The new guest of my podcast is Alexander Grischuk, the legend and OG of chess, 3-time World Blitz Champion, and 5-time Candidates participant (top rating: 2810). Do not miss this episode!
Thanks very much for this interview! Grischuk is my favorite player from the last 20 years, and while I'm conversant in Russian, having the interview in English was a major plus.
Wow I've never heard Grischuk do an interview and I love what I'm hearing so far. Thanks for doing this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He seems like a super down to earth guy which I would not expect
I love his honesty, & his he doesn't care about what ppl think. He's so funny, in so many reasons, also how he's impatient. Both his impatience in interviews, & candid honesty make him great at improve comedy when he's just speaking his mind. Love it
For those who doesn't know, Grischuk had a bright future in criminal circles and could have easily made it to the *vor v zakone* rank (Thief in law), the highest rank in Russian organized crime, but he chose to become a Grand Master instead.
Alexander Grischuk Is the Chess Comedian. In one interview I remember him saying " This is the hall of fame i feel strange in this building, I should have a separate building called the hall of shame" hahaha laughs all around.
I absolutely love the comment where Grischuk says "I don't believe in long term goals". I'm reminded of a Zen saying, "It's ok to make plans for the future, but don't hold onto them too tightly."
Grischuck vision of how to create a safer online turnament experience is just Genius. I think this would be a very nice way to get more players to play in turnaments and more events for other strong players. Its so Nice to listen to all these top guys talking about Chess. Ty for making so Nice videoes. I loved this video with grischuck. He seems smart and very funny too. He is defently one of the best Chess players last 20 years and has showed why he is so good, not many people been 2800. I hope too see him more in top turnaments. One thing I always wondered, why and how does Grischuck use all his time and then start to play when he is in a complex posision. I can understand cassical and wating to check every Line and/or understand the posision more deeply but how is he getting away with using so much time and drawing or winning even he should be under some dangerous pressure. Amazing player. And I enjoy to watch both 960 and classical. Its kinda fun having to think about whats the best move 1 and sometimes you can even find better awnser then low depth engine they usally use, so its fun to watch! It would defently be fun to watch if somebody showed themself very creative and got very good in 960.
The comment about Prag makes me realise how hard Mikhail Botvinnik worked on openings. There is a photo of him aged 15 wearing glasses. Amazing. He never looked away from the screen, even before computers were invented.
Not only a great chess player, a very funny and intelligent man, but also a man of principle. Well done Alexander for putting bodily autonomy before prestige and monetary gain by not taking the shot. Incidentally the whole Niemann/Carlsen controversy started because Niemann was given a wild card to St Louis after Richard Rapport couldn't attend due to "visa issues". I suspect it is highly possible that Richard is a man of principle too. If so kudos to him too.
Damn! Didnt know about this podcast. I enjoyed it a lot. I dont know it was Sasha as guest or what. I m gonna see other episodes to decide. The questions where appropriately on the line although i preferred a little more dramatic approach in the pursuit of clearer answers. Overally best chess podcast i ve seen , gj!
Thanks! Check out other episodes, you’ll probably like them as well. The ones with Fabi and Naroditsky could be a good start. Also, the one with Dubov will be out in a couple of days, and it’s an awesome one
My favorite chess photo is of Grischuk. It's high-contrast and he looks like a crazed genius, and intense af. If you find it, you will know it's the one I'm referring to. It's awesome. Let us know if any of you find it.
He possitioned himself as best in the world at faster time controls, thats same as saying be is better than Magnus. that was before some blitz or bullet tournament where he didn't do so well
Not always. Years before he "found out" he talked about his chances of winning a blitz tournament Magnus was a part of. Specifially how he ranks higher at shorter time controls and that he is possibly best in the world at the extreme end. I think It was a female interviewer, it was much more than 5 years ago.
@@h.c.2108 first, online chess IS different than otb chess, second, years before Magnus didnt focus on online speed chess so there was no way of knowing duh and third saying he is the favorite in a blitz tournament doesnt mean he is better. Its just showing confidence about his own chances.
