twitch-streamers-from-the-united-states

"It's crazy to me to have this kind of support and this kind of viewership online for chess. Chess has always been a passion of mine, but it was never something that was popular. It was never something I would have imagined would have grown to what it is today."

"The growth of chess has been so healthy on Twitch, and it's one of those games that is never going to die out. Chess has really survived the age of time. So I think it's gonna survive on Twitch as well."

"When it comes to our fans, when you meet people who watch Twitch, you mean a lot to them. But Twitch is still such a small world. So it's a very interesting bond, but I don't think it compares to mainstream fame."

"I never expected to have a career in chess. It was always a side hobby that I was really passionate about."

"Women in chess is not something very common. It has taken very long to get to the point where we're starting to change the stereotype that women are not genetically inferior to men at playing chess."

"With my first Twitch stream, like 60% of it was just people trying to flirt with me and chat, or people just commenting on my appearance the entire time. They didn't care about the game play at all."

"Sometimes it's the people who are your closest friends that think females are genetically worse at chess. I've often heard comments like, 'you're playing the girl, it's an easy win.' It gets in the back of your head when you've heard it for so long, and it messes with your sense of confidence. Maybe you start doubting yourself a little bit more, but you just try to keep fighting those thoughts."

"From day one I knew my first original techno track would be inspired by Queen's Gambit. For the last 6 months, I’ve reworked this idea a hundred times, until it finally felt authentic & wholeheartedly me."

"It doesn't matter what their social or economic background is — it's very cheap to play, and you can get good just by practicing. Kids from rural areas can play kids from private schools. It develops confidence and the ability to work with logic."

"That is the one fear that’s always in the back of your mind when you engage in any sort of political advocacy when you do these events. As a recipient of millions of death threats at this point over the years, watching that unfold in real time was devastating. I investigated a little bit further. I knew these kinds of events are filmed by many different points of view, because there’s a lot of people. Charlie Kirk’s whole team is there, they’re filming."

"Hasan Piker I'm coming to kill you, ... no in real life"

"I’m illegal in several countries!"

"Please, jack-in. Bring my body to yours in the meatspace. I want you to wear me like a wacky sock. Get lost in my grooves. Submit to my tightness! And compliment my digital folds made manifest."

"I must not get distracted by demon tiddies I must not get distracted by demon tiddies I must not get distracted by demon tiddies I must not get distracted by demon tiddies"

"I waited to make a statement, cuz I'm always anxious & struggle to find my words. But, yes, i'm leaving vshojo. I was an OG talent, put my everything into this comp. But I'm beyond devastated at what happened. & I never in a million years thought I'd be saying these words."

"You may wish to stuff, to really (Philip k.) Dick down this silky, smooth fabricated friend. But hold the urge, please. Tiptree might be cool with plugging into things, but I'm not sure if this pillow is machine washable."

"My pussy can drive men mad and throw them into the sea. My pussy can cause natural disasters. It is a force to be reckoned with— you’re just jealous."

"Jesus Christ... I feel sick[.] I won't be streaming today, instead keeping up with news. I'm so incredibly sorry to everyone involved and directly affected by this. This is a dark day..."

"It is machine washable ;)"

"Chess Life: Let’s begin by talking about your return to the Candidates tournament. What does it mean to you at this point in your career to be a Candidate once more? Hikaru Nakamura: First and foremost, it comes as a very pleasant surprise. It was not really an objective of mine when I chose to play in the (2022) FIDE Grand Prix. I was very fortunate to be granted a wild card by the FIDE president, Arkady Dvorkovich. I went into the event wanting to see if I could still cut it against the best players in the world. As most people know, I’ve been streaming a lot over the last couple of years. I didn’t really know what to expect, but I still feel I am quite competitive [with the top players]. I wanted to see how it would go, but there were really no illusions — or delusions, you could say — of qualifying for the Candidates for me.Even after the first event, which I did win, it [qualifying] was not anything that I was thinking about in a serious way. Then in the second event, probably one of the worst possible results [from my perspective] occurred with [GM] Richard Rapport winning, and [GM] Maxime [Vachier-Lagrave] and [GM] Anish [Giri] having fairly... decent results.Before the third event started, I knew the groups weren’t very favorable with [GM] Levon [Aronian] being in mine. I never really was thinking about [qualifying] until I won this game against Levon in the fourth round of the third FIDE Grand Prix. Prior to that, I knew there were chances. Everyone [was] talking about it when I’m streaming and so forth, but it really wasn’t something that I was thinking about."

