"I can lead the people," says Levy Rozman. That may sound like a bold claim but Rozman, 27, with 4.29m YouTube sub-scribers, is clearly someone people are happy to follow. Known online as GothamChess, he is the planet's most popular chess YouTuber.
An engaged community of fans hangs on his every word. And he has the credentials to back up his thoughts: he is an international master. His channel has more than a billion views, the first chess channel to reach this figure.
Rozman is riding a huge chess wave; one he can take some credit in having created. There were three lightning bolts, he says. The first was The Queen's Gambit, the Netflix drama about a fictional chess prodigy, Beth Harmon; there was the rising popularity of the game on platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels; and there was last year's Hans Niemann scandal, in which world No 1 Magnus Carlsen accused his opponent of cheating.
Denne historien er fra October 27, 2023-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
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Denne historien er fra October 27, 2023-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
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From India to Venezuela and Senegal to the US, more people voted this year than ever before, with over 80 elections across the world. With rising authoritarianism and citizen-led resistance revealing its vulnerabilities and resilience in the face of unprecedented challenges, has democracy reached its breaking or turning point?
