The following article is an excerpt from a large article titled Best Chess Podcasts: The Ultimate Guide To Chess Podcasts in 2022. Despite the “Review” in the title, it is primarily a subjective look at the landscape of chess podcasting and, as such, isn’t “objective” by any means. In this post/series of posts, I will share my impressions about different chess podcasts.
About the podcast
Cover Stories With Chess Life is one of the four podcasts hosted by US Chess, the official chess federation of the United States. It is a monthly podcast hosted by John Hartmann, the editor of the official magazine of the federation Chess Life, in which he invites the author of the cover story of the latest issue of the magazine to discuss the article itself, but also things from other areas of chess.
And life.
My impressions of the podcast
Even though I was familiar with John Hartmann due to his appearances on the Perpetual Chess Podcast and his extremely meticulous, detailed, and rigorous book reviews posted on his website chessbookreviews.wordpress.org, I never actually had the opportunity to interact with him 1 until April 2022, when I decided to quit my job at Chessable and pursue the career of chess freelancer.
Just around that time, I got into contact with John in regard to writing a report on the Grand Prix Series for the June edition of Chess Life. He very graciously provided me with the opportunity to write an article and – against my wildest expectations – ended up turning it into a Cover Story and inviting me as a guest on the episode of the Cover Stories with Chess Life podcast.
Throughout my work on the article and our conversation on the podcast, I got to learn that John is not only an extremely dedicated, meticulous, and hard-working editor, but also a much warmer and gentler person than it sometimes seems from his online writing and activity. The reason why his writing/book reviews can sometimes come across as harsh is the combination of his genuine care when it comes to the quality of the chess content and his genuine concern related to certain negative trends in the world of chess publishing, or even the chess industry as a whole.
Why is all this relevant? Because John’s warmth, extreme knowledge of the chess world, meticulousness, and attention to detail that make him such a good book reviewer and editor, his boundless love for the game and his very high sense of morality and ethics are all very much reflected in every single episode of Cover Stories with Chess Life.
For example, I was very impressed by the level of preparation and amount of research John did for my own appearance. He not only went over my chess writing but even dug up my dormant pop-psychology blog. Furthermore, his genuine curiosity – both with the recorder turned off and on – made me feel very valued and comfortable throughout the episode. He definitely gave me more than enough spotlight, while he also didn’t hesitate to include his own voice and ask some relatively uncomfortable questions related to my work at Chessable and my opinion of the platform and its publishing trends.
From what I have heard, this combination of extreme preparation, enthusiasm, curiosity, and John’s own voice is present in every other episode in the podcast and it usually leads to very interesting and engaging conversations, almost irrespective of who the guest is.
Of course, that is not to say that the guest list of the Cover Stories with Chess Life podcast is unimpressive. As you would expect from a high-profile magazine, very often the cover story is written by prominent names of the chess world that then also appear on the podcast. Thus, you will find names of top players such as Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Sam Shankland, renowned coaches such as Jacob Aagard or John Donaldson, or well-known grandmasters such as Elshan Moradiabadi or Alexander Lenderman on the list of guests that appeared on the show.
On the other hand, given that John often provides lesser-known personalities 2 to write a cover story, the guest list is also very diverse and features very interesting guests you don’t have the opportunity to listen to every day, such as Adisa Banjoko, the founder of the Hip Hop Chess Federation or Caroline King, sister of FM Alex King and photographer who shot the cover photo of the July edition of the Chess Life Magazine.
Why don’t I listen to it more regularly?
As I was writing the lines above, I once again asked myself the same question. Here are some of my thoughts on the matter:
- First of all, the more podcast reviews I write, the more I realize I have an inclination toward podcasts with a standard cast of hosts and prefer them to hosts that feature a different guest in every other episode.
- Secondly, what I wrote about the 64: A Chess Podcast when we talk about knowing the guests in advance definitely applies to Cover Stories with Chess Life. The guests of the podcast are usually not announced publicly in advance – which is understandable given that it is not always known in advance who will be the author of the Cover Story, but it makes it a bit more difficult to get excited about the episode ahead of time.
- Thirdly, the Chess Life magazine and, consequently, Cover Stories with Chess Life podcast do have an American-centered angle when it comes to the coverage and discussion of chess events in the world. It is very natural for a publication/podcast officially backed up by US Chess and there is nothing inherently wrong with that, of course. But given the abundance of other chess podcasts out there,
So long story short, Cover Stories with Chess Life is a great podcast hosted by a very well-prepared, enthusiastic, and curious host. I would particularly recommend it to the US audience and people subscribed to Chess Life Magazine, although it definitely has something to offer for everyone!
Notable episodes of the podcast
- I would lie if I didn’t say I was really excited and thrilled to have the opportunity to write an article for Chess Life and be featured as a guest in a podcast episode. It may be a small step for the chess world, but it was certainly a giant leap for my own attempt to make it as a chess freelancer and I am very thankful to John for the opportunity.
- I found episode number 41 with GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave very interesting, as it was filmed directly after his successful performance in the World Rapid and Blitz Championship held at the end of 2021, so it was a very unique opportunity to hear a very fresh impression from a top-player and a newly crowned World Blitz Champion.
- I really liked episode number 44 with GM Elshan Moradiabadi. I got to interact briefly with Elshan during my Chessable days and he immediately strike me as a very modest and authentic person and as someone who genuinely loves chess and cares for his students as a coach.
- Last but not least, I really liked episode number 33 with Adisa Banjoko, simply because he is not your average chess guest and because I found his impressions of the chess world and his relationship with the game fascinating and entertaining.