Chess streamer Nemo Zhou hasn’t been able to get anyone to play against her in a New York City park. [Image: Shutterstock.com]
Nemo struggles to fit in the crowds in New York City
FIDE Master, Woman Grandmaster, and WPT Global Ambassador Nemo Zhou tried to put together a video ranting some New York chess players, but things didn’t quite go as planned. Players who were hoping Nemo would return to the high-stakes business after last year’s poker controversy will be disappointed that she seemed unable to find a video opponent.
Nemo’s latest reel, posted to her Chess Instagram account on Tuesday, shows her trying to muster some action. In one case, she wanders into a park and approaches a game and asks, “Hey. Would you be down for playing?… No… Oh, okay.”
Streamer vs. hustler is a popular sub-genre of chess videos, the one previously shared by Nemo. Unfortunately for Nemo, this time she had already blown her cover.
Two other players reject her over a game in an Instagram video. Eventually, Nemo realized word was out on her. “I shouldn’t have played Paul first,” she laments.
To steal Peter, don’t play Paul first
In November 2022, Nemo releases a videotape opposite the Trickster on her Youtube channel Where she played the role of a player known as “Russian Bull”.
He is known in the New York chess scene as one of the “end bosses” in New York City Chess
Paul won the match, but she fought hard and went down with time in the end. Unfortunately for Nemo’s tumultuous prospects in the future, Russian Paul has quite the reputation. He is known in the New York chess scene as one of the “end bosses” in New York City Chess.
The success of Nemo’s streaming and FIDE rating has given it its fame, but among New York lumberjack fans, giving Russian Paul a run for his money gives it the fame.
Poker scandal
Nemo’s notoriety is not limited to the world of chess gambling.
Many chess players, including world champion Magnus Carlsen, have turned to poker. Nemo’s transition to poker was derailed recently when she was criticized for her giveaway competition.
Zhou gave the award to poker coach, Alex “Thallo” Epstein
A newcomer to the game, Zhou won a WPT package worth $12,400 in an online tournament in November 2022 and decided to give it away to one of her YouTube subscribers. In the end, Zhou gave the award to her poker coach, Alex “Thallo” Epstein.
She was allegedly dating Epstein at the time and the leaked messages from Thallo appeared to show him trying to sell the package ahead of the raffle. These circumstances have led to accusations of giveaway tampering.
Zhou initially replied that she “wouldn’t feel bad about giving [the package] For the person I think deserves it the most.”
She eventually deleted her initial response and apologized, writing that she had “mistaken”. She added that she just wanted to be involved [her poker success] With Thallo, who invested hours and hours in helping me improve my game” and “drift”.
Chu eventually reintroduced the giveaway with Epstein disqualified from the competition, mollifying her critics somewhat.
Since then, she has largely returned to producing the kind of chess content on which she initially built her career. However, viewers can likely expect that there will be far fewer streaming videos versus scam videos.
