a collaboration with. It was an athlete and we were just talking about how to bring chess to the mass audience similar to the sport that this individual, whom I won’t name, plays. And the big problem that he told me is that it’s really difficult to follow top chess players as a casual fan,” GothamChess stated.

Rozman also shared that the issue was not that Emil Sutovsky seemingly tried to “diminish” chess content creators and streamers in his first tweet. Instead, it was his follow-up tweet about G and S that was “wild.”

Referencing Sutovsky’s second tweet, GothamChess claimed chess was the only sport where governing bodies, athletes, and top players “actively criticize and diminish the role of influencers in their very space” and thought less of them, maybe because the streamers hadn’t been at the top of the ranks.

Rozman added that even if content creators reached chess to millions of people, the chess community considered them as outsiders and “extra, stupid, necessary.” He further addressed Emil’s remark that Sagar Shah’s contribution to chess was more than his.

GothamChess claimed he had a friendly rapport with Sagar Shah of ChessBase India. But they were not competitors as Shah’s channel was more journalism-based and operated all around the world.

He also mentioned having “cordial interactions” with Sutovsky over the years, adding that the latest rant has left him surprised. Levy also dismissed that his subscribers don’t become “real fans,” as Emil claimed in his tweet, and pointed out other discrepancies in the viral post.

GothamChess addressed Sutovsky’s remark that aspiring chess players should take lessons. The YouTuber explained that it was an expensive affair and not everybody could afford it. He also mentioned that Emil's tweet about “following events” was seemingly ambiguous, adding that in his experience, outreach and marketing in the chess world were still very limited and negligible.

“Following live events as a casual chess fan is perhaps the single most important thing and the single thing missing,” Levy shared, adding that pursuing chess as a career was still unthought of by the majority worldwide.

GothamChess concluded by saying the incentives were also not reportedly lucrative, considering the “prize fund” for the World Chess Championship hadn’t changed in the last four decades. He also pointed out the lack of promotion by the chess world for tournaments and other events, making it further inaccessible for fans.

Sagar Shah chimes in on the controversy

Elsewhere, Rozman accused Sutovsky of pitting chess fans against one another, adding that sports survive based on casual fans, and the word “hardcore” was seemingly misleading in Emil’s tweet, calling it a “backward argument.”

GothamChess, 29, ended by saying that his only goal in running his YouTube channel was to make chess “more accessible,” something that the chess community had failed at over time.

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Notably, Sagar Shah addressed the drama on his X channel on Thursday. He wrote that the aim was to work together and “push chess in a positive direction.” However, contrary to GothamChess, he credited FIDE for its widespread coverage of events, while also giving a shoutout to Rozman for being “one of the most valuable people in the chess ecosystem.”

Later, Sagas Shah appeared on GothamChess’ channel to further continue with the discussion about Emil Sutovsky, the contribution of content creators to the game, and more about the chess community.

Emil Sutovsky has not responded to Levy Rozman’s YouTube video as of writing.

Edited by Prem Deshpande