The Insane Business of Chess (feat. GothamChess)

[@GothamChess]

Thanks for inviting me :)

[@KeramosGaming]

Ginger

[@SamieVisual]

THE ROOOOOOOK !

[@Kamlessssh]

And he sacrificceeed, THE 400 ELO!!!

[@ekkkrem]

get outa here

[@gavantha]

Sup, nerd

[@dovidlawliet_]

"Chess speaks for itself" -Hans Niemann "Number speaks for itself" -Levy Rozman

[@dablob4491]

I replied to be that one guy who replied

[@xJoeKing]

And both use butt plugs!

[@daone1908]

Hi

[@dovidlawliet_]

@@daone1908 hi

[@yazanhaha]

Man I loved the quote "Easy to learn, but hard to master"

[@pranksteryt4068]

"minutes to learn but a lifetime to master"- Zach Braff

[@donaldlee8249]

Easy to master if you were a computer scientist

[@changeyouryoutubechannelna1434]

Chess remains unsolved, you’re wrong.

[@yazanhaha]

@@pranksteryt4068 I think the beauty of chess is to master it

[@yazanhaha]

@@changeyouryoutubechannelna1434 Literally unsolved

[@randompanda876]

i started playing chess last week after watching chess youtube and streamers, i feel my wins and losses more in chess than i do other games. the defeats are crushing, when you blunder your queen, but when you find that checkmate youre on the top of the world

[@mythikalgaming1608]

Completely agree, I've been playing across my life but started again half a year ago

[@niranjanrajesh1058]

ive been a fan of football and chess, a huge, massive fan, for at least 13 years. A loss in football feels bad, a win feels great. But a win in chess, especially when you spot an insane tactic, or when you thoroughly outplay your opponent, feels as good as any comeback win in football, and a defeat when youve been winning all game is the worst feeling ive felt in any sport/game. It is soul crushing

[@Azariy0]

Chess humbles everybody. We all suck.

[@seanobrien2306]

Every time you lose a game of Chess..., you learn more about Chess ! ! Chess is a journey and you learn from your mistakes and become a better Chess player, OTB or Online... Practice makes perfect and reading and studying and playing competitive Chess makes you a better player... Good luck on your Chess journey... :)

[@brachypelmasmith]

when you blunder but then the opponent doesn't realize it

[@adelhany4708]

This documentary is insanely well done. The structure, points, information, jokes and references were all well done and the disparity between them was perfect. I wouldn’t say there was a downside, but I think that it’s missing length. A topic like this can really make a 40 minute documentary since there is a lot to cover. Keep up the great work!

[@AETERNVS]

Also, let's not forget that chess-boxing actually exists. The sport of the future, gentlemen.

[@lappodamy5826]

Next big thing gonna chess-ICBM, mark my word.

[@anmol.1338]

@@lappodamy5826 intercontinental ballistic missile ?

[@derkommissar4986]

​@@lappodamy5826tennison gambit icbm variation

[@1will2kill]

Ludwig!

[@ThePawnslayerChessVideos]

As a chessboxer, I agree with this statement

[@tatbhar7304]

So glad you include both chess and football in your content, my 2 hobbies. Wonderful content. 👍🏻

[@NavF1]

How "Athletic Interest" changed sports story-telling on KZbin

[@phillys689]

Samay and Sagar and the Indian side of things need a mention. They also contributed to the huge trend shift that you can see in the data, considering just the number of people who were showing up at simple live streams.

[@prahaladhnarayanan1277]

People never went to samay's stream to watch chess They went to see the guy doing goofy stuff On the other hand, Chessbase India was actually promoting chess has done a fabulous job

[@phillys689]

@@prahaladhnarayanan1277 Sagar himself credits Samay for bringing a huge following in India. Honestly I don't have the time to prove this right now. So you can do the research yourself brother.

[@prahaladhnarayanan1277]

@@phillys689 obviously sagar won't say samay didn't do anything. And samay did help in removing the fear of chess out of newbies. But to say he created the chessboom is bit of a stretch. Without CBI , it wouldn't have been possible. Samay played a small part in making CBI famous.

