‘Chess isn’t my thing anymore’: Botez sister dejected after string of losses in women’s invitational

The Botez Chess Camp invitational tournament is in full swing, featuring a selection of talented female chess players across a wide skill range in a single competition—and the younger Botez’s sister’s struggles led to an interesting outburst.

The Botez Chess Camp is a FIDE-rated single round-robin tournament organized by notable streamers Andrea and Alexandra Botez, pitting prominent female players and creators against one another, including the Botez sisters themselves. It’s a notable attempt to blend content and competition together in a more serious way than often happens in the chess space, bringing along three WGM (woman grandmaster) and two WFM (woman FIDE Master) title holders along for the ride in total, with a rating spread from 1818 to 2274.

Four rounds in, the rating discrepancies are bearing out, with very few upsets to date in the competition. Andrea Botez, the younger sister of the pair, is the second-lowest-rated competitor in the field, and she’s suffered four defeats in a row out of four matches played, including a tough loss to the only lower-rated player in the field, Julia Schulman. In a post-match chat with her sister and her coach, GM Jon Ludvig Hammer, she went as far as to say, “chess isn’t my thing anymore.”

Feelings of doom and gloom after a string of poor results in chess is nothing new—just ask anyone who ever set foot in a tournament hall, no matter the level of play. The elder Botez also tried the same tack, saying, “losing at chess is brutal… when that happens, I never want to play never again,” but Andrea countered, saying, “I just don’t think my brain can play chess anymore, it feels it’s just wired forever the wrong way.”

Again, very relatable feelings, but they are rarely broadcasted like this. It remains to be seen whether her feelings will subside, or if she can get some points on the board in the remaining rounds. You can follow the rest of the Botez Chess Camp competition on the Botez sisters’ Twitch channel or any of the other participants’ live platforms.