"The chess world is officially a joke. THIS HAS NEVER BEEN DONE IN HISTORY. I can’t believe that the official body of chess is being controlled by a singular player FOR THE 2ND TIME THIS WEEK. THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE WORLD CHAMPION!"

"My entire life and career have been destroyed. I'll have to live with the fact that every conversation I have about chess, we'll eventually discuss anal beads."

"Chess speaks for itself."

"How. Am I. This! Fucking! Good?! Holy shit! I am the fucking best!"

"No matter the obstacles that I will face, no matter how much you try to blacklist me, no matter what you do to try to ruin my career or slander my reputation—these difficult times... have only invigorated me even more to reach the top of chess. There will be a day when I will be the best chess player in the world."

"I have never cheated in an over-the-board game. And other than when I was 12 years old I have never cheated in a tournament with prize money. I decided the only way to make up for my mistake was to prove that I could win over the board events. That has been my mission. And that is why I have lived in a suitcase and played 260 games in one year, trained for 12 hours a day, because I have something to prove."

"The feeling of loneliness is temporary. It can easily be replaced by another feeling or action. Now, when I'm feeling down, I pick up the phone and call a friend for a chat or to meet. How can you be lonely if there is always someone to reach out to or spend time with? Loneliness really is a state of mind. A thought is only as strong as you allow it to be."

"Politeness often blocks honesty. That seems to be the way of the world. Nobody wants to be the one who tells a person some uncomfortable, perhaps unflattering, home truths."

"imbued with the power to change you reclaim yourself"

"Renowned psychotherapist Carl Jung once said, "The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are." Think about that for a second: imagine being the unfiltered, no-pretend, don't-care-what-others-think, authentic version of you. Imagine that. Personally, I'm chasing that privilege that Carl Jung referred to: a true understanding of myself. I'm learning more about who I am on a daily basis. It's a constant search, but I'm lured by the promise of the discovery of gold nuggets, especially as I face some of life's most difficult questions, moments, and situations."

"Hard choices are never easy and nearly always stressful, especially when they affect the trajectory of the rest of your life. Growing up is full of many little steps, hops, and big leaps, none of them easy. Pushing myself to move out of my comfort zone was the best decision I've ever made. There are many bites to take out of this big wide world, and the opportunities are endless. The only thing holding you back from experiencing them is yourself and the false limitations you've imposed on yourself. Just you. No one else. Big leaps take time. Sometimes you just have to leap and have faith in yourself. I headed to LA and placed all my bets on this one trip, believing it would open a new chapter in my life. That was all I could hope for."

"All that pressure you feel when you're growing up - especially self-imposed pressure - is not fun. It's no walk in the park to feel as if all eyes are on you, even when 99 percent of the time they're actually not."

"Today, little things make me happy, like going for a walk, getting coffee with a friend, or creating something original. Really, I find happiness in everything now. We all go through grim times. But instead of resisting the struggle like I did, embrace it, accept it, and give the matter time to figure itself out."

"The world is filled with things that need fixing. All it takes to make a difference is an idea, a little initiative, and the determination to make it happen."

"Nothing is permanent."

"wildfire our love was like a wildfire it blazed and blazed and took down everything in its path but eventually every flame must go out"

"Knowing what I know now, there are a few things I would love to tell my younger self: have faith in yourself and what you're doing, keep on trekking, and trust that everything will fall into place. It's okay not to know where you're headed, so long as you keep moving forward. Just pick up the pieces along the way, accrue knowledge, keep learning, and keep going. [...] Eventually, you'll reach a place in your life where you'll stop, glance over your shoulder, see the completed circle, and finally understand the reason why your journey took you down a strange path."

"The initial shock of coming out was strange and a bit uncomfortable. But after a few weeks, everything got so much better. The best way to describe it is that I simply felt light, free of a burdensome secret that was weighing on not only my mind but my entire being. After I was able to utter the words "I am gay" to other people, I was overcome with relief, as if saying those words purged built-in toxins from my body. I felt alive again. Healed from the inside. Renewed. Empowered."

"It's strange to think we're brought up in a world that judges us for putting ourselves first. Somehow, to think of ourselves first and others second has come to sound so incredibly selfish - and that just makes my stomach churn and my teeth grind. How unfair! How misguided! Because here's what I've learned (and what no one seems to teach us in life): you have to make YOU a priority and think in terms of what's good for yourself and your higher interests. […] Instead of thinking of an action as selfish, with all the negative connotations that this word carries, I view it more positively as "looking after myself.""