[@drytube6907]

​@@prahaladhnarayanan1277nah you must be so ignorant to ignore that fact. Samay indeed brought a wave of new chess players. He was the sole reason for the Chessboom. He brought relatability, humour and entertainment to chess Livestreams. Are you blind to the fact that every prominent chess player came to his streams, from Kasparov, Daniel King.. to Magnus. Can't forget the chess Olympiad live streams.

[@prahaladhnarayanan1277]

@@drytube6907 he did help cbi get famous but it will always be cbi who created the chessboom. You cannot promote a game without being decent at it. He literally didn't know how to play chess in the beginning. So all the people in his streams went to watch the guy and not the game obviously. On the other hand, sagar has actually helped a lot of people learn chess and so has the other titled players who stream. That is actually promoting the game.

[@Jivaa]

In india also, there was a Chess wave during Pandemic... Thanks to a guy named Samay Raina ! He and his friends made the game mainstream in india... Invited the legends, laughed around, studied the game, entertained everybody, organised events and had a lot of fun...❤

[@thebirdhasbeencharged]

"made chess mainstream in India" lmfao

[@maxnator]

There are way more famous chess players from India than that guy, I don't even know him.

[@Jivaa]

Yes absolutely there are... but I mean for people like me who weren't into the game...

[@abhishekbijalwan2246]

@@thebirdhasbeencharged he made chess live streaming main stream

[@ovaloctopus8]

@@Jivaais vishy Anand not popular in India? I swear if the UK had a world champion we wouldn't hear the end of it

[@Aat8974]

Never thought you will talk about chess, great content as always.

[@jaideepshekhar4621]

64th like. Nice. :)

[@jaynyk745]

It's really unfair Agadmator's channels wasn't mentioned. He has been the OG of Chess KZbin for the longest. You can give others their props but not mentioning AGADMATOR for some reason is a big disservice to KZbin chess and quite frankly disingenuous.

[@egiatchess4589]

Thats wrong. St Louis is the real OG. By the way a am under 5k gang at Agadmator…

[@eljanrimsa5843]

OG? - That must be Daniel King, PowerPlayChess has been around forever

[@xRyqn]

And this proves exactly why he didn’t mention them. Because the “OG” of chess KZbin is subjective and everyone will tell you this person deserves credit and it would take a boring minute to “credit” all these “OGs”

[@EventsKiosk]

Agadmator got me interested in chess years ago thanks to the KZbin algorithm. He’s the OG to me, but maybe it’s my personal experience with the algorithm that made it so.

[@winrar42]

​@@egiatchess4589agad was the first channel to hit 1 million subscribers

[@nightking8490]

Very nice of you to cover chess. Not many mainstream channels do that

[@Blackoutwhiteout23]

uhm chess is probably the most mainstream "sport" on youtube.

[@nightking8490]

​@@Blackoutwhiteout23nowhere compared to football

[@bargun5889]

@@nightking8490 On youtube?? Yeah, chess is way more common on youtube.

[@_sayan_roy_]

@@bargun5889 Still nowhere compared to football. We are talking about real football not handegg btw.

[@bargun5889]

@@_sayan_roy_ just not true, chess is youtube-mainstream. Football is mainstream just not on youtube.

[@shuffled7]

Samay Raina and ChessBaseIndia definitely deserve a mention. They are indirectly linked to the creation of the Global Chess League!

[@kedrprao]

No one gives rats asss about India bro 😂😂 credit ke liye bheek maangana band kar churyaaa

[@praddumnvats6759]

who

[@jaideepshekhar4621]

@@praddumnvats6759 Google bro. Or just look on youtube.

[@Pain53924]

Saman Rai op

[@drytube6907]

Exactly. Samay was a catalyst to all this. Everything is westernised for no reason. Gotham wasn't as popular as Samay when chess got popular in the pandemic.

[@grigorigahan]

Chess has all the hallmarks of a great spectator game. Typically the games that do well online are those games where the spectator has 'perfect information'. The person watching the game is seeing the exact same information the players are and grasps the whole of the board (even if not understanding the nuances). This helps the spectator feel involved in a way that they wouldn't be for instance watching a COD stream where you are following one players perspective or the commenters rotating camera. The other thing is chess is ripe for big personalities and narrative arcs. In the last twenty years its lost its association with old men and geeky outcasts and has become a game where you can see an attractive girl utterly tearing through a park of fast talking chess hustlers, with the banter to match. Its a game that is distinctly human, distinctly equal. A game where a seven year old can morph into a monster grown men fear and and old master can be at home playing with a hungry up and coming twenty year old guy.

