39 Facts About Alexandra Botez

Alexandra Valeria Botez is an American-born Canadian chess player, poker player, online streamer and YouTuber.

Alexandra Botez is a five-time Canadian girls' national champion and one-time US girls' national champion.

Alexandra Botez began playing chess in Canada at age six and won her first girls' national championship at age eight.

Alexandra Botez later moved back to the United States where she was born and won US Girls Nationals at age 15.

Alexandra Botez began streaming chess content online in 2016 while she was a student at Stanford University.

Alexandra Botez is coached by Jon Ludvig Hammer, a former second to Magnus Carlsen.

Alexandra Botez has served on the Board of Directors of the Susan Polgar Foundation, which aims to promote chess to children in the United States, especially girls.

Alexandra Botez has participated in the World Series of Poker as well as celebrity tournaments with other prominent streamers such as xQc and professional poker players such as Phil Hellmuth.

Alexandra Botez's father introduced her to chess and started training her when she was six.

Alexandra Botez eventually became a member of the Romanian Community Centre chess club, Golden Knights, coached by Chess Master Valer Eugen Demian.

Alexandra Botez won her first Canadian girls' national championship in 2004 at age eight.

Alexandra Botez played for the Canadian national team in 2010 and later won four more Canadian youth national titles.

Alexandra Botez participated in the World Youth Chess Championships four times, finishing as high as 31st place in 2009 in the girls' under-14 section while still unrated.

In 2013, Alexandra Botez earned the Woman FIDE Master title by finishing in joint first place at the North American girls' U-16 national championship together with the winner Megan Lee.

Alexandra Botez ultimately declined the scholarship to attend Stanford University, prioritizing academics over chess.

Alexandra Botez achieved her peak FIDE rating of 2092 in 2016, at the age of 20.

Alexandra Botez has regularly been ranked among the top ten Canadian female chess players.

Alexandra Botez has represented Canada at three Women's Chess Olympiads, playing on Board 4 in 2012, and Board 3 in 2014 and 2016.

At the 2024 Reykjavik Open, Alexandra Botez defeated Jan Karsten, an International Master with a rating of 2323, which was the best win of her career by rating.

Alexandra Botez often plays chess with an aggressive, adaptive style of play.

Alexandra Botez's most-played opening is the King's Indian Defense, in which Black allows White to advance their pawns to the center of the board in the first two moves.

In 2016, Alexandra Botez started streaming chess content on Twitch during her junior year at Stanford University.

Alexandra Botez is credited, along with her sister Andrea Botez, Hikaru Nakamura, GothamChess, and more, for popularizing chess on Twitch.

Alexandra Botez's streaming popularity has helped her become one of the most recognizable faces on the Chess.

Alexandra Botez covered the 2018 and 2019 PRO Chess League Finals, the most popular team chess championship, along with IM Daniel Rensch, IM Anna Rudolf, and GM Robert Hess.

In December 2020, the Alexandra Botez sisters signed with the Texas-based esports organization Envy Gaming.

In January 2021, Alexandra Botez faced controversy from fellow chess creator and grandmaster, Hikaru Nakamura, who said that Alexandra Botez's exclusivity of streaming in the "Just Chatting" section is damaging to the chess community.

On July 20,2022, the Alexandra Botez sisters signed with Creative Artists Agency.

In 2023, the Alexandra Botez sisters were named to Forbes' 30 Under 30 list in the games category.

In November 2021, the Alexandra Botez sisters announced a show on their Twitch channel called "Alexandra 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.

Alexandra Botez started playing poker professionally in 2021, after having already established herself as a prominent chess streamer, and began playing regularly in 2022.

Alexandra Botez has participated in the World Series of Poker.

Alexandra Botez has played in celebrity tournaments, featuring fellow streamers such as xQc, fellow chess players such as Magnus Carlsen, and professional poker players such as Phil Hellmuth.

Alexandra Botez made $456,900 on a poker live stream on May 1,2022, presented by the Hustler Live Casino, which featured fellow streamers along with poker pros.

In June 2023, Botez started a new YouTube channel called "Alexandra Botez", which focuses on poker content and her poker career.

Alexandra Botez watched the Netflix show The Queen's Gambit and claimed the show understates the misogyny of that era through the female protagonist.

Alexandra Botez said the show glossed over many realities, especially considering the decade it is set in: "If the show had been historically accurate, Beth wouldn't have been able to compete in any world championship events".

Alexandra Botez cited the case of female grandmaster Susan Polgar, who said that in 1986 she was prevented from competing in a zonal tournament, a qualifying event for the World Chess Championship, because of her gender.

Nevertheless, Alexandra Botez was complimentary of protagonist Beth Harmon as a nuanced and inspirational figure for upcoming women in chess.