EP.160 - Antonio Radić (aka Agadmator)

01/14/20 • 65 min

This week it is my honor to be joined by Antonio Radić, the creator of the most popular Youtube Chess Channel in the world, Agadmator’s Chess Channel! In about 3 years, Agadmator has taken his channel from 0 to an astounding 539,000 subscribers! In our conversation, Agadmator takes us from the channel’s modest beginnings to its current status. We spent a lot of time talking about his “secret sauce,” and discussing the past and future of Antonio’s content creation. Antonio is also a strong chess player, with a peak ELO at over 2000, so we also discused his chess playing goals, chess improvement and chess books as well. Timestamps and links can be found below. If you are not seeing embedded hyperlinks on your podcast feed you can find here: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/new-blog/2020/1/14/episode-160-antonio-radi-aka-agadmator 0:00- To check out the World Championship chess mugs, go toChessmugs.com. If you decide to buy a set of mugs, use the code “perpetualchess” at checkout to save 15%. 2:00- We begin by discussing the origins of Antonio’s chess channel. What were his goals and visions? Mentioned: IM Sagar Shah of Chessbase India’s Interview with Agadmator, Bobby Fischer Beats a Chess Grandmaster in 10 moves, Mikhail Tal vs. Alexei Suetin: Not Bad for a Dead Man Video, Chess Network’s Chess Channel, Here are Agadmator’s Videos sorted from oldest to newest, Ivanchuk vs. Shankland video, GM Eric Hansen 11:00- Did Antonio’s enthusiasm for video games inform the way he presents his chess videos? 14:30- When did Antonio first think of quitting his job to focus on his Youtube channel? 17:00- What is the origin of his deep love for chess history? Mentioned: GM Mikhail Tal, GM Anatoly Karpov, GM Garry Kasparov, GM Judit Polgar, Paul Morphy, Blue Yeti microphone 20:00- Antonio gives some details on the podcast that he has hinted at starting. Mentioned: Jose Raoul Capablanca 23:00- Antonio reflects on his trip to London for the last World Chess Championship match in London, and we discuss the 2020 World Chess Championship match a bit. Mentioned: GM Ivan Saric 26:00- Antonio fields a couple of questions from Patreon supporters of the show on the subjects of how he learned English, and why he thinks his chess channel is so popular. 33:45- When the Agadmator channel began, what were the most popular chess channels? How does he build a community via his YouTube channel? Mato Jelic, KingsCrusher, The Chess Channel, John Bartholomew, A Song for Bobby Fischer, by GM Eugene Torre, Rashid Nezhmetdinov Chess Biography This episodes is brought to you in part by Chessable.com. Check out GM Alex Colovic's latest Chessable offering, Break-down Anti-Sicilian's here: https://www.chessable.com/break-down-anti-sicilians/course/31178/ 39:30- Does Antonio have a rooting interest in the Candidates Tournament that will determine who will face Magnus Carlsen for the World Championship? Mentioned: GM Vassily Ivanchuk, GM Ding Liren, Fabiano Caruana, 41:00- What are a few of his favorite chess books? Dimitrije Bjelica- My Friend Bobby Fischer (not available in English?) , Spassky Move by Move, Chess Fundamentals by Capablanca , Strategy and Tactics books by Georgy Lisitsyn, Olympiu Urcan, Video: Imagine if he Were a Najdorf Specialist 44:30- Antonio breaks down a recent tournament in which he played, how it went for him, and shares his plans (or lack thereof) for future tournaments. 48:00- Another Patreon question- Can Antonio tell whether a GM game is a fast or slow game based on the quality of the moves? Mentioned: GM Magnus Carlsen, GM Andrew Tang 49:30- We talk about Agadmator’s beloved dog Medo, who can often be seen in the background of his video. 52:30- What other projects is Antonio working on? In closing we discuss his channel a bit more, specifically how Antonio deals with haters and negative feedback. 58:30- Thanks to Antonio for coming on the show! Here is his info: YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL5YbN5WLFD8dLIegT5QAbA Twitter-https://twitter.com/agadmator?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/agadmator/?hl=en If you would like to help support the podcast, you can do so here: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Previous Episode

