The Life and Times of Chess | Episode 52 | Everything is Everything

We love chess -- and now, as it has exploded as a spectator sport, so do millions of others. But why do we love it so much? What does it mean for India that D Gukesh has qualified for the World Championship match? How did Vishy Anand inspire a generation of grandmasters to emerge? What role do computers play?

Welcome to Episode 52 of Everything is Everything, a weekly podcast hosted by Amit Varma and Ajay Shah.

In this episode, Amit takes us through a history of the World Chess Championships, all the way from 1886 to now. He discusses the intellectual evolution of the game -- and the geopolitics of it. He parses the role of computers, and explains why the game is more exciting now than ever before. Ajay adds in some higher-order thoughts about chess and society. And finally, right at the end, the two of them even play a game!

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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
00:00 Packaging
00:13 Introduction: A Deep Passion for Chess
03:05 Chapter 1: The History of the World Chess Championship
19:40 Chapter 2: The Intellectual History of Chess
32:41 Chapter 3: Chess Is Still a Human Game
39:38 Chapter 4: Is Cheating a Problem?
42:58 Chapter 5: Chess as a Spectator Sport
51:20 Chapter 6: Some Larger Questions
1:31:34 Chapter 7: Dial V for Varma! Dial V for Variants!
1:33:46 Chapter 8: Recommendations
1:38:14 Chapter 9: Amit & Ajay Play Chess!

USEFUL RESOURCES:
1. Amit on Twitter: Twitter: amitvarma
2. Ajay on Twitter: Twitter: ajay_shah
3. The Seen and the Unseen -- Amit's audio podcast: https://seenunseen.in/
(Also on all podcast apps. And YouTube, though less than 1% of listens come from here: @theseenandtheunseen)
4. Ajay's organisation, XKDR Forum, on YouTube: @xkdr
5. In Service of the Republic -- Vijay Kelkar and Ajay Shah: https://amzn.eu/d/hwGILb3
6. The Art of Clear Writing -- Amit's writing course: https://indiauncut.com/clear-writing/
7. The India Uncut Newsletter -- Amit's newsletter at https://indiauncut.substack.com/
8. The Tamilian Gentleman Who Took on the World -- Amit Varma: https://www.espn.in/chess/story/_/id/...
9. Thought and Choice in Chess -- Adriaan de Groot: https://amzn.in/d/05UOJSsH
10. The Dream Becomes a Reality -- Gukesh's interview by Sagar Shah: The Dream becomes a reality | 17-year...
11. Poker and Life -- Episode 38 of Everything is Everything: Poker and Life | Episode 38 | Everyth...
12. Range Rover -- The Archives of Amit Varma's column on poker for the Economic Times: https://indiauncut.com/category/range...
13. Om Namah Volume -- Amit Varma: https://indiauncut.com/om-namah-volume/
14. Magnus Carlsen Ranks The Candidates Players: Magnus Carlsen Ranks The Candidates P...
15. 'I Play to Play' -- Amit Varma: https://indiauncut.substack.com/p/i-p...
16. The Girl From Haryana -- Amit Varma's essay on Sakshi Malik that contains a potted history of women's wrestling in Haryana: https://indiauncut.com/the-girl-from-...
17. Game Changer -- Matthew Sadler and Natasha Regan: https://amzn.in/d/0jel0lub
18. How Life Imitates Chess -- Garry Kasparov: https://amzn.in/d/0hBxxCI3
19. GothamChess: @gothamchess
20. agadmator's Chess Channel: @agadmator
21. Hikaru Nakamura's channel: gmhikaru
22. Chess Base India: @chessbaseindiachannel

Produced by Amit Varma
Shot by Vaishnav Vyas and Nomsita MS Haritashya: Instagram: vaishnav.vyas
Edited by Nomsita MS Haritashya: Instagram: nomsitaharitashya
Thanks to Gaurav Chintamani for helping with sound: Instagram: gaurav_chintamani
Chapter image by Simahina: Twitter: i_am_simahina