Battle of Generations: Levy "Gotham Chess" Rozman vs Pia Cramling

by Johannes Fischer
10/29/2024 – With currently 5.55 million YouTube subscribers, Levy "Gotham Chess" Rozman is the most successful chess streamer in the world. He is an IM, his current Elo rating is 2347 and his declared goal is to become a Grandmaster. From 28 October to 3 November, he will now compete against Swedish chess Grandmaster Pia Cramling in an audience-attracting exhibition match in Stockholm. The two will play 4 classical games, 6 rapid games and 12 blitz games. The start went well for Pia Cramling: in the first classical game, she outplayed Rozman with Black to take a 3-0 lead. | Photos: chess.com
Winning starts with what you know
The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.

Pia Cramling is one of the most successful and best women players of all time. Born on April 23, 1963, in Stockholm, she became the fifth woman in chess history to earn the Grandmaster title. She held the top spot in the women’s rankings three times, won the European Women’s Championship twice, and won several gold medals at Chess Olympiads.

Pia Cramling | Photo: chess.com

With a current rating of 2429 the 61-year-old Cramling is number 33 on the women's ranking list, and with this rating she is nominally the favourite in the match against Rozman.

Cramling is married to the Spanish grandmaster Juan Manuel Bellón López and is the mother of Anna Cramling, who, like Rozman, is a successful YouTube streamer. It was Anna Cramling who came up with the idea of organising the match in Stockholm. Choosing Levy Rozman as Pia Cramling's opponent has brought the match worldwide attention, with the games being streamed live and commented on Anna Cramling's Twitch channel and Rozman's YouTube channel, Gotham Chess.

Rozman was born on 5 December 1995 in New York and became an International Master in 2018. After school, he studied quantitative modelling and statistics at Baruch College in New York, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 2017. Since 2018, he has been working as a streamer, but he also is a successful chess book author, entrepreneur and tournament organiser.

Levy Rozman | Photo: chess.com

In 2024, after a long break from tournament chess, Rozman publicly announced on his streaming channels that he wanted to try again to become a grandmaster. To do that, he needs to reach an Elo rating of 2500 and three GM norms.

Game 1

In the first game of the match, however, Pia Cramling's class and experience became apparent. Playing with the black pieces, she took advantage of a few inaccuracies from Rozman to start the match with a convincing victory.

However, the disappointing start did not stop Rozman from analysing the game in detail and openly on his Gotham Chess channel.

Replay the game

Rozman,L23470–1Cramling,P2429
Battle of Generations2024
1.d4 d5 2.Bf4 c5 3.e3 Nc6 4.c3 Nf6 5.Nd2 cxd4 6.exd4 g6 7.Bd3 Bg7 8.h3 0-0 9.Ngf3 Nd7 10.0-0 e5 11.dxe5 Ndxe5 12.Nxe5 Nxe5 13.Nf3 Nc6 14.Qd2 d4 15.c4 a5 16.Rfe1 Be6 17.Ng5 Bd7 18.Rad1 Re8 19.c5 Ne5 20.Be4 Bc6 21.Qc2 h6 22.Bxe5 Rxe5 23.Nf3 Rxe4 24.Rxe4 Bxe4 25.Qxe4 Qc7 26.Nxd4 Qxc5 27.Nb3 Qb4 28.Qxb4 axb4 29.Rd7 Rxa2 30.Rxb7 Bf8 31.Nd4 Rxb2 32.Rb8 Kg7 33.Rb7 Bd6 34.Kf1 Kf6 35.Rb5 Rd2 36.Nc6 Kg7 37.Na5 Rc2 38.Nb7 Be7 39.Na5 Bc5 40.Nb3 Rxf2+ 41.Kg1 Ba7 42.Kh2 Rf4 43.Nc1 Rd4 44.Na2 Rd2 45.Nc1 Rb2 46.Nd3 Rb3 47.Nc1 Rb1 48.Na2 b3 49.Nc3 Rb2 50.Na4 Rb1 51.Nc3 Bg1+ 52.Kg3 Re1 53.Rxb3 Re3+ 54.Kf4 g5+ 55.Kf5 Rg3 56.Rb1 Rxg2 57.Ne4 Bd4 58.Rb4 Ba1 59.Rb3 Rg1 60.Ng3 Kh7 61.Rd3 Rb1 62.Rd6 Rb5+ 63.Kg4 Rb4+ 64.Kf3 Rb3+ 0–1

The match continues on Tuesday 29 October at 15:00. Games 3 and 4 will be played on 30 and 31 October, followed by 6 rapid games (15+10) on 1 November. To conclude, 12 blitz games (3+2) will follow on 2 November.

A win in the classical game is worth 3 points, a win in the rapid game is worth 2 points and a win in the blitz game is worth 1 point.

Links

Johannes Fischer was born in 1963 in Hamburg and studied English and German literature in Frankfurt. He now lives as a writer and translator in Nürnberg. He is a FIDE-Master and regularly writes for KARL, a German chess magazine focusing on the links between culture and chess. On his own blog he regularly publishes notes on "Film, Literature and Chess".
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.