EP.159 - IM Greg Shahade Returns Again

With the Pro Chess League (of which he is the commissioner) set to resume on Monday, January 6, it was a great time for my old friend, IM Greg Shahade to make another visit to Perpetual Chess. Greg broke down all of the changes that have taken place with the league’s format, and previewed some some of the interesting matches and players that we will see this season. We also had a lot of chess news to talk about, ranging from the World Championship Candidates selection process to some recent speed chess controversies involving prominent chess professionals. Greg also dispensed some great advice on chess improvement in our wide ranging conversation. Please read on for more details and timestamps! If you are not seeing embedded hyperlinks in your podcast feed, you can find them here: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/new-blog/2020/1/5/episode-159-im-greg-shahade-is-back-again 0:00- We start off by getting Greg’s perspective on some recent chess controversies, both “online” and offline. These include a controversial blitz game between Magnus Carlsen, and strong young GM Alireza Firouzja, and a not safe for work, viral clip of a blitz game by super GM Gata Kamsky. Mentioned: IM Lawrence Trent, Video of IM Shahade vs. IM Trent Grudge Match, FIDE World Rapid and Blitz, Zhigalko-Nakamura controversy, Chess24 “Famous Effing Legend”, 16:00- We follow up on another controversy, GM Kirill Alekseenko’s selection for the wildcard spot in the upcoming Candidates’ Tournament. CORRECTION- I mentioned the wrong tournament in which Alekseenko excelled, he came in 3rd place in the FIDE Grande Swiss, not the FIDE World Cup. Mentioned: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave’s Open Letter regarding qualification process, MVL interview with Chess.com’s Peter Doggers, GM Anish Giri 26:00- The Pro Chess League is coming back, with major changes to the format! Greg tells us the reasons for the changes and discusses some of the teams to watch out for. The first match takes place on Monday, January 6 at 2pm EST. Mentioned: St. Louis Arch Bishops, Fabiano Caruana, GM Leinier Dominguez, GM Wesley So,GM Le Quang Liem, GM Alexander Grischuk, GM Alireza Firouzja, GM Ivan Saric, GM Anish Giri, New York Marshalls, GM Hikaru Nakamura, GM Sam Sevian, Turkey Knights, Armenia Eagles,GM Gabriel Sargissian, Poland Hussars 36:30- We discuss the exciting changes that are taking place with faster time controls and Chess960 becoming more popular at the Elite level. Mentioned: Puzzle Rush World Championship, Chess.com Speed Chess Championship, New in Chess Magazine 44:00- A Patreon supporter of the podcast asks, “How would Greg change tournament formats for the casual chess players?” Mentioned: Bill Goichberg of the Continental Chess Association 53:30- Chess improvement talk! A couple of Patreon supporters submitted questions to Greg regarding improvement. Questions include: 1) Is there is a chess book that hasn’t been written, but should be? Mentioned: GM Jan Gustafsson, A Grandmaster, actually tried the novelty Greg mentioned. 1:04- Greg submits his resume to join #TeamScandi! Mentioned: IM Lawrence Trent, GM Bryan Smith 1:08- A couple more Patreon mailbag questions- Who was the youngest IM Greg lost to in a serious game? And a listener asks for practical advice about how to think about the imbalances from Jeremy Silman’s Reassess Your Chess. Mentioned: GM Alex Lenderman, Perpetual Chess Recaptured: Reassess Your Chess 1:17- Is chess a sport? Does it really burn one zillion calories? 🤔 Mentioned: The Grandmaster Diet: How to Lose Weight While Barely Moving 1:19- A Patreon supporter asks: “What does Greg do for a living anyway?” Mentioned: The 5 Best Chess Books I Read in 2019, IM Lawrence Trent, GM Simon Williams 1:26- Greg tells the story of a long-ago blitz match he played with a young GM Hikaru Nakamura 1:29- We discuss some nonsense relating to Greg’s television viewing habits. Mentioned: Humans, Brooklyn Nine Nine 1:31- Has Greg read any chess books lately? Mentioned: Tal-Botvinnik 1960, FM Mike Shahade, Inside Chess Magazine, IM John Donaldson, GM Yasser Seirawan, IM Vivek Rao 1:36- Thanks to Greg for coming back on. Be sure to tune in to the Pro Chess League starting Monday, January 6 at 2pm EST. If you would like to help support the podcast, you can do so here: https://www.patreon.com/perpetualchess See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Next Episode

Book Recap #3 : Bobby Fischer Goes to War with guest co-host Chris Wainscott [Chess Books Recaptured Series]

