How the King of Chess Content Built His Empire (16 Lessons from GothamChess)
This is Levy Rozman (aka GothamChess).
5 years ago, he was tutoring kids in chess in New York City.
Now, he’s the largest chess creator on the internet — 5.3M subs on YouTube, 1B+ views in the last year.
Here are 16 creator lessons from “The Internet’s Chess Teacher.”
1) Use your unfair advantages.
Unfair advantages are skills, expertise, or life experiences most people don’t have.
Levy became an International Master in 2018—two whole years before posting his first YouTube video.
He entered the content space with a deep understanding of the game and connections with top players.
Several of his early videos are collaborations with fellow streamer Hikaru Nakamura — one of the best chess players in the world.
2) Be silly and have fun.
Being a content creator = hard work + uncertainty — any guarantee of success. It’s stressful and exhausting.
So how can you make it more light-hearted and goofy?
Levy is known for screaming, “And he sacrifices…THE ROOOOK!!!”
It’s become a meme in the chess world.
He roasts his Twitch chat. And he has lovely inside jokes like:
“What’s worth more than a queen? You….You’re worth more than a queen.”
Take your work seriously. Don’t take yourself seriously.
People watch content for 4 reasons:
- Search — answer to a specific question
- Education — answers to ongoing questions
- Entertainment — a fun escape
- Connection — investment in the creator
Let’s break down how Levy approaches each of these.
3) Make searchable content.
Algorithm-friendly content that strangers are likely to stumble upon.
If you search:
- “How to play chess”
- “How to beat the London opening”
- “Chess drama”
Levy will be the first or second video to pop up.
4) Educate your audience.
How are you helping your audience improve?
Levy uses his experience as a tutor to transfer his chess knowledge to his fans.
He helps people with their openings, calculation skills, middlegame planning, and more.
His viewers become better chess players.
5) Entertain your fans.
How do you make your niche exciting?
Since Levy is a top-level chess player, his games are naturally more entertaining than a beginner or intermediate.
But he also makes thrilling recaps. You’re on the edge of your seat listening to him cover Grandmaster games.
Chess was an isolated and more exclusive game in the past. But creators like Levy have opened its doors to the masses.
6) Be relatable and vulnerable.
We love watching creators we care about.
We want to hear their opinions, get their life updates, and learn about their struggles.
Levy’s wife Lucy and dog Benji often make it into streams and videos. Despite being one of the world’s largest creators in the world…he still seems like a regular, humble dude living in New York with his wife and dog.
He’s open about his anxiety when competing. He retired after some rough tournaments.
But how he’s back fighting to become a Grandmaster. And his fans are rooting for him every step of the way.
You can keep your private life private, of course. But showing your scars helps your audience connect with you more quickly.
7) Build an info product.
When you’ve earned credibility in your niche, people will want to learn from you.
Levy’s chess lessons span far beyond YouTube videos.
He has his own app, Chessly — where you can buy courses and test your opening knowledge against the Levi bot.
He even wrote a book titled “How to Win at Chess.”
If you have wisdom to share and people who need it, build something and sell it to them.
8) Get sponsors.
When your channel gets big enough, companies will want you to advertise their products.
Levy got around 1.1 billion views this past year. The Super Bowl got 123 million.
That means this year his channel = 9 Super Bowls.
So businesses like Surf Shark, Babble, and BetterHelp were thrilled to get airtime on GothamChess.
9) Collaborate with others.
Make friends with other people on the internet.
Levy has done countless collabs.
Folks in the chess space — Hikaru, Eric Rosen, the Botez sisters.
But also people outside chess — Ludwig, NBA players, Michelle Khare. He even did an interview on WIRED Magazine.
Working with others helps you reach more people and spices up your content.
10) Be heavily involved in your niche.
Levy doesn’t just make recap videos. He immerses himself in the world of chess.
He’s a broadcaster, plays in international tournaments, and often partners with Chesscom — the world’s biggest chess platform.
He interviews top players like Magnus Carlsen, Vishy Anand, Vladimir Kramnik, and many more.
Levy plays all aspects of his game. Do the same in yours.
11) Take your audience behind the curtain.
Keep no secrets.
Build in public. Show your fans how the sausage gets made. Your audience wants to see you cooking in the lab.
Levy does this on his Patreon. Patrons pay $7 / month to see vlogs of his tournament travels and exclusive training sessions with his coach.
We get to see Levy prep for games, play those games, then analyze them afterward.
Give your audience a front-row seat AND a backstage pass.
12) Let your audience work for you.
Your fans are dying to contribute to your content.
Let them.
Levy’s most popular series is called “Guess the Elo.”
His subscribers submit their crazy games, and he tries to guess their chess ratings.
Chaotic low-level games (entertainment). Instructional moments (education). A 70+ episode series (idea generation).
Leverage your audience. Get them to work for you.
13) Diversify.
Once you prove you can crush it on one platform, move to two. Then three. And so on.
The key is to keep the quality while increasing the quantity. Most creators can only do this when they can afford team members to edit and post for them.
Levy posts on all platforms: YouTube, Instagram, X, Snapchat, Facebook, Twitch, TikTok, Patreon, and more.
He also has multiple YouTube channels: GothamChess (his main), Gotham Games, Gotham Clips, and Gotham Too.
He even had a show — the Gotham City Podcast.
The man is everywhere. As you grow, you should be too.
14) Be consistent.
Consistency is key. But it’s the hardest thing to do.
Levy posts practically every day. He never skips more than 2 days in a row.
The more often you post, the happier your audience will be (as long as the content is good).
Levy also does what most creators fail to do — he figures out what works and then keeps doing that.
Lots of creators achieve success, then never repeat the successful thing.
People love “Guess the Elo.” They love his recaps.
So he keeps them coming.
15) Know when to pivot.
Consistency and persistence are important, yes.
But you also need to know when to quit something. Make sure you’re in the right boat before you start rowing hard.
If your 37th series episode still has 2 viewers, stop doing it.
If a certain type of content you’re making is sucking the life out of you, stop doing it.
Levy quit doing his podcast. He ended other series like speedruns, “Elo Swap,” and “Chess Steps.”
Why? Dunno.
Maybe they didn’t do as well as he thought. Maybe they weren’t fun to record.
Either way, he had the courage to end or pause projects he started.
Quitting and giving up aren’t the same. Never give up, but quit something if it’s not serving you.
16) Choose the right market.
Levy never sought to be the biggest chess creator on the internet.
He just wanted to share his passion and find a way to make money doing so.
But chess has boomed over the last 5 years.
The pandemic. Queen’s Gambit. PogChamps.
In just a few years, millions of people began their chess journey. They wanted to improve their skills and follow the game more.
Enter: GothamChess.
Luck = when opportunity meets preparation.
Was he lucky that chess 100x’ed in popularity? Yes.
Was he prepared to answer the call? Yes.
Content creation is a long and hard journey. Make sure there are enough people in your niche for it to be worth your time.
Final Thoughts.
Levy is a fantastic example of what’s possible when you pursue the grind of content creation.
If you’re a newer creator, don’t compare yourself to him. Learn from him.
Thank you, Levy, for all the great content. I’m a huge fan!
(All images are owned by @GothamChess or @chesscom.)
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