Bots that PLAY LIKE HUMANS — Future of CHESS TRAINING? | John Bartholomew PODCAST

What this episode covers

Check out the King's Gambit and other openings on Chessreps: https://www.chessreps.com/opening/kings-gambit Today my guest is IM John Bartholomew — one of the original chess YouTubers, chess coach, and a former co-founder of Chessable. We talk about what chess YouTube was like back in 2014, the gap between IMs and GMs, and whether Levy aka GothamChess can still make the GM title. We also discuss how online courses changed the way people learn chess, plus John’s new project Chessiverse and what “human-like” training bots could mean for chess improvement. And of course, we nerd out about the Scandinavian Defense (one of John’s signature openings) and then finish with a blitz game. Don’t miss it! Support me on Patreon: https://patreon.com/mustreader My DISCORD server: https://discord.gg/bXZN36xb My X: https://x.com/mustreader My channel with podcast highlights: https://www.youtube.com/@CwMClips My chess.com club: https://go.chess.com/MustreaderClub Collabs: [email protected] John's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JohnBartholomewChess John's X: https://x.com/fins0905 John’s project — Chessiverse: https://chessiverse.com Many thanks to my Patreon supporter: Sarterus 00:00 — Intro 00:50 — John: IM, educator, Chessable co-founder 01:51 — How Chessable started 04:44 — Was Magnus in the meetings? 05:33 — Chessable valuation? 08:33 — Chessiverse: best for beginners? 10:34 — Chessable vs Chessiverse: what’s different? 14:30 — Who is Chessiverse for? 16:39 — What “human-like bots” means 19:30 — The future of Chessiverse 20:30 — Chess.com bots vs Chessiverse 22:30 — Chess YouTube in 2014 25:20 — Competition in chess content 28:59 — Competing with GothamChess? 31:40 — Did John ever chase GM? 33:55 — Can Levy (GothamChess) become GM? 35:27 — How John trains now 36:34 — Splitting time between projects 38:24 — Why the Scandi works 41:12 — Blitz vs John 42:33 — Scandinavian tips for beginners 46:03 — Blitz begins Bots that PLAY LIKE HUMANS — Future of CHESS TRAINING? | John Bartholomew PODCAST John Bartholomew John Bartholomew podcast John Bartholomew interview IM John Bartholomew chess training future of chess training chess improvement improvement in chess how to get better at chess chess coaching online chess courses chess courses Chessable Chessable co founder Chessiverse Chessiverse bots can GothamChess become GM GothamChess GM Levy Rozman Scandinavian Defense Scandinavian defence how to play Scandinavian Defense Scandinavian Defense tips chess podcast chess with mustreader mustreader chess mustreader greg mustreader cwm My name is Greg Mustreader, I am a Candidate Master in chess, an entrepreneur and host of several podcasts. On the Chess with Mustreader channel, I interview top chess players, play against chess AIs, analyze the most interesting chess games and combinations of today and of the past, as well as show you my path in chess and the way I work on my chess improvement (including recaps from the tournaments I play). I live in Almaty, Kazakhstan and travel the world extensively (been to 50 countries). I'm 32 years old, I have a girlfriend, three dogs and four cats. I speak English, Russian, German, and a bit of French and Chinese. Don't forget to subscribe! #johnbartholomew #chess #chesstraining #chessimprovement #chesscoaching