The Twitch streamer Tyler “Tyler1” Steinkamp (28) is known for not shying away from any challenge. His specialty is usually League of Legends, but “T1” seems confident: He has what it takes to be a chess grandmaster.
Since when does Tyler1 play chess? The Twitch streamer usually shows almost exclusively League of Legends and does not necessarily exhibit the characteristics expected of a strategic board player at first glance.
As part of the now 5th edition of the amateur tournament “PogChamps”, Tyler1 has now taken up chess. Also participating are well-known content creators like CDawgVA, Fuslie, Papaplatte, and xQc.
The game that wouldn’t end
How is Tyler1 doing so far? On the first matchday, Tyler1 faced the IRL streamer Yoo “Jinnytty” Yoonjin. The 28-year-old had a strong start and was able to capitalize on his advantage well, quickly getting the opportunity to checkmate his opponent.
Unfortunately, Tyler1 missed this chance. Perhaps he was simply pursuing a strategy that we mere mortals cannot comprehend. Even when the chance for checkmate arose a second time, the Twitch streamer showed mercy.
Combined with technical problems, this brilliant strategy ultimately caused the game to drag on for over an hour and a half. When Tyler1 ended the game with a masterful, almost accidentally seeming chess move, the commentators seemed just glad that it was over.
The second game could be decisively won by the experienced LoL player much faster. Thus, he became the first participant to win 0:2 against his opponent. All in all, it was a successful day for Tyler1, who could not understand the subsequent criticism of his technique at all.
Tyler1 rants about “backseat gaming” from the chess pro
How did the challenge come about? Levy Rozman, who holds the title of international master and has the honor of being a commentator at PogChamps 5, expressed his opinion on Tyler1’s playing skills after the match.
Rozman, who is currently ranked only at position 3591 in the world rankings, suggested that Tyler1 could work a bit on his openings and tune his performance a little. However, the Twitch streamer wanted nothing to do with that.
The 28-year-old is confident: “Let me face this guy 1v1. I’ll bet 10,000 [US Dollars] that I can beat him on the first try. Who is this guy to claim he can beat me at chess?”
In the same breath, Tyler1 also challenges chess grandmasters Hikaru Nakamura (“this Hikiru guy”) and Magnus Carlsen (“the Magnus Carlsen guy”): “I will crush them.”
The corresponding clip is embedded here:
How does the Twitch streamer plan to do that? Tyler1 explains that he simply levels up alongside his opponent. No matter who he would play against, his skills would adapt and he would perform at the same level as his opponent.
What are Tyler1’s chances? Hikaru Nakamura is ranked 2nd in the world rankings by the international chess organization FIDE. The first place is held by Magnus Carlsen. Tyler1, who brings little experience in chess, has quite a task ahead of him if he wants to “crush” the grandmasters.
As Reddit user justinotherpeterson notes: If there is anyone who could grind their way up to grandmaster purely out of spite, it would be Tyler1.
Finally, the Twitch streamer became the second player in 2022 to reach the highest rank with all five roles in League of Legends. However, in his attempt to start from scratch on a European server and climb to Challenger, he encountered logistical problems:
Twitch: The biggest streamer in LoL comes to Berlin – Asks if Germany is a third world country
