Alexandra Botez
Alexandra Valeria Botez (/ˈboʊtɛz/ BOH-tez; born 24 September 1995) is an American-Canadian chess player and commentator, Twitch streamer, and YouTuber. As a player, she became a five-time Canadian National Girls Champion and won the U.S. Girls Nationals at age 15. She achieved her highest FIDE Elo rating of 2092 in March 2016, and she currently holds the International Chess Federation title of Woman FIDE Master.
Alexandra Botez | |
---|---|
Botez in 2010 | |
Full name | Alexandra Valeria Botez |
Country | Canada |
Born | 24 September 1995 28) Dallas, Texas, U.S. | (age
Title | Woman FIDE Master (2013) |
FIDE rating | 1986 (March 2024) |
Peak rating | 2092 (April 2016) |
Twitch information | |
Channel | |
Years active | 2016–present |
Genre | Gaming |
Games | Chess |
Followers | 1.3 million |
YouTube information | |
Channel | |
Subscribers | 1.46 million |
Total views | 589.2 million |
Last updated: April 5, 2024 |
Botez began streaming online chess content in 2016 while she was a student at Stanford University, stating that in her first stream, a majority of viewers were not interested in chess but in her appearance. Paired with her younger sister Andrea Botez, she now manages the BotezLive Twitch and YouTube channels, which both have over 1 million followers.
Botez has publicly detailed her encounters with sexism and misogyny in tournament chess and has advocated for greater gender diversity. As a prominent female chess figure, she was elected to the Board of Directors of the Susan Polgar Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit aiming to promote chess, with all its educational, social, and competitive benefits throughout the United States, for young people of all ages, especially girls.