Yes, you are right. Hikaru was asked 'Do you believe anybody is better than you at speed chess?' and he answered 'Yes. Magnus Carlsen'. He is misremembering the lie detector video.
Is Grischuk implying that Gukesh's performance at the candidates was suspicious ? 36:55 - Describes him as a mysterious black box... Finds interesting the fact that Gukesh is less succesful in rapid&blitz and smiles without saying a word when asked to specify why he thinks it's the case. 40:21 - Explains that Gukesh's level at the candidates versus his usual level are so far apart that it makes the difference between eventually crushing Ding or being crushed by him.
I guess there are people who think it is a possible, but also they don't track him too much. About rapid formats, Gukesh hasn't had much time to focus on these formats. He began his career with an impressive olympiad 2022 run, so he got invited to top tournaments, and he needed to focus on them to prove himself. He did so well that he got spot to candidates, this took only 1 year. He prepared for candidates and won it with almost 18 years old. Then he has been focusing for WCC match, only with 18. About decent results in contrast with amazing results in classical tournaments, It is about seriousness, his not thag great result before candidates, it wasn't a great tournament, it was Prague tournament. He had a bad time, that he drops like 25 points, but all players have it, for example Pragg right now, the difference is Gukesh doesn't care that much about losing, he always risks for the win, that lead you to drop much more points that only drawing like Pragg. And the best proofs hi doesn't cheat, is on stream. You can see him so focused, his eyes movement with the close up zoom of cameras when he is with low time. Also his reaction losing to wei yi in tie breaks in tata steel 2024, and his painful reaction to alireza at candidates... Those reaction aren't from a cheater.
27:00 Grischuk doesn't have a goal in the traditional sense of "reaching x status/rating", his goal is plain and simply to win every game. If he played without the ambition to win, he wouldn't be where he is. It's so ingrained for him that he doesn't consider winning a goal, just a must.
I kind of see Chess 960 as more interesting than classical chess, because the positions are so varied. And I as a viewer can do "good" analysis, and be confident my analysis is not trash, because I can know that the players are not using engine lines for the first 25 moves or whatever - so my moves are not compared with engine moves. Edit: I hate eval bar. I wish they don't show it in streams.
Мне очень хотелось бы посмотреть это интервью, но жаль что на Английском. Но это моя личная проблема, а так было бы не плохо субтитры на русском добавить
Actually I think Thug Life originally comes from Tupac, he used it as a philosophy for life (not straight up gangster-ism) but I don't remember all the details
The new guest of my podcast is Alexander Grischuk, the legend and OG of chess, 3-time World Blitz Champion, and 5-time Candidates participant (top rating: 2810). Do not miss this episode!
Hikaru never said he was better than Magnus in speed chess during the lie detector pls don’t spread wrong information
we need duvov now
What a great player. One of my favorite and thank you for this interview in english.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Grischuk is a truly geniune person and that is why we all love him.
Very true
Grischuk will be the coach of Iran in the Olympiad. Good luck to him.
Good luck to him and all his players 😊
I hope he's trolling
Please invite Peter Svidler...can't wait you to interview him.
I already have invited him, hopefully we will make it happen
this man needs a weekly podcast. so refreshing to hear him talk about chess.
From Washington DC with love and respect for Alexander Grischuk.
Thank you for bringing awesome content like this to the English speaking audience! I love Sasha
thank you for this interview, I needed a Grischuk interview
Thanks very much for this interview! Grischuk is my favorite player from the last 20 years, and while I'm conversant in Russian, having the interview in English was a major plus.
Fascinating interview, great Grischuk, great person. Awesome interviewer, many thanks.
Grischuk is my all time favorite player. Love the guy
Wow I've never heard Grischuk do an interview and I love what I'm hearing so far. Thanks for doing this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He seems like a super down to earth guy which I would not expect
Another wonderful interview! Thank you
Grischuk is soo funny even without trying😂😂😂
"playing bullshit openings is not fun"
Thank you for doing this one in English 🙏
This is my favorite interview. With Grischuk, no bullshit, he says it as it is and he has a very good sense of humor. Thank you !