[@k-banks-4307]

I believe alot of people respect chess but dont love chess. I think it could be because they find other sports more impressive and/or entertaining. Kind of like some prefer team sports and others prefer individual sports.

[@d.ml.g9902]

Agreed. IMO, this can be applied to not only chest but sports that dont require that much physical skill but the mental of it, such as the mentioned Chess, Poker, etc against Football, Basketball or Rally Racing. As you said, I respect the hell outta people that play Chess and Poker but never got that into it to see tournament or follow the pro leagues or something similar, but in Football and other team sports or individual ones like Boxing, MMA, Tennis and so on, the rules are pretty straight forward and you know the jist of it. I dare to say that Chess and Poker do have more terminology that is off-putting to the outside public and could deter people from understanding it more and be more invested in them.

[@freeman038]

You really need to reach a certain level (1600+?) before you can truly enjoy chessmaster’s games. To be fair, this is all the same for almost all the sports: before you become an intermediate player yourself, you don’t really know much what you are watching. However for sports like tennis, it’s much easier to enjoy it as an ignorant viewer, while chess games are much harder to follow and enjoy if you cannot see the logics behind moves.

[@k-banks-4307]

@@freeman038 I dont completely agree but I will say I think you have a fair point👌

[@diwanthegreat]

Problem with watching Chess even compared to other individual sports, is that its just too slow, watching people think for extended preiod of time is just bad viewing exprience. Thats why short-form video of chess is booming because they can break down a 4 hour chess game in 1 minute.

[@freeman038]

@@diwanthegreat For some people like me, have more time to analyze live games ourselves is important. So it’s important to strike a balance. Personally I found 15/5 rapid live games are best to watch.

[@bharatavarsha17000]

Quality content as usual. Love you Athletic Intrest ❤

[@AthleticInterest]

Thanks so much! 😀

[@Kushonthebush]

woah finally athletic intrest made a video on chess thanks man for giving us such high quality content : )

[@agustin__]

Great video to have in this channel! Chess phenomena is outstanding and I'm glad to watch it from this channel's perspective

[@kunalsingh4418]

Should have given a mention to Agadmator, but all in all, great video. You captured most of the stuff.

[@timepassscript]

Damn i think you missed one of the biggest reasons chessbase india and samay raina. Samay gave chess a different audience. He organised chess competitions for comedians. Chessbase has been doing it for years . I thik along with levy ,botez,hikaru these people also need to be mentioned.

[@shanky_san1220]

+1

[@siddharthrox]

The problem with Samay is that his content is in Hindi and that is not very popular outside of India. And Chessbase India, while being immensely educational and great for improving your chess, doesn't really provide a lot of entertainment value for casual viewers. Levy has managed to combine these two and he's probably making just as much money from chess as Carlsen.

[@timepassscript]

@@siddharthrox yeah levy content has definitely contributed hugely to global chess. But samay and chessbase india did take it to a whole different level. Organizing chess tournaments and making it fun is a challenge on its own. We do need to take that into account. Surely agree with you on hindi part , and its one of the reasons of huge boom of chess in india as well. Players are now getting some recognition.

[@niranjanrajesh1058]

@@siddharthrox Samay raina has provided entertainment for mostly Indians, especially North Indians. Him being in the videos of other youtubers spikes the views because of such fans from North India. Few from outside that area care about him. Levy Rozman covers everything in chess, and is hilarious, and also is a magnificent player himself. HJe himself has caused spikes in popularity, and household memes. Same thing can be explained to Hikaru, except he isnt at all naturally funny like Levy, but is a much better player, and his speedruns are thrilling to watch. Samay Raina hasnt contributed even 1% of these two dudes. You should be saying chessbase india, not samay raina. Chessbase India caters to the whole of India, but not just India, everyone watches it. Some of the games on the chessbase india channel have 30,40,50,60 mil views. So its Agadmator, Hikaru, Levy and Magnus.

