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
Chicken Chess Club Podcast is a relative newcomer on the scene of chess podcasting, with the first episode launched on 20th April 2022.
It is a weekly chess podcast hosted by three household names of the chess world – grandmasters Jan Gustafsson, Laurent Fressinet, and Peter Heine-Nielsen in which they catch up and discuss recent happenings in the world of chess, the world of chess politics, and – last but not least – their own personal lives.
My impressions of the podcast
When the first episode of the Chicken Chess Club Podcast was launched, I listened to it immediately and have been immediately hooked. I haven’t missed a single episode since. Chicken Chess Club is definitely my number 1 priority when that dreadful Tuesday with all the new Podcast episodes arrives.
There are several reasons why I find this podcast both fascinating and entertaining at the same time. All three hosts of the Chicken Chess Club are deeply immersed in the world of professional chess and are on the brink of information related to anything relevant happening.
GM Peter Heine Nielsen has been the main coach of the Viswanathan Anand’s Team in World Championship Matches in 2008, 2010, and 2012 and the main coach of the World Champion Magnus Carlsen since 2014. Laurent Fressinet and Jan Gustafsson were also members of Magnus Carlsen’s team for the 2018 and 2021 World Chess Championships, while the former has also worked with some well-known players, such as Vladimir Kramnik, in the past.
As far as I know, no other chess podcasts 1 are hosted by someone who has such a highly accomplished chess career and similar credentials. Virtually no other podcast provides the listener with such a unique dive into the world of professional chess and such a unique perspective about the historical moments, players, personalities, and events. The podcast is full of interesting titbits and entertaining stories from top-level tournaments, chess events, and chess training camps. Given that I am a big lover of chess history and chess world championship matches – I can simply never get enough of them!
To be honest, even if the hosts of the podcast were the biggest douchebags on the planet, I would probably still listen to it purely for the chess content. However, what makes the Chicken Chess Club podcast even more amazing are the personalities and characters of the three main protagonists – and their interpersonal dynamics!
One thing I learned about chess players in the last decade or so 2 is that they either have an atrocious or absolutely mesmerizing sense of humour. I honestly count some of the personalities from the chess world among the funniest, wittiest, and most hilarious people I ever had the opportunity to meet 3 – and Gustafsson, Fressinet, and Nielsen definitely fall into this category.
All three hosts of the podcast are extremely sarcastic and ironic individuals who have a great – albeit very dry – sense of humour and who don’t take themselves too seriously. 4 Literally every episode is filled with their illicit banter, mutual mockery, jokes, and sarcastic remarks that immediately put a smile on my face – irrespective of whether we are talking about Gustafsson mocking Heine Nielsen for his FIDE President campaign slogans, Fressinet for his „Frenchness“ or complaining about having to play chess, Fressinet, and Nielsen arguing who has a more accomplished chess career or trio determining which player is worthy of the prestigious „Chicken of the Week“ title.
To put it simply – due to the unique insight into the chess world and the extreme amounts of mutual mockery, sarcasm, irony, and dry humour, the podcast is incredibly instructive and entertaining to listen to. I wholeheartedly recommend it to everyone – especially to people who follow Mr. Dodgy on Twitter, given that he is the main producer of the show!
Notable episodes of the podcast
Since Chicken Chess Club Podcast doesn’t feature any guests, it is very hard to pinpoint notable episodes since the format of every episode is relatively similar. Still, if I had to single out one episode and recommend it to someone who hasn’t yet listened to this podcast, I would probably mention the Candidates Prediction Special where the trio made an in-depth analysis of each participant of the upcoming Candidates Tournament 2022.
It was quite fascinating to hear their expert opinion and analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of each participant, given that they know all these players personally to a certain extent – and also given they kinda work for their main competitor, World Champion Magnus Carlsen. It is also one of the episodes that is a bit more on the serious side and a bit less filled with cynical humour and mutual mockery – so it might appeal more to new listeners 5.
- Apart from maybe the C-Squared podcast, which was launched very recently
- apart from the fact that many of them can’t really drive
- Or stalk via Twitter
- This is one of my favourite character traits – and a very rare one for a chess player, especially of GM level
- although all true fans of the Podcast know that cynical humour and mutual mockery are the Podcasts’ best part.