I love his honesty, & his he doesn't care about what ppl think. He's so funny, in so many reasons, also how he's impatient. Both his impatience in interviews, & candid honesty make him great at improve comedy when he's just speaking his mind. Love it
For those who doesn't know, Grischuk had a bright future in criminal circles and could have easily made it to the *vor v zakone* rank (Thief in law), the highest rank in Russian organized crime, but he chose to become a Grand Master instead.
Where did you hear this i cant find anything about it
Cap
@@thomasstephenson4043 that's not that kind of information that you can get in English-speaking part of the Internet, but it's true
He is also a very strong poker player, for those who don't know.
Чушь какую-то сморозил ты
I miss when Grischuk used to do commentary, it was more like a stand up. 😅
Grischuck Kings indian defense games allways impressed me
Alexander Grischuk Is the Chess Comedian. In one interview I remember him saying " This is the hall of fame i feel strange in this building, I should have a separate building called the hall of shame" hahaha laughs all around.
Absolute legend! Dude just says exactly what he thinks. Such a unique character. Best of luck to Sasha.
I felt like he was really pressured over the "Casual Game" :D ! Well done I loved the interview, he's keeping it 1 word answers as always
I absolutely love the comment where Grischuk says "I don't believe in long term goals". I'm reminded of a Zen saying, "It's ok to make plans for the future, but don't hold onto them too tightly."
Alexander Grischuk, thank you.
Fantastic interview, thank you.
If you can get Ivanchuk on your podcast, that would be epic 🙏
thnx, i really love Grischuk, my fav chess guy.
thanks for the interview with the legend
Loved this interview, thank you
Fantastic episode!!
@@IMKostyaKavutskiy Thanks Kostya! Glad to hear from you
Отличное интервью , Александр Игоревич легенда!
love this guy full of charisma , no BS, true Russian
true russians are living in poverty, or are rotting in the Ukrainian soil, comrade.
Grischuck vision of how to create a safer online turnament experience is just Genius. I think this would be a very nice way to get more players to play in turnaments and more events for other strong players.
Its so Nice to listen to all these top guys talking about Chess. Ty for making so Nice videoes. I loved this video with grischuck. He seems smart and very funny too. He is defently one of the best Chess players last 20 years and has showed why he is so good, not many people been 2800. I hope too see him more in top turnaments. One thing I always wondered, why and how does Grischuck use all his time and then start to play when he is in a complex posision. I can understand cassical and wating to check every Line and/or understand the posision more deeply but how is he getting away with using so much time and drawing or winning even he should be under some dangerous pressure. Amazing player. And I enjoy to watch both 960 and classical. Its kinda fun having to think about whats the best move 1 and sometimes you can even find better awnser then low depth engine they usally use, so its fun to watch! It would defently be fun to watch if somebody showed themself very creative and got very good in 960.
Great interview
as always very good question you have asked...fun interview
Grischuk strikes me as Magnus' older brother. They have very similar visions.
bro english is not my first language but in this interview he was prasing magnus right??when he was asked about magnus and hikaru
@@maheshdawani indeed!
@@Matthew-bu7fg thank you
"Ok, but some people believe in flat earth" ☠
And he believes that vaccines is bad for you thats the same thing 😅
The comment about Prag makes me realise how hard Mikhail Botvinnik worked on openings. There is a photo of him aged 15 wearing glasses. Amazing. He never looked away from the screen, even before computers were invented.
those guys wore glasses at young ages because they were working hard on chess
i wore glasses at young age because i was playing too many video games
Not only a great chess player, a very funny and intelligent man, but also a man of principle.
Well done Alexander for putting bodily autonomy before prestige and monetary gain by not taking the shot.
