who is the best chess streamer

May 6 2025

Personally I like Levy Rozman (Gotham Chess) , but there are many good streamers/coaches on YouTube. Hanging Pawns is good, remote chess academy, arturs neiksans, chess vibes, chess wisdom (mainly analysis of classical games) it depends what you want from a stream, entertainment, tuition?

Hello 👋🤗

I think Levi and Hakaru are equally on level however I do not approve when streamers use ordinary chess players games as examples and in doing so is undermining them!?

I agree that Levy's 'guess the elo' can be undermining to lower rated players, who need encouragement, not mockery . However, to my knowledge, Levy asks permission from those players to analyse their games on his channel, so if they consent to it, I guess it's fair enough.

I am sure if they did agree they were not expecting levi to Shame them I was little shocked at the amount of videos he has showing him joining games under an alias and suggesting they are using assistance and even if it was remotely true it shouldn't be used as a form of entertainment?!! Levi seems a nice guy who prides himself on wanting to help promote chess but this does him no credit?

Yes, I agree with you. It can be instructive to look at these games and observe misses, inaccuracies and blunders, but there is an abrasive tone of mockery, which is unnecessary and unhelpful. Levy otherwise seems like a decent guy, it's a bit off.

of course levy and Hikaru

I've enjoyed watching Anna Cramling's videos, as a beginner-intermediate player. She has fun, high-energy, engaging content, a positive attitude, and her videos were responsible for me taking up chess as a woman in her forties, after a thirty year break.

She seems to be getting some backlash lately (and has admitted she can sometimes be a bit click-baity) but she has 1 million followers on YouTube and I think some criticism is just down to sexism. I prefer more instructional videos to entertainment and do wonder how much "drama" is manufactured, but it's also an insight into competitive competition and you can pick which videos are most helpful. I just watched Levy's guide to the Indian Defense, but heard he has a reputation for being patronising, so I'm unsure if I want to jump down that rabbit-hole....

Looking to branch out, if anyone has any further recommendations for a beginner-intermediate.

Best is gotham chess

I also endorse Nelson from Chess Vibes, a very solid player and analyst, and offers good instruction on many aspects of the game. e: Arturs Neiksans - recently he has made 2 videos, analysing a lot of openings and defences, and evaluating them from 0 - 5 stars. His evaluations are based on their simplicity (or complexity) and their effectiveness. Really useful.