"The only way to crack a real problem is to face it. Look your issues dead in the eye and sort out the beef between you."

"You have control over your thoughts; thoughts do not have control over you. They're like little dirt specks on the windshield of life that you simply need to wipe away. […] We give dark thoughts our power. Why would we ever think that mere thoughts are stronger than us? They're not. We can outwit them. Rule them. Survive them. They represent internal stormy weather ... and all storms pass. [...] You know that positivity exists - you only have to sift through the rubble a bit."

"Finding yourself is a lifelong journey. Everyone's path to self-discovery is bound to be different."

"Take it from someone who has changed his mindset: you can make "now" the place you want to be. Rub your eyes, focus, and see what's right in front of you: the gift of life. What you do with that gift is up to you. Every decision you take today is a building block for the future that awaits you."

"I would rather have one amazing best friend than a hundred decent regular friends. It's not about quantity, it's about quality. True friendship is counted in memories, experiences, and troubles shared; it's a bond built up over time in person, not a virtual tally on the Internet. It finds you; you don't find it. A relationship forms, you discover common interests, and you realize this bond is the closest thing to romance that is possible. Yes, that's it: true friendship is a relationship without sex or attraction. It doesn't judge, gossip, flake, and get envious. It stands by you through thick and thin. It supports you at your lowest ebb and celebrates with you at your highest point. It allows you to be yourself, good and bad. And it's a two-way street: you give and take equally. Whether it's the friends who have walked with you or the friends who await you in the future, the value of true friendship is golden."

"There have been instances when I've spent more time worrying that I'm missing out on something than actually enjoying what's right in front of me. And there, my friends, is the lesson to be learned. Life should be more about living in the moment than fearing what's happening outside it. It's about honoring what you want to do at any given time, regardless of what everyone else is doing."

"This is what happens in high school. We're exposed to what's not familiar while trying to work out who we are. We explore, make bad decisions, and learn from them. That's what high school is about: finding yourself, figuring out what makes you tick. Oh, the joys of being a complicated human."

"Relationships are fire - they're about chemistry. No spark, no go. Once you find someone you find visually pleasing, you pursue him or her. If you discover that you also enjoy this person's personality, interests, and company and the feeling is mutual, you move to dating. If you're lucky enough for that to go well, you take it a step further and make it official. Congratulations! You're in a relationship with a real person! NICE! These three basic steps may sound simple and easy, but if you've ever made a real attempt at them, you'll find otherwise. Love is hard. Really hard! Love is about sitting in silence and enjoying every second of it simply because your partner is sharing it with you. Love is about reading another person's mind and finishing his or her sentences - because you know that person that well. Love is about wanting to be as physically close as possible because you can't get enough of the other's smell, feel, or mere presence. Love is about putting another person before yourself because, quite simply, when that person is happy, you're happy. Love is about staying in on the weekend, ordering Indian food, and putting on a new documentary because you wouldn't want to be with anyone else. [...] Love is love - an energy that fuses souls. [...] That love is out there. It exists and finds us all. And I hope you all find that one person who makes you want to ignore your phone and get lost in his or her company. That person is waiting for you (or maybe you have already found him or her)."

"Parents don't understand cool. Never have. Never will."

"Know what you want and follow your gut. It's hard to truly know what you want and who you are. It's even harder to attune yourself to that inner voice that tells you what your heart is saying. You know it when something feels off, when you bristle, when you hear one big, fat screaming "NO!" in your head. Whatever the personal decision - in conversation, friendship, dating, career - pay attention to what your gut says, and not necessarily what you're told and what you think you should think (because then you'll overthink it). I always stick with my gut decision."

"In a world that appears to indulge in negativity, I find we need to do our best to share the good. Too many shows, blogs, and newspapers spew pessimism, seemingly dedicated to tearing people down and picking them apart, piece by piece until there's nothing left. This horribly judgmental trend has no point, save for spite and harm. […] Rarely does anyone have anything nice to say anymore. It's a playground of sore shut-ins bitching and gossiping, where people drag others down for their own twisted entertainment. Thankfully […] goodness and kindness remain in abundance out there. Good people do exist, even if most of them are not known to the wider public and live their lives under the radar. […] We need to spread love, kindness, and empathy to the masses. […] Pause for a second and think of something nice to say instead of indulging in pointless negativity. […] And you watch: the more you do it, the more the kindness will spread out like a ripple."