American Grandmaster Ben Finegold challenged YouTuber Levy ‘GothamChess’ Rozman on his stream, stating he would “embarrass” the creator in a chess matchup.
GothamChess has been posting videos and content about his renewed goal to earn the GM title. The creator gave up on achieving the title years ago but returned to competitive over-the-board chess in early 2024.
The chess community is actively following the YouTuber at the various events he has entered, watching his, and Hikaru Nakamura’s, recaps of his matches.
Ben Finegold, a legendary player who also streams and creates content, challenged GothamChess to a match during a broadcast on July 22.
“I think the match people want to see, except for GothamChess, is me playing a match with GothamChess… 10-minute or 15-minute, four games. I don’t think he would play that match because when I win every game, he would be too defeated, and would have to give up trying to become a GM and cry and stuff,” Finegold said.
“I don’t think there’s anything in it for him. If GothamChess wants to play a 10-minute or a 15-minute match… and wants to get embarrassed, shown for the fraud he is, then that would be fine.”
Finegold posted the clip from his stream to his YouTube channel and asked on social media if Nakamura would commentate on the match.
Finegold is known for his banter online and in person, so while this challenge seems genuine, the GM could also just be trash-talking another creator. However, some chess fans are excited at the prospect of a matchup between the two American players.
“Levy wouldn’t be able to keep up with Ben’s wit and trash talk during the match,” one Reddit user said.
“I’d watch that. Pure gold…Finegold, that is,” one YouTube comment on the clip said.
GothamChess has yet to respond to the challenge on social media.