The Botez sisters are American chess players. The older Alexandra is 27; she is a FIDE master. The younger Andrea is 21, and she is just beginning her chess career. Few people knew about them until they became bloggers.
We will introduce you to the Botez sisters and tell you how they stepped into the spotlight.
How did they become chess players?
The sisters were born in Romania. The Botez chess dynasty started with Alexandra who had played this game from the age of six. First, her father trained her, and then she joined the Golden Knights chess club.
Alexandra won her first tournament two years later. She lived in Canada until she was 15 and won 5 junior national championships there.
After moving to the USA, Alexandra started playing for its national team and won one more title. Until 2016, she competed at several Chess Olympiads and has even become a FIDE master. That was when her younger sister Andrea also took up chess.
When did the Botez sisters become streamers?
2020 is believed to be the beginning of a chess boom. There are three reasons: the COVID-19 pandemic, the release of the super popular series "The Queen's Gambit," and the development of Twitch. Chess streamers began to appear there.
The Botez sisters were among them. Andrea and Alexandra have active Twitch and YouTube channels with streams. Their total audience is 2.5 million people. Blogging brings the Botez sisters more money than chess: in 2021, for example, they earned over $100 thousand on their streams.
Taking part in professional chess tournaments has gradually become less important for the sisters. Alexandra is now 26,788th in the Elo rating, while Andrea is 63,789th. But they are still famous members of the chess community.
They had streams with Carlsen and Nakamura
The sister's main goal is to popularize chess. Their streams feature such renowned grandmasters as Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura. In 2021, Alexandra and Andrea won the Best Streamer award.
Alexandra Botez also plays poker. And quite well. Once she defeated Magnus Carlsen at a poker tournament and took a pot of $17,000.
What's a Botez gambit?
Alexandra Botez has her signature chess mistake. Once, she accidentally lost her queen. It is one of the most gross mistakes in chess, which leads to defeat.
Everyone remembered it because Alexandra started to make it in every game. Then Andrea began to do the same. This is how the accidental blunder has turned into the Botez gambit. This ironic name was made up by followers who compared it to the queen's gambit.
The whole chess community — streamers, grandmasters, and viewers — soon began to use this meme. The Botez gambit is most often found among amateur players at low-level tournaments.
The meme has been used even by professionals. US chess streamer and grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura took part in a whole series of online games where he used the Botez gambit deliberately.
It seems that the Botez gambit has become the epitome of something foolish and ridiculous. But Alexandra and Andrea don't care. The meme makes them more popular, and the number of their followers grows with their income. What can be better?