Alexandra Botez, a chess player, Twitch streamer, and YouTube sister-duo of BotezLive, gives her honest opinion about how poker is portrayed in The Queen’s Gambit. She shares why she started a channel with her younger sister, breaks down how players are rated in chess, and explains how things are different for women in the game. Tune in to hear Alexandra debunk some common misconceptions about chess, and hear why it’s never too late to focus, zone in, and work your mental muscles with chess.

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Time Stamped Show Notes:                                                                                                              

• 00:00 – 14:30 – How COVID has impacted viewership, what she thinks about The Queen’s Gambit, females in the game, and the long-term vision for their stream.
• 14:30 – 25:00 – On variance, choker (chess + poker), gambling and betting, chess tournaments and the money that can be won, coaching and what she’s doing to improve what she does.
• 25:00 – 39:30 - On getting into Stanford, working with her sister, her chess goals, the most important attributes and skills in chess, her poker experience, and how players are rated.
• 39:30 – 57:30 – Strong chess countries, cheating in chess vs. in poker, blindfolded chess, how she feels about family and kids, and her recent business endeavor.
• 57:30 – 01:05:00 – On wanting to bootstrap a business, when an investment makes sense, the languages she speaks, and chess as a mental sport.
• 01:05:00 – 01:20:00 – Women in the highest levels of chess, changing the culture of chess, her favorite streamer, common chess misconceptions, and life lessons through chess.

3 Key Points

• Chess is gaining interest and experiencing a spike.
• Quality over quantity.
• People don’t play chess for the money.

Contact/Resources

• Partner - partypoker
• Website - Jeff Gross Poker
• Jeff’s Twitch
• BotezLive YouTube
• BotezLive Twitch
• Alexandra’s Twitter
• Alexandra’s Instagram