The Most Popular Perpetual Chess Podcast Episodes of 2021

Hi everyone! Ben here- I am new to Lichess blogging, although a long time chess content creator. I host a chess podcast called Perpetual Chess, where I interview chess players, presenters, authors and adult improvers, plus we do the occasional chess book review (in podcast form). Over the years, the podcast has
managed to find a loyal following, and I have been lucky enough to interview the likes of GM Viswanthan Anand, Judit Polgar, and many others. Perpetual Chess recently celebrated its 5th birthday, and its weekly episodes have now been downloaded or streamed over 3 million times in total!
As we welcome in a new year, I thought it might be fun to share the most downloaded Perpetual Chess episodes of 2021. Some of these episodes feature interviews with people who are household names in the chess world, while others are with passionate amateurs who have helpful chess improvement tips to share. In April 2021, I even did a fun interview with Chris Callahan about all things Lichess.
Perpetual Chess can be found on all of the major podcast apps,the podcast website, and I have also created a Spotify playlist featuring the episodes mentioned in this blog post. Without further ado, here are the most popular Perpetual Chess interviews from last year.

Top 3 "General Chess" Interviews

1. IM Levy Rozman aka Gotham Chess - Given Levy’s immense popularity, it is no surprise that my conversation with him was my most popular episode of 2021. Levy joined me in May of 2021 and reflected on an insane year during which he went from talented, somewhat popular content creator, to colossal YouTube chess star. It was fun to hear the the things that he thought contributed most to his success.
2. GM Vladimir Kramnik- The former World Champion reflected on the early days of his career, dropped tons of knowledge on how to properly use engines, and described the importance of prophylactic thinking, in life, as in chess!
   
   https://lichess.org/study/daLHX5h6/szAh6Fgr#52
   
   26... Nd5-c3!! is one of GM Kramnik's many brilliant moves.
3. GM Ben Finegold. Ben always has funny stories and reflections on his life in the chess trenches, and more recently, as a star Twitch streamer. I was particularly interested to hear Ben relive his long, somewhat accidental journey to earning the Grandmaster title.

Top 3 Adult Improver Interviews- (these are interviews specifically focused on sharing chess improvement tips, they are very popular with dedicated chess amateurs)

1. FM Peter Giannatos. Peter is the founder of the essential Charlotte Chess Center and Scholastic Academy, and during his 20s, he also managed to increase his USCF rating from 2100 to nearly 2400 USCF. I think that this interview resonated with a lot of people because Peter doesn’t mince words about the hard work it often takes to break through a chess plateau.
2. Dr. Vishnu Streekumar- Vishnu told memorable stories about how he almost went too deep down the chess rabbit hole, to the point where his chess obsession negatively impacted his family life. Vishnu is a cognitive scientist, so I also loved hearing his strident and informed pushback against the idea that compared to kids, adults are biologically inferior at chess improvement.
3. “IM to GM” Special episode. IM Lawrence Trent, IM Attila Turzo and IM Sean Nagle discuss their quest for chess's highest title. I have so much respect for adults who keep working on their games, especially when they are already at such a high level of competition. In our interview, IM Sean Nagle, shared a memorable quote. He quoted GM Alex Shabalov telling then IM Maurice Ashley, "In order to become a GM, you must already be one." meaning that the title can only come with doing the requisite work to attain the necessary chess strength.

Top 3 Book recaps (These episodes feature a rotating cast of guest co-hosts, where we review and discuss a classic or noteworthy chess book)

1. GM Jonathan Rowson’sThe Seven Deadly Chess Sins. Chicago based law professor and blitz addict David Franklin joined me as guest co-host for this one. He and I both love this philosophical take on chess improvement. This episode's popularity suggests that many chess fans share our enthusiasm for this classic book.
2. Simple Chessby GM Michael Stean My guest co-host John had been blogging about this book for months, and brought immense knowledge of the book to this podcast. IMO Simple Chess is the most “evergreen” old chess book I have read, and is particularly a must read for anyone rated between 1400-1800 FIDE.
3. My System. Love it or hate it, if you read it you probably have an opinion on Aron Nimzowitsch's magnum opus. Through a 2021 lens, Chessable author IM Christof Sielecki and I found My System to be a bit tedious, but of course it was a classic for its time.
   Thanks for reading! If you made it this far, and if you enjoyed this maiden blog post, please let me know in the comments, and I will return to share a few of my own favorite episodes from 2021.

Ben