Today my guest is one of the world’s top players and a 2026 Candidates participant — Anish Giri! We cover all the hottest topics: how Anish is preparing for the Candidates, who he thinks are the main favorites, why the Candidates matter so much for Hikaru, Fabi’s road to the world title, and a few spicy thoughts about Magnus. We also talk chess improvement, whether Freestyle could replace classical, and what it takes to win the Candidates. As always, we finish with a blitz game — followed by Anish’s post-game review. Don’t miss it!

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Many thanks to my Patreon supporter: Sarterus

00:00 — Intro

01:08 — Candidates qualification — surprised?

02:34 — Why 2025 clicked

06:08 — “I almost quit chess”

08:57 — What went wrong in your classical chess?

12:19 — Did the WC dream bring you back?

17:22 — Fabi and online chess

19:42 — The most important tournaments

21:44 — Anish on the WC cycle

24:22 — Are Candidates bigger than the WC match?

25:28 — Are Candidates everything for Hikaru?

27:38 — Who’s most motivated to win Candidates?

29:57 — What score wins the Candidates?

32:05 — Candidates strategy: solid or sharp?

34:50 — Anish reacts to Magnus’s Candidates tier list

39:52 — Anish’s Candidates tier list

45:17 — Who are Anish’s seconds for Candidates?

45:59 — Best way to improve in chess

49:28 — How Anish adjusts his prep

52:04 — Everyone hides prep for Candidates

54:21 — Why Anish skipped Freestyle events

01:00:24 — Could Freestyle eclipse classical?

01:05:16 — Anish’s new project

01:10:44 — A must-have chess app

01:17:41 — How players trained before apps

01:18:41 — Why Anish believes in the project

01:24:51 — Blitz vs Anish

01:30:22 — Game review with Anish

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greg mustreader

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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.

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