About Alexandra Botez
Alexandra Valeria Botez, born on September 24, 1995, in Dallas, Texas, is an American and Canadian chess player, poker player, Twitch streamer, and YouTuber known for her strategic skills and engaging online content. Born to Romanian immigrant parents who fled Bucharest before her birth, she was born in Dallas, Texas, and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and Portland, Oregon. Her father Andrei Botez, a former chess coach and International Arbiter, introduced her to chess at age six. She joined the Golden Knights chess club, coached by Valer Eugen Demian, and later moved to Oregon for high school. Alexandra attended Stanford University, graduating in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in International Relations, focusing on China. She was the first female president of the Stanford Chess Club. Her younger sister, Andrea Botez, is also a chess player and co-hosts their streaming channels. Her ethnicity is Romanian, reflecting her parents’ heritage, and she holds dual American-Canadian nationality and has competed for both nations. She is primarily known as Alexandra Botez, with her full name Alexandra Valeria Botez used in formal contexts. Her Twitch and streaming alias is @BotezLive, shared with her sister, and she uses @alexandrabotez for her personal poker-focused YouTube channel and TikTok.
As of June 2025, Alexandra has amassed 892,000 followers on Instagram, 259,900 followers on TikTok, 1.82 million subscribers on YouTube and 1.3 million followers on her Twitch platform.
Alexandra’s chess career began at age six, with her first Canadian girls’ national championship win at age eight in the under-10 category. She won five Canadian girls’ national titles and the U.S. Girls’ National Championship at age 15. Representing Canada, she competed in the Women’s Chess Olympiads in 2012, 2014, and 2016. She earned the Woman FIDE Master (WFM) title in 2013, with a peak FIDE rating of 2092 in April 2016, ranking her among Canada’s top 10 female players. Her aggressive, tactical style, often featuring openings like the King’s Indian Defense, was showcased in her 2016 Olympiad win against Anzel Solomons, where she sacrificed material to secure a checkmate. In 2024, she defeated International Master Jan Karsten (2323) at the Reykjavik Open and won the Sardinia World Chess Festival B-section (under-2000) with 8½/9. As of January 2025, her FIDE rating is 2044, ranking her 20,297th globally. She is coached by Jon Ludvig Hammer, a former second to Magnus Carlsen. Alexandra began playing poker in 2021, inspired by her chess background, and turned professional in 2022. She debuted at the 2021 World Series of Poker (WSOP) $25K WPT HU Championship and won $456,900 in a Hustler Casino Live stream on May 1, 2022, alongside players like Phil Hellmuth and MrBeast. In 2023, she won the PCA $550 Hyper Turbo for $10,815 and cashed $17,500 in the WSOP Main Event (1039th place). She became a GGPoker ambassador in March 2024 and has total live poker earnings of over $61,000.
Her online career is centered on the BotezLive Twitch channel (@BotezLive), launched in 2016 while at Stanford, which has 1.26 million followers. Co-hosted with Andrea, it features chess, poker, variety games like Portal 2, and “Just Chatting” sessions, with a peak viewership of 91,000 during the 2021 BlockChamps event. Their YouTube channel (@BotezLive), started in April 2018, has 1.27 million subscribers and 390 million views, offering chess tutorials, vlogs, and stream highlights. Alexandra’s poker-focused YouTube channel (@alexandrabotez), launched in June 2023, has fewer subscribers but focuses on poker strategies. On TikTok (@alexandrabotez), with 175,200 followers, she posts chess and poker tips, while her Instagram (@missbotez, 717,000 followers) showcases chess, poker, and lifestyle content, including fashion and travel. She signed with Envy Gaming in 2020, moved to OpTic Gaming in 2022, and joined Creative Artists Agency in 2022 for content development. The sisters’ “Botez Abroad” Twitch travel show, streaming chess matches worldwide, has over 20 million views. Alexandra has collaborated with streamers like Hikaru Nakamura, Qiyu Zhou, and Ludwig Ahgren, and commentated for events like PogChamps and the PRO Chess League (2018–2019).
Alexandra is approximately 5 feet 8.5 inches tall, weighs about 131 pounds (61 kg), and has a slender build. She has light brown hair, often styled straight, and brown eyes. Her body measurements are reported as 31-24-33 inches, but breast size is regarded as a B cup. No surgeries on her breasts, lips, nose, or buttocks are reported, and she has not acknowledged any cosmetic procedures. She has no visible tattoos or piercings, maintaining a polished, versatile appearance for her streaming and public roles.
Fans, including male audiences, praise Alexandra for her beauty, height, body, and striking features. Her ability to blend technical skill with humor, as seen in the “Botez Gambit” meme (accidentally sacrificing her queen), is widely appreciated. Men find her sexy for her confident demeanor, sharp intellect, and stylish appearance, with Instagram posts highlighting her fashion choices. Her expressive eyes and warm smile are frequently complimented features. Her uniqueness lies in her role as a chess and poker crossover star, her advocacy for women in male-dominated fields, and her ability to make chess accessible through casual, entertaining streams. She served on the Susan Polgar Foundation board in 2020, promoting chess for girls, and has spoken out against sexism in chess, citing experiences with inappropriate comments during streams.
She was in a long-term relationship with Grandmaster Eric Hansen, with unconfirmed Reddit claims of a past relationship and a rejected marriage proposal during a stream. She sometimes talks about her boyfriends, including a Texas-based partner.
Her income is estimated at $500,000–$2 million annually, derived from Twitch subscriptions ($60,000–$100,000 yearly for BotezLive, split with Andrea), YouTube ad revenue ($5,000–$8,000 monthly), poker winnings ($61,000 documented), sponsorships (e.g., GGPoker, Chess.com), and Instagram brand deals. Her net worth is estimated at $1–$2 million, per sources like FameImpact and TheCityCeleb, though exact figures are speculative.
She has dealt with some controversies. In 2021, a Reddit thread questioned the legitimacy of her rapid rating gains, but no evidence supported claims of impropriety, and the issue faded. She has been criticized for moving her content to poker and taking gambling sponsorships. This has led to posts online criticizing her for what they believe is hooking her fans into gambling. She has addressed how her sister is considered more popular than her since she is more personable, while Alex is more introverted and stoic. This has led to disappointment when Alex streams or does any content without Andrea.
As of May 2025, Alexandra, now 29, is based in Los Angeles and actively streaming on Twitch (@BotezLive) and YouTube, with recent content including chess matches, poker vlogs, and “Botez Abroad” episodes. She commentates for events like PogChamps 6 (April 2025) and competes in poker, with goals to improve her skills. She continues advocating for gender equality in chess and has no announced plans to return to competitive chess full-time or pursue other ventures.