Incidentally the whole Niemann/Carlsen controversy started because Niemann was given a wild card to St Louis after Richard Rapport couldn't attend due to "visa issues".
I suspect it is highly possible that Richard is a man of principle too.
If so kudos to him too.
“Chess…it’s not like digging a hole.” -Alexander Grischuk
Grischuks suggestions are great for the future of chess.
Interviewer got a draw against Grischuk in blitz. Wow.
To be fair, Alexander had a significant advantage at the end. But for the time situation, I would be cooked xD
I really appreciate you doing the interview in English! There's so much great chess content coming out of Russia, but so often it's in Russian :(
Wow, amazing video! Keep going!
Damn! Didnt know about this podcast. I enjoyed it a lot. I dont know it was Sasha as guest or what. I m gonna see other episodes to decide. The questions where appropriately on the line although i preferred a little more dramatic approach in the pursuit of clearer answers. Overally best chess podcast i ve seen , gj!
Thanks! Check out other episodes, you’ll probably like them as well. The ones with Fabi and Naroditsky could be a good start. Also, the one with Dubov will be out in a couple of days, and it’s an awesome one
We need more crazy houses in every city 🤣🤣🤣 Absolutely love the dude ✊
I made a painting of this great chess player. Would love to send him a photo of it
Send it to my email, I’ll forward it to Alexander! Mazdrid at gmail com
My favorite chess photo is of Grischuk. It's high-contrast and he looks like a crazed genius, and intense af. If you find it, you will know it's the one I'm referring to. It's awesome. Let us know if any of you find it.
@@ClarkPotter I know the one you're talking about! it's a great one
that blitz game was the only moment he enjoyed
Hikaru never said he was better than Magnus in speed chess not even in the lie detector test. He has always said Magnus is better
He said that he's better at bullet but that's all.
He possitioned himself as best in the world at faster time controls, thats same as saying be is better than Magnus. that was before some blitz or bullet tournament where he didn't do so well
@@h.c.2108 huh??? He has always said Magnus was better.
Not always. Years before he "found out" he talked about his chances of winning a blitz tournament Magnus was a part of. Specifially how he ranks higher at shorter time controls and that he is possibly best in the world at the extreme end. I think It was a female interviewer, it was much more than 5 years ago.
@@h.c.2108 first, online chess IS different than otb chess, second, years before Magnus didnt focus on online speed chess so there was no way of knowing duh and third saying he is the favorite in a blitz tournament doesnt mean he is better. Its just showing confidence about his own chances.
Totally agree. I think Fischer Random is the way to go.
He is incredible ❤
I really want a grischuk hikaru beef now 😂😂.
great podcast, keep it up
Круто слушать вас,Саша Грищук любимый игрок,если читаешь,Саш,спасибо за моменты,радуешь всегда
I thought Hikaru said he thought Magnus was the best at speed chess in the lie detector video?
Yes, you are right. Hikaru was asked 'Do you believe anybody is better than you at speed chess?' and he answered 'Yes. Magnus Carlsen'. He is misremembering the lie detector video.
the guy got atleast 10 top GM, we should give him 10k.
He is also accusing Indian GM's of cheating while being fucking nobody
Is Grischuk implying that Gukesh's performance at the candidates was suspicious ?
36:55 - Describes him as a mysterious black box... Finds interesting the fact that Gukesh is less succesful in rapid&blitz and smiles without saying a word when asked to specify why he thinks it's the case.
40:21 - Explains that Gukesh's level at the candidates versus his usual level are so far apart that it makes the difference between eventually crushing Ding or being crushed by him.
I guess there are people who think it is a possible, but also they don't track him too much.
About rapid formats, Gukesh hasn't had much time to focus on these formats. He began his career with an impressive olympiad 2022 run, so he got invited to top tournaments, and he needed to focus on them to prove himself. He did so well that he got spot to candidates, this took only 1 year. He prepared for candidates and won it with almost 18 years old. Then he has been focusing for WCC match, only with 18.