Welcome to another edition of Chess Books Recaptured, a monthly Bonus Pod. This month, we tried something different and are recapping an enjoyable and informative chess history book, Bobby Fischer goes to War by David Edmonds and John Eidenow. This book gives a deep and broad history of the “Match of the Century” between challenger Bobby Fischer, and World Chess champion, GM Boris Spassky, in Reykjavik, Iceland in 1972. To help me discuss the book, I enlisted the help of long time friend of the podcast, Chris Wainscott. Chris is a part time chess journalist, and a full time chess junkie and adult improver. For lots more details of what we discussed, please keep reading. If you aren’t seeing hyperlinks in your podcast feed, you can find them here: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/new-blog/2020/1/17/bonus-pod-recapping-the-book-bobby-fischer-goes-to-war-with-chris-wainscott-chess-books-recaptured-series 2:00- We being by introducing guest co-host Chris Wainscott, and discussing why we picked Bobby Fischer goes to War for this month's book recap. Mentioned: Recap of Life and Games of Mikhail Tal here, and Reassess Your Chess by IM Jeremy Silman, here. One Move at a Time podcast with Chris Wainscott 8:00- I read the Kindle Version of Bobby Fischer goes to War, Chris read the Paperback version. Audiobook link here. 9:00- What was going on in the chess world in 2005 when Bobby Goes to War was published. Mentioned: GM Garry Kasparov, FIDE World Champion GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov, GM Vladimir Kramnik 14:00- What other writing should we be aware of regarding the Fischer Spassky match? Mentioned: Edward Winter post on Fischer-Spassky, Fischer gegn Spassky by Freysteinn Jóhannsson and Friðrik Ólafsson (Reykjavik, 1973), and Fischer World Champion! by Max Euwe and Jan Timman 15:30- We give a few biographical details about the writers, David Winter and John Eidenow 16:30- For what level chess player is this book suited? 18:30- This episode is brought to you in part by Chessable, check out My Great Predecessors, Volume 4, on Chessable to see GM Garry Kasparov’s reflections and annotations on Bobby Fischer (among others). 19:30- We dive into the book, Chris reads the opening paragraphs and we discuss some key events surrounding the match and the structure of the book. 28:30- What were the major themes of the match/book? Fischer-Spassky Game 1, Game 5, The Anand Files by Michiel Abeln 31:30- We read a few of our favorite quotes from the book. Fischer-Spassky Game 13, GM Awonder Liang, Bobby Fischer Against the World, IM Anthony Saidy, Paul Marshall, GM Nikolai Krogius, Psychology in Chess by Nikolai Krogius, GM Larry Evans, GM Anatoly Karpov, GM Mark Taimanov 41:00- What were our favorite games that were mentioned in the match? Spassky - Petrosian Game 5 1969 , Spassky-Fischer Game 3, GM Evgeny Bareev, IM John Watson’s The Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy 44:50- What were our favorite anecdotes from the book? GM Lothar Schmid, Chester Fox, Saemi Palsson, Jim Slater, Reykjavik Open 2020 , Victor Jackovich 53:20- Are there chess improvement lessons to be derived from this book? 57:00- What are our quibbles with this book? Mentioned: George Steiner’s Field of Force, Paul Morphy, NY Times Review of Bobby Fischer Goes to War 1:02:00- Coming next month, recapturing Think Like a Grandmaster by Alexander Kotov, with Christopher Chabris. 1:02:00- Thanks to Chris Wainscott for helping out this month! He will be generously donating his compensation for this project to US Chess Women. Keep up with Chris via twitter, Facebook and his blog 1:04:00- Blindfold chess puzzles of the month, here they are: Puzzle #1- Black to move and win White- Pawns on h2, g2, d5, a2, Rook on f1, King on h1, Queen on d7, Bishop on a3 Black- Pawns on h7, g7, f7, d6. King on g8, Bishop on f8, Rook on e8, Queen on d4 Puzzle- https://share.chessbase.com/SharedGames/share/?p=uRdvz3KWpscHk859Tf87okC5Ilmx1QQ7Pn/QduKIb67T7QTMUs43v9M5sPtBM1pH Solution- https://share.chessbase.com/SharedGames/share/?p=uzikPPig87+Zc0vNm2QP8BZf19uVsqrRv1PmSOFg83BKFkyixUDgfiD4Vu5cuhDB Puzzle #2- Black to move and mate in 4, only the checkmating solution counts! White- pawns on h2, g3, f2, e3, king on e2, queen on f3 Black- pawns on g7, f7, king on g8, Queen on c3,Bishop on b3 Puzzle- https://share.chessbase.com/SharedGames/share/?p=HJ2B61vb+nCxTLUIfIk3rHGsBFlRB0wJEdRdU2OP85FFWlvargvwm7soeflbP5LM Solution- https://share.chessbase.com/SharedGames/share/?p=U31R2/dyPiHjEUMyeksXuxy1+aQGm4eS9LN2NAWxrnsjibxsTDWK/nEMItY67c6R Thanks for listening. if you would like to help support the podcast, you can do so here: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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