[@logistaur]

5:00 *but* besides netflix youtube and buttplugs kiled me 😂😂

[@Jwm367t]

Fun fact about the Ronaldo Messi picture is also that it recreates a game of Magnus vs Hikaru

[@Arinsenn]

"You can be as good as your parent " Or you can get better than them and make them never want to play again with you😢

[@swarnendu]

I was just now watching a gotham chess video, that this video got uploaded

[@rithikgandhi3685]

I am suprised you didnt mention the role vishy anand played to make chess popular in India which no doubt rakes the highest viewership on any chess content in the world.

[@Darkwolf0925]

This is the best channel in KZbin!!! Always whit interesting content and explained very well and whit details!!! Amazing!!!

[@AthleticInterest]

Thank you, Adrian! 😀

[@eljanrimsa5843]

This video is a very one-sided history, almost a commercial for one company

[@kephas-media]

OK, the editing, again, marvelous. Flip me man, your work is amazing. Heck

[@AthleticInterest]

Now THAT'S a review! Thanks 😉

[@kephas-media]

@@AthleticInterest unfortunately I only receive thanks in form of tutorials.

[@siler22]

Beating someone with your knowledge rather then luck or chance will always be greatest fun game and not exaust yourself psychically

[@rubiksky]

Absolute great educational and entertaining video!

[@hongaivu1700]

excellent story-teller

[@retyy7]

Love how you always find a way to sneak in some formula 1 content

[@alhamdulillah.forever_]

Athletic Interest can you make more videos about cricket. I think it would help with growth in SEA and be a interesting series

[@VARMOT123]

Actually in the last 5 years due to internet usage in india ,cricket has gotten insane viewership numbers at 10:06

[@deconstjohn1136]

Bro you are the, you brings the latest news from the business pov, I love your videos

[@AthleticInterest]

Thanks very much!

[@chadestioco]

3:44 Brooooo I was so ready for another "obscure connection unveiled by Athletic Interest". I already started thinking "It's gotta be Ferrari, right?".

[@jonathansendker7871]

I read the title and I had no idea what to expect from the video

[@Markaroni]

Let me take this opportunity to tell you about a certain Samay Raina

[@mtk3755]

Marka my buoy I agree with you on this one

[@neerajagrawal27]

Special thanks to BM Samay Raina ( the supreme leader)

[@dronesclubhighjinks]

Another fascinating video! I had no idea chess would be suitable for KZbin especially not shorts! And you managed to snag an interview with this amazing influencer! Maybe I can make a living playing very badly because that's something I'm good at. I'm very willing to share my lack of talent and intelligence with the world, especially if I can make some people laugh! 😂 At 10:25, the left-hand box has a typo: subcribe. I thought I'd mention it, so you can fix it in the future. I'm not trying to be a jerk, I promise! Thank you very much for the video! I'm forwarding it to everyone I know! 🙏😎🏖️

[@alpacino5466]

this is the greatest crossover in history. gotham x athletic

[@sonicwaveinfinitymiddwelle8555]

4:20 MrBreast gibv me money

[@albailey2346]

The numbers are so beautiful I don’t even have to go into the details 😂

[@Bsumtry__Tonny]

Life is like a game of chess, in which there are an infinite number of complex moves possible. The choice is open, but the move made contains within it all future moves. One is free to choose, but what follows is the result of one's choice. From the consequences of one's action there is never any escape.

[@NihinduAngana]

Thanks for the video on chess!! you are awesome for covering 3 of things i like the most Football, F1 and Chess

[@AthleticInterest]

Glad you enjoy the variety!

[@jitinnair9689]

everyone -chess is not popular on social media enters samay raina

[@cybrd230]

I registered the next day this photo was uploaded.

[@epicchess2021]

Great video! Exciting times for chess

[@ernestocaro9802]

Best board game ever! I’ve been playing since I was 5 (39 now) and I still sucks, I keep playing for the love of it and the improvement on my game

[@DroolingLizard]

"But besides Netflix, KZbin and buttplugs, what makes chess so interesting to watch online? " is the funniest phrase I've heard in a while, even with context 😂

[@ynkybomber]

I'll take a queen if I have to but I would prefer a pawn

[@winrar42]

Love the channels mentioned. It may have been good to add agadmator, the first chess channel to reach 1 million subscribers

[@blackman7186]

The truth that everyone seems to deliberately or unknowingly ignore is that the largest audiance on youtube is indian. In the time of Pandemic this guy Samay and ChessBaseIndia made millions of indians intrested in chess. All this audience also started watching people like Hikaru and Levi and that's how their numbers increased. I'm willing to bet a million that their largest audience pool is from india. Considering all this, people like Samay and Sagar at least deserve some recognition for their undenable contribution.