About decent results in contrast with amazing results in classical tournaments, It is about seriousness, his not thag great result before candidates, it wasn't a great tournament, it was Prague tournament. He had a bad time, that he drops like 25 points, but all players have it, for example Pragg right now, the difference is Gukesh doesn't care that much about losing, he always risks for the win, that lead you to drop much more points that only drawing like Pragg.
And the best proofs hi doesn't cheat, is on stream. You can see him so focused, his eyes movement with the close up zoom of cameras when he is with low time. Also his reaction losing to wei yi in tie breaks in tata steel 2024, and his painful reaction to alireza at candidates... Those reaction aren't from a cheater.
@@pabelhernandez6186 Yes, I've got the same feeling as you do. I agree with all you said. In fact, this is why I was puzzled by Grischuk's comments.
Very interesting ‘read between the lines’ moment when he was asked about Gukesh.
27:00 Grischuk doesn't have a goal in the traditional sense of "reaching x status/rating", his goal is plain and simply to win every game. If he played without the ambition to win, he wouldn't be where he is. It's so ingrained for him that he doesn't consider winning a goal, just a must.
Greatest attitude ever! real psychology master grischuck!
Грищук говорит час на английском. Смотреть без регистрации и смс
That's the fastest I've seen Grischuk play
I cannot make out the "two words" mentioned at the beginning. Can someone tell what they were?
Thug life
На английском Грищук еще веселее :))
Hikaru actually said that he thought that Magnus was the better speed chess player.
The man himself.
Grischuk❤❤
I stopped smoking at 16. Would sell my soul to smoke with Grischuk!
Grischuk didn't drink once from his glass of water? 🤣
Would have liked to hear his opinion on Niemann 😅
Great interview We would like to see artemiev here someday
Красава Грэг, давно ждал этого харизматичного человека. Грищук легенда. Выпуск супер.❤
Спасибо!
Grischuk is a true legend of the game 🎉🎉
Does Alexander know that everybody loves him??
Shame you didn't ask about MVL. I'm very curious of what Grischuk thinks of him, both being faster time controls specialists
I kind of see Chess 960 as more interesting than classical chess, because the positions are so varied. And I as a viewer can do "good" analysis, and be confident my analysis is not trash, because I can know that the players are not using engine lines for the first 25 moves or whatever - so my moves are not compared with engine moves.
Edit: I hate eval bar. I wish they don't show it in streams.
What was Grischuk’s principled stance on the covid vaccine?
I still study Grishuk benoni games, trully a legend of chess and my 2nd favorite player after Shirov
Thanks a lot to Aleksandr
Грищук ещё и по-английски говорит?! С ума сойти. Легенда!
The Guti Hernández of podcasts
41:15 Grischuk really needs a second episode LOL
So sad he doesn't have the chance to play more
The friend must be Dubov
I also thought so!
Yeah, there's an interview where Dubov says he plays "kitchen chess" with Grischuk every week
I thought the interviewer was going to be gata kamsky
how do you study all your life chees and play on such level and ready like Fisher and Carlsen and Kramnik completely turn on real chess
"Le jeu d'échecs il à changé" A.G. 2024
Grischuk is a legend 😀
Miss you sascha
wait Alireza isnt considered as a young player anymore ??
GOAT
Gukesh's usual level has less than 1% chance of winning? Interesting.
17 years already with glasses 🤣
Сан кю Александер! Ит из олвейз грейт ту хир йо вью енд опиниьон!
so smart hybrid! nice me too great idea
Мне очень хотелось бы посмотреть это интервью, но жаль что на Английском. Но это моя личная проблема, а так было бы не плохо субтитры на русском добавить
Есть автоперевод. Да, он не самый корректный, но в целом понятно будет.
Actually I think Thug Life originally comes from Tupac, he used it as a philosophy for life (not straight up gangster-ism) but I don't remember all the details
at 33:07 you say that hikaru said he was the best speed chess player in the world and that is false, he said he thinks magnus is better than him