GothamChess: Hans Niemann, Magnus Carlsen, Cheating Scandal & Chess Bots | Lex Fridman Podcast #327

Here are the timestamps. Please check out our sponsors to support this podcast. 0:00 - Introduction & sponsor mentions: - Notion: notion.com/ - Athletic Greens: athleticgreens.com/lex to get 1 month of fish oil - ExpressVPN: expressvpn.com/lexpod to get 3 months free - InsideTracker: insidetracker.com/lex to get 20% off 1:09 - Elo rating 2:13 - chess.com/ vs lichess.org/ 13:04 - Teaching chess 17:32 - Magnus Carlsen 32:47 - Greatest chess player of all time 37:30 - Hans Niemann cheating scandal 38:59 - Pin of Shame 53:07 - Bullying 54:59 - Indonesia incident 1:06:34 - Retiring from chess 1:13:11 - Death 1:16:53 - Streamers 1:30:29 - Hans Niemann cheating scandal continued 2:08:11 - Magnus Carlsen's statement 2:19:32 - Podcasts 2:21:59 - Parasocial interaction 2:25:49 - How to cheat in chess 2:35:34 - Reddit questions 2:41:58 - Chess boxing 2:50:44 - Chess bots 2:56:26 - AlphaZero 3:02:13 - Did Hans Niemann cheat? 3:09:29 - Chess openings 3:14:09 - Magnus Carlsen's poker game 3:16:51 - Chess advice 3:23:12 - Depression

Thank you for having me, Lex! It was a pleasure to meet you and to speak with you.

If I wanted serious chess lessons, I might buy a book. If I wanted someone to throw a book at me when I hang a queen, I watch Levy. Levy's value I do not think he can see from the back of his own eyes. His personality is immensely captivating, and I have found myself listening to his youtube videos not to learn chess, but to just listen to his entertaining narration and self-deprecating humor, even while I do other things. If he wasn't a chess guy, he'd be a natural showman. His value isn't the chess, his value is that he makes chess captivating, funny, and entertaining, and somewhere in there you learn some chess along the way. Levy is a narrator. And one of the best.

This is like when people from different parts of your life meet at your wedding. I'm so happy Gotham and Lex know each other.

1:16:43 Lex: "Alright, what do you think happens after we die." Levy: "Oh man" Lex: "No, that's a rhetorical question" Laughed so hard at this 😂

I swear Lex has access to my Youtube home page based on the guests he has on here

The interview speaks for itself

Its strange to see him with a slower pace and lower, calmer energy, its a night and day difference, and yet he's still very captivating

I think Lex missed an opportunity to get Levy's candid opinion of Hikaru. Very good interview though.

Lex is slowly turning into a chess Podcaster and I am here for it

The crossover we didnt expect but we needed

This crossover is everything

Being someone that casually plays chess and doesn't follow the game, I thought this was a great conversation. Not a "lame" guest at all.

This is first time I’ve ever seen Levy not sitting in his apartment and it’s never gonna get better than this

Another collaboration I didn't know I needed until it happened. Levy's passion for chess is absolutely infectious.

Fell asleep listening to this and had a dream that I was in a competitive chess team winning a bunch of matches but for some reason one of the coaches said I owed him and made me do underground chess games for him. I woke up at the 2 hour mark.

This has been one of my favorite episodes. Super unexpected guest but very insightful as someone who loves your podcast and someone who’s trying to be better as a chess player and human every day. Thank you both for the great 3 hours

1:40:33 props to the video editor who synced Levy and Hans saying "chess speaks for itself"

What a crossover, not completely left field after the Botez sisters! Love it! insert obvious call-out for Hikaru to be on the show

Wow, Levy just commented on the Botez interview just a little while back and now he’s on the show! Well done to Lex and Levy for making this happen so quickly