The Best Chess Podcast: Top Five Picks
Have you ever wanted to learn chess directly from grandmasters? A chess podcast is a great way to hear players talk about their experiences and offer insights into the game. There are many chess podcasts available and they cover every topic you can imagine. From learning new openings to deep dives into chess history, and entertaining chats with chess influencers, podcasts offer an easy way to learn more about the game.
In this article, we will discuss why podcasts are a great medium for chess content and look at five of the best ones for our readers.
Why Listen to Chess Podcasts?
If you decide to learn a new opening, your first thought might be an online article or YouTube video. Learning with a visual aid is perhaps the simplest way to get to grips with chess concepts – so why bother with a podcast?
- They offer more than just practical advice.
As we’ll see when we look at some specific chess podcasts, they offer a great deal more than study. Discussions with chess experts offer insights into the world of chess.
You can find the answers to questions like: What it is like to attend a major chess tournament? How did grandmasters feel during big games? How has chess changed over the years?
Beyond the game itself, podcasts give us a window into the world of professional and amateur chess.
- They are entertaining.
In recent years, the number of people playing chess has grown incredibly. This has created a new generation of chess influencers, streamers, and personalities, many of whom are regular guests on podcasts. Chess has always attracted an eclectic range of personalities. Hearing about some of the dramas and scandals from the chess world can make for riveting listening.
But it's not all fun and games, for the serious chess history buff, many podcasts offer the chance to hear from and about legends of the game.
- They can help you improve as a player.
Many podcasts have discovered engaging ways to introduce you to new concepts in chess. These include learning specific openings, tactics, and combinations. Listening with a board next to you can be an excellent way to improve, gaining expertise from qualified players and enthusiasts.
Moreover, improving as a chess player is not just about analyzing games. The experts who frequent chess podcasts introduce useful concepts related to tournament play, training, and chess psychology.
Top Five Picks
There are a lot of chess podcasts to choose from and finding a good one can take some time.
The following are five top podcasts for expanding your knowledge. I’ve ranked them based on how insightful, useful, and interesting they are. However they are all excellent options for chess players and enthusiasts.
Best Chess Podcast: Perpetual Chess
With over 2 million streams, Perpetual Chess is one of the most popular chess podcasts and for good reason.
The host, Ben Johnson, is a chess author and gained the title of USCF Master at the age of 18. Like many of his listeners, he is a busy adult whose passion for the game is juggled alongside the requirements of work and family. Nevertheless, his enthusiasm for chess stands out among content creators and he is an excellent and thoughtful interviewer.
His guests are a diverse range of famous chess players, trainers, authors, and chess influencers from the world of online chess. This includes top players like Hikaru Nakamura and Viswanathan Anand. Topics cover chess news, recent tournaments, history, controversies in chess, and improvement strategies.
For adult improvers looking to expand their knowledge of chess, this is a natural choice. It is a great starting point, and my selection for the best chess podcast.
Related: Perpetual Chess Improvement by Ben Johnson
2. Cover Stories with Chess Life
This exceptional podcast expands on the cover story from each issue of Chess Life. It usually takes the form of an in-depth discussion with a GM or WGM. The editor of Chess Life and host of Cover Stories, John Hartmann, takes a more formal approach than Ben Johnson, keeping the topic well-grounded in the cover story. This is often a recent chess tournament, event, or match.
The podcast isn’t just for the most serious players though. The high-profile guests offer fascinating insights through their experiences in the chess world that everyone can appreciate. However, given the journalistic style, those looking to focus solely on chess improvement may want to choose a different one.
3. New in Chess
New in Chess is also based on a magazine, this time of the same name. Over the last 35 years, New in Chess magazine has interviewed the best players in the world, and the podcast follows suit. Fascinating episodes include a discussion of the 2024 Chess Olympiad with Judit Polgar and a conversation with Hikaru Nakamura about streaming. While Magnus Carlsen discusses the future of chess.
In “The Essential Sosonko” episodes, GM Gennadi Sosonko's New in Chess writings are read out audiobook-style. These episodes, “rather than being technical, chronicle the lives of the former and current top players with whom he has crossed plans.” This is a wonderful opportunity to enjoy personal insights into the greats of chess history through portraits of players like Mikhail Botvinnik, Garry Kasparov, and Mikhail Tal.
4. Chess Journeys: Tales of Adults Improvement
Chess Journeys follows a wonderfully simple structure. Each episode hosts someone at a certain point in their chess journey. This includes the entire rating range from titled players to sub-1000 rated players.
The guests talk about everything you can imagine chess-related and offer plenty of invaluable advice on how to develop as an adult improver. The focus on developing as a chess player and facing the ups and downs of learning the game is excellent for beginners, intermediates, and advanced players.
The great thing about Chess Journeys is that no matter your rating and how you are feeling about your performance, you can find someone who’s going through the same thing. This is something that no other chess podcast is doing and is great to see.
5. Best Chess Podcast For Learners: The Chess Angle
The Chess Angle is the official podcast of the Long Island Chess Club and is hosted by its director, Neal Bellon. With a range of professional and amateur players as guests, they are predominantly focused on improving your chess game.
That said, they still cover a good variety of topics including improving ratings, how to get into and perform in tournaments, playing under different time controls, and many more.
While the host is perhaps not the most concise, he has years of experience and for developing players offers extremely useful advice, especially when it comes to tournaments.
Picking the Best Chess Podcast for You
Subscribing to podcasts like these does more than give you the occasional chess tip, it helps you to become part of a community. If you subscribe to many of these podcasts with an email address, you can get updates about episode updates, chess news, and event announcements.
The podcasts above have hundreds of hours of content and give you a sense of the scope of passion for chess. All of them contain invaluable expertise and interesting stories, but if you're not sure where to begin, Perpetual Chess is my recommendation.
Ultimately, the best podcast for you is one that gets you excited about chess and aligns with your interests and level of knowledge. Listen to an episode here and there to see which option you find the most interesting.