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

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.

Here are the timestamps. Please check out our sponsors to support this podcast. 0:00 - Introduction & sponsor mentions: - Notion: https://notion.com - Athletic Greens: https://athleticgreens.com/lex to get 1 month of fish oil - ExpressVPN: https://expressvpn.com/lexpod to get 3 months free - InsideTracker: https://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

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

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.

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

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

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 😂

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.

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