"Creativity and Perseverance" In The World Of Content And Podcasting

Greg Mustreader has made a name for himself in the chess world for his amazing interviews with several top players, among them GMs Fabiano Caruana, Daniel Naroditsky, Ian Nepomniachtchi, and IM Sagar Shah. Greg has had a successful career in law, radio, and more, but how does he get such notable and interesting guests? The answer is both simple and surprising. Chess.com spoke with Greg recently about that subject, his chess history and goals, his favorite content, and more.

How long have you been creating chess content, and what made you decide to start?

I played chess in my childhood and achieved some success, obtaining the Russian Candidate Master title and becoming the under-14 champion of my region twice in a row. But then, I gave up chess cold turkey. I was 14, it was 2007, and I had to prepare for exams to enter into top universities, so my family suggested I should choose my priorities. Which I did, and I managed to enter one of the best universities in Russia, later building a great career at a prestigious international law firm (think along the lines of the Suits TV series). 

In 2022, 15 years later, I realized that I needed chess back in my life. I had already left the law firm and was a content creator with around half a million subscribers in the Russian-speaking world. I started that in 2015, launching my own Telegram channel, and later adding other platforms like YouTube, Instagram, audio podcasts etc. I did this all in parallel to my law career, but in 2018 decided to give up law completely. Originally, I made content not about chess, but about other topics that excited me: interesting books, technology trends like AI and crypto, rational thinking, biohacking and transhumanism, productivity, science, etc. And it was all in Russian, my mother tongue. (I was born in Kazakhstan but lived in Russia most of my life and am an ethnic Russian.)

My first-ever chess content was a podcast (in Russian) with the former world chess champion GM Anatoly Karpov in January 2022. one month before the war, when I had to leave my country because of legal prosecution of influencers who did not support Putin and the war. In 2022 and 2023, I recorded some more chess content in Russian, including podcasts with GMs Ian Nepomniachtchi and Daniil Dubov. Some of the English-speaking audience might have seen those, because they had English subtitles and because GM Hikaru Nakamura watched them on his stream.

I've also started playing in tournaments again, after a 15-year absence, and lots of online chess as well. During the first months of the war and my emigration, it was a kind of a coping strategy, opening Chess.com and immersing myself in the world of online blitz for hours on end, escaping from the harsh reality. Maybe it was not the healthiest habit, but at that time it really helped me.

And then, as chess gradually took more and more space in my life, it also began taking a larger proportion of my content. In January 2024, I launched a YouTube channel in English, fully and solely dedicated to chess, Chess with Mustreader. Today, it is my main media project.

What’s your favorite thing about creating? What makes it fun?

I love the fact that I can take the thing that I love most in life (playing, studying and talking about chess) and make it my full-time job! Also, meeting top GMs and legends of the game during this process and being able to talk to them and even play chess against them is just mind-blowing. I am happy and privileged that I now have the chance to do this on a regular basis.

Also, I've also loved spreading interesting and useful ideas, concepts and insights. This is why I originally started blogging in 2015. It always motivates me when people say they've been implementing into their life some things I blog about.

What are some of your favorite examples of spreading interesting ideas, in chess or otherwise?

I have a subscriber who actually has become a close friend of mine over the years. His name is Alex and he works at a biotech company in Silicon Valley, researching anti-aging drugs and longevity. And he was actually inspired by one of my podcasts about longevity, and some other content by me around 2017 or 2018, to give up the career that he had in a different industry and start working for some companies that researched means of fighting aging, first in Russia, then in Europe, then in Silicon Valley. 

I also get a lot of comments from my subscribers that some of the books I've recommended have helped change their lives or in general many people started reading many more books after being exposed to my channels. My pseudonym, Mustreader, probably indicates that I like reading, and indeed I do. I used to read 100 books a year, now I read around 50. I'm a big bibliophile. So I've inspired some other people to read some classical literature for example. And I believe that its importance cannot be underestimated, not just being well-read but also the personal development that comes when you are exposed to the great ideas of people like Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Thomas Mann—whomever you name out of the great writers. 

Who are some of your favorite chess content creators, and why?

• Levy is the GOAT of chess content creation, and I've learned a lot from him, like everyone else in this industry.
• CSquared is my favorite chess podcast - I do not miss a single episode. Fabi and Christian are amazing and provide lots of top-notch chess insights.
• Daniel Naroditsky is my favorite chess commentor. Eloquent, witty, and a very strong chess player—what else could one ask for?

• One of my favorite YouTube channels is LevitovChess. It has some of the best chess content in the world, including 24 hours of interviews with Kasparov (amazing stuff!), retelling all the pivotal moments of his long chess career. Also lots of content with Grischuk, Dubov, Karpov, Kramnik, Ivanchuk and many other chess legends. It's all in Russian, but some of the videos have English subtitles - highly recommended!
• ChessBase India. I love Sagar. He and his team due amazing work to popularize chess not just in India, but worldwide. I especially enjoy their videos of games from top tournaments, which they record placing phones with cameras next to the board and then adding a digital board on top of the recording.

• I also sometimes watch chess streams. Of course, Hikaru is the GOAT of chess streaming and I admire his content (especially recaps of games from top events like the Candidates). Also, I sometimes watch streams by Magnus, Anish, and Nepo (the latter streams in Russian). 

There are lots of other chess content creators I respect and follow, but those are the ones that came to mind immediately.

What is your single favorite piece of chess content you've ever created?

It's hard to pick between any of my podcast episodes with the best players in the world, such as Fabi, Nepo, Arjun, Dubov, MVL, Anish, Danya, Grischuk, Aronian, Pragg, Wei and many others. 

Also, an honorable mention should go to the funny "Italian brainrot chess pieces" video that me and my team recently generated using a bunch of neural networks. This is crazy stuff that definitely deserves more views. If you've seen the original "Italian brainrot animals" viral videos, you will appreciate this one.

We have all sorts of creators for Creator of the Month, but not a lot of them do podcasting. Why have you chosen to focus on that? Obviously, your interest in it goes back to long before you started chess content.

I've always loved having deep meaningful conversations with other people. When I started at university, I'd often spend half of the night in some kitchen engaging in deep philosophical discussions on the meaning of life with my friends. When I started out as a content creator, I would blog and write text posts, but a couple of years later I started my first podcast.

I've always loved having deep meaningful conversations with other people. 

Actually, one of the most popular radio stations in Moscow first invited me to have my own show, and I did it with my friend jointly... until they closed the show after we criticized one of the Russian authorities. We got a call from the chief editor of the station and were told that we could not continue because of a complaint about an episode. We were one of the most popular shows on this radio station, so they were sad to see us go, but they had to do it. This was in 2018 and it was one of my first direct encounters with censorship by Russian authorities. I had no illusions as to their nature and intentions, and I've always been in the opposition to the regime. Before the war, if you weren't too widely-known, you might be able to make statements against Putin, but once the war started it became too dangerous.

So, we were closed, and then started our podcast. A little bit later I started my first YouTube channel. I interviewed lots of writers, scientists, entrepreneurs, and interesting public intellectuals, mostly Russian-speaking, but sometimes I also had international guests—for example, Frederic Beigbeder, Aubrey de Gