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Ethereum King Buterin Loses Live Showdown to Twitch Chess Queen

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Ethereum Sport Vitalik Buterin

Last updated: June 26, 2023 06:54 EDT

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Tim Alper

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Tim Alper is a British journalist and features writer who has worked at Cryptonews.com since 2018. He has written for media outlets such as the BBC, the Guardian, and Chosun Ilbo. He has also worked...

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Last updated:

June 26, 2023 06:54 EDT

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Ethereum (ETH) co-founder Vitalik Buterin took a break from his crypto activities and met his match – on the chess board versus a National Canadian Team player and well-known Twitch-based chess streamer.

In a much-talked-about live-streamed faceoff versus Alexandra Botez, an International Chess Federation-recognized Woman FIDE Master and a five-time Canadian National Girls Champion. Buterin put on a brave show in a timed, 10-minute per person matchup on the Chess.com platform.

It was all smiles for both players, with no shortage of friendly chat throughout. But Botez, playing black, easily had the measure of her ETH architect opponent, checkmating him with over a minute to spare and three major (second-row) pieces left on the board.

Buterin’s supporters had hoped for an upset against Botez, with some even backing their man on online crypto betting forums. But the Twitch celebrity made easy work of her opponent – and even took the time to explain to him where he had gone wrong in their matchup, with the stream eventually turning into something of a chess lesson for the Ethereum mastermind.

Botez initially challenged Buterin on Twitter back on November 14.

Buterin is a keen amateur chess player and said that he has a 1,500 score on the open-source Lichess server. He said during the stream that he learned to play chess predominantly from his grandfather during visits to Russia as a young boy.

Botez mentioned that she had a number of crypto connections, mainly through her network of friends.

Some crypto community members said that the matchup had stirred up powerful emotions.

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Learn more: Ethereum Foundation Sold ETH To Novogratz At Premium In 2015