[@ovadiafarhy]

Great editing!!

[@AthleticInterest]

Thanks!! 😀

[@_CrissoN]

Weird seeing the video end without the classic Athletic Interest outro music

[@AnitaSV]

You missed one major reason - the levy effect. People before him tried teaching chess. Levy made it entertaining and educational. You cry and laugh and learn.

[@PhilipMurphy8Extra]

Chess is the ultimate highbrow content, You feel smarter by watching it even when you don't play it. Through you might one day.

[@damani_ug]

Great work once again

[@AthleticInterest]

Many thanks! 😁

[@milosadzic154]

Have you considered making a video about financial struggles of esport (pointing out at some parts some of the most popular games, possible solutions etc.) :)

[@tune164]

So the key to chess success was the ability to use unique features like short-form content, merging the ancient game with modern platforms, and making it relatable to various demographics. Noted

[@tokio772]

Top G effect !

[@vimuth_04]

Yup, got into chess cus of him 🙌

[@MateinUno]

We gotta keep chess growing

[@blackman7186]

Agadmator and ChessBaseIndia Aka Sagar Shah deserve a mention. Normally i would also add Samay but he's not in the chess scene as much these days... Although his contributions in the rise of chess cannot be ignored.

[@chessartist]

Wow! I would never expected Athletic Interest to talk about chess!

[@AthleticInterest]

Surprise! 😁

[@divyanshusingh7124]

I believe that if Levy had not been their to make content then chess wouldn't have been so popular right now.

[@Julian-AJCP]

The painting at 1:52 is so cool. Does anyone know the name?

[@ひろゆき二十一]

We are living in the golden age of chess. There has never been a better time to play chess than now. How the future will pan out for chess is still unknown but if you're interested in chess then what are you waiting for? Go play one now

[@noehd7171]

Good Video Bro

[@srinath886]

Bro u frgt to mention chessbase india. Also isnt it more because of twitch that the content became popular on youtube

[@saurabbabu8093]

Noooo why did you change your music???? The previous audio clip with which the videos ended was amazing! I would ALWAYS wait till the end of your videos for the beat to drop.

[@AthleticInterest]

OK I guess we have to bring it back now 😀

[@james-cucumber]

Point 1 around 5:20 was a terrible argument. Unicode was 30 years after the first chess games. And why would it being easy to code catapult it into esports??? The game you showed came out 6 years before Unicode

[@lappodamy5826]

3:49 im sorry, the Queen "scam"bit???????? XDXDXD

[@alihesham8167]

1:24 Wait more than minecraft? Chess that’s overkill

[@31redorange08]

0:45 You should know chess before reporting on it. This board setup is wrong. And there are two more stills of chessboards where the kings and queens are swapped.

[@ChessTrollsOriginal]

Thanks for making this video'

[@AthleticInterest]

Thank you very much! 😀

[@Mr.Showbiz]

Honestly I started skipping at 8:20 because i thought it was a segue into a squarespace ad

[@ArutaretiI]

I think there are some other things that need to be mentioned as big parts of the chess internet ecosystem like Lichess and the a little country called India where chess is just insanely popular.

[@theuruguayanpolyglot8706]

Great video

[@AthleticInterest]

Thanks a lot! 😀

[@patrickholtz]

awesome!

[@daemonsoadfan]

one of the first booms was also with the twitch rivals on chess

[@withlove5698]

Well now I want to play Chatarunga

[@Gigachad7022]

Samay Raina literally is the reason for 1st chess boom after pendamic . His one live stream got 60-70 k live viewers when there was no Netflix "queens gambit" and shit .

[@ahmada4022]

💯

[@Gigachad7022]

+ he had organised soo many chess events .

