GothamChess falls short of Madrid Chess Festival win after drawing to 15 year-old prodigy

Chess YouTuber GothamChess fell just short of winning it all at the Madrid Chess Festival, but he still had a stellar showing overall considering the level of competition at the event.

The event is GothamChess’ first tournament in classical chess in almost two years. He is participating as a part of his renewed journey to earn the Grandmaster title.

The player stopped competing and seeking the title years ago, but recently stated his renewed intentions to become a GM and is creating content around his coaching sessions and journey.

He was the lowest-rated participant at the Spanish event, at 2322 FIDE, and made a surprise run to the top of the standings from the start.

GothamChess has made three draws and defeated Tomás Sosa, Diego Macías, and Lelys Martínez. Both Sosa and Martínez are Grandmasters and two of the higher-rated players at the event.

The festival has been an emotional rollercoaster for the creator as his participation in the event comes after the controversial Clash of Claims tournament also hosted in Madrid.

“My first classical chess game in 2+ years. My lowest elo in nearly 10 years. And I defeated a 2530 GM with the black pieces, the top seed. I’m so happy I could cry,” Rozman said on social media after a match at the Madrid Chess Festival.

However, he wasn’t able to bring the event. He drew against Daniel Tabuenca, a 15 year-old Chess prodigy who kept him from getting the essential win he needed to secure first.

Additionally, his only loss through the entire event was to Julio Suarez, but that one loss kept him from being in contention to earn first. Suarez would end up winning the entire event.

Despite all this, he landed in second place at the event and got that much closer to getting the title of Chess Grandmaster, a pretty good result considering he’s still shaking the rust off.

“Not bad for my first tournament in over 2 years. Much to learn. See you in July.”

The content creator went over his games and updated his audience on the event on his YouTube channel over the course of the tournament.

The wider chess community has also taken notice of GothamChess’s performance, with even Hikaru Nakamura making content around the event and breaking down the influencer’s games.