Today I’m joined by Jan Henric Buettner — co-founder of Freestyle Chess, one of the boldest projects in the chess world. We talk about why chess, in its current form, may never truly become mainstream, what has to change, and what chess can learn from Formula 1. We also discuss the difference between classical chess and Freestyle Chess, and why Jan believes the future belongs to Freestyle. We dive into the FIDE vs Freestyle conflict and why Hikaru Nakamura, one of the biggest names in chess media, is not part of the project. Don’t miss it!

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My channel with podcast highlights: https://www.youtube.com/@CwMClips

My chess.com club: https://go.chess.com/MustreaderClub

Collabs: [email protected]

Listen on:

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/chess-with-mustreader/id1745521337

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2mU5WbBXgDklyN3jm6GMSN

All platforms: https://mustreaderchess.mave.digital

My podcast with Levon Aronian: https://youtu.be/3EuVAo74L4U

My podcast with Fabiano Caruana: https://youtu.be/1LMPYFf1iLo

My podcast with Wei Yi: https://youtu.be/TeQ-yS9EWRY

My podcast with Anish Giri: https://youtu.be/eFWwfFySx2Q?si=kJmwzyxph6XJ2Jdp

My podcast with Erik Allebest: https://youtu.be/1cCrMcUTDj8

And other LEGENDS: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkAzovIvBvGxzaDCVwmo-ZJDtrilrJLjS

Many thanks to my Patreon supporter: Sarterus

00:00 — Intro

01:16 — Freestyle World Championship

03:14 — “It turned out very differently”

04:30 — How Freestyle Chess began

08:58 — What went wrong with Freestyle?

12:53 — What’s next for Freestyle?

17:48 — Why the Freestyle Tour struggled

21:01 — Chess is not interesting?

24:14 — Freestyle more interesting than classical?

26:43 — Freestyle struggles with funding

29:18 — What Freestyle achieved in 2.5 years

31:35 — Can chess be Formula 1?

35:55 — How to make chess watchable

39:52 — Why not rapid instead of Freestyle?

41:04 — Magnus’s choice

41:27 — Freestyle or rapid: same thing?

44:15 — Chess media is just getting started

45:58 — FIDE vs Freestyle

50:50 — World Championship without Hikaru

53:06 — Gukesh took Hikaru’s place

55:41 — World Championship qualification

57:23 — How can chess become profitable?

01:02:54 — ChessCom — the most successful chess company?

01:04:13 — Jan on his own chess level

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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