[@niranjanrajesh1058]

lol people didnt come for his chess, few stayed for his chess. Samay Raina had the whole of North India with him, but thats about it. Chess boom refers to the astronomical increase in interest across the world. Levy, Hikaru, Magnus, Agadmator, and chessbase India are the main conspirators here, not Samay Raina

[@Pain53924]

@@niranjanrajesh1058 He made me love chess again. He is different from all the other creators. He isn't a titled player neither is his content only chess based. He brought chessbase india to a new level. He introduced chess to many people who had zero clue about it.

[@blackman7186]

​@@niranjanrajesh1058lol, your entire logic is flawed. Not everyone who watched football or cricket played the game but it still matters. When there is a large audience for a sport then it invites more sponsors and when there are more sponsors it created an economy. When there is an economy the sport automatically grows. That's how it works. It doesn't matter if people who watched Samay didn't even play any chess. Their presence itself is the most important.

[@seanobrien2306]

I ( LOVE ) reading and studying Chess and of course, playing competitive Chess ( OTB, Over the Board ) and Online websites. Chess is played all over the world. Chess is in the majority of foreign countries... Chess is a worldwide sport and is played by millions. The majority of Chess players..., have an amazing amount of Chess books and DVDs in their own private Chess library... Schools are adding the game of Chess to their classrooms, especially elementary, junior, or middle school, and high school, including a majority of colleges... * In Russia..., Chess is ( mandatory ) for all students, as early as the third grade ! ! Chess..., truly is an amazing game and is played all over the world. "Semper Fi" Mike in Montana :)

[@MrReese]

I have been on YT daily for 4+ years and also watch twitch and know Botez, but I have not known about how popular chess has become at all. Interesting stuff. btw, you forgot your epic outro music :(

[@ghjkyj]

U forgot orbital racer huge shout out to him❤

[@Q-1424]

I was very happy when i saw gotham being referred to as THIS GUY😂

[@mauritsbol4806]

I just love how Hans has connected Chess with buttplugs. Would’ve never guessed beforehand, but they are now inseperable

[@mauritsbol4806]

Wait, i just looked up, there doesn’t exist a chesspiece buttplug. Wtf

[@Sagar-wn1po]

How can you forget Samay Raina who made chess famous in India with huge viewers. It bought subs to notes, agadmator from India too

[@shubhojitghosh69]

Nice video athletic Interest.

[@AthleticInterest]

Thanks, Shubhojit!

[@moe5346]

somehow i got hooked back up to chess about a week ago about a week ago :( good old times

[@RexyRonin]

My mind was blown when I noticed Fidel Castro and Bejamin Franklin were players. This game truly is the game of kings and queens!

[@souvikadak1997]

Bgm at the last

[@ajeethsuryash5123]

Im surprised you didn't mention Agadmator & Suren

[@johanmbaabu1580]

LOVE YOUR STAFF TRY TO POST MORE CONTENT OFTEN

[@choreomaniac]

Blitz chess is perfect for twitch/KZbin. If there were only 5 hour classical games, the audience would be far smaller. Even the top players prefer blitz because it relies less on preparation. Online chess, mobile apps and bots allow chess to be played by anyone anytime. Imagine chess just 10 years ago. You couldn’t play on the subway or on the toilet. But today you can play a 3 minute blitz game or a bot game anywhere anytime. And there is always something new to learn . A new opening or gambit or tactic or puzzle to do.

[@lucas-vb9bh]

you cant believe how funny bad football can be. "Best of Kreisliga" is the best Content on KZbin!

[@Artu2002]

Te amo, ajedrez.

[@Dpk_YT]

I loved chess from my childhood.. But never played so extensively after I watched Queens Gambit on Netflix.. So yes Netflix has popularize the Chess... ❤..

[@shottskies]

Chess is a huge new up and coming sport (it's a massive game!) And lies in direct competition to football. The Saudi backed chess first division is a massive threat to football with it's stern defence and exciting attacking play. I myself have been hooked on it! Tbh if I was the premier league I'd be a little worried!

[@hmm7258]

Thanks for respecting the sport by calling it a sport (because it is one)

[@hmm7258]

Olympic commite said it

[@salvadorgrimaldo2127]

an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.

[@paralleluniverse99]

It is NOT a sport. If you think it is, you've never practiced one in your life.

[@hmm7258]

​@@paralleluniverse99it is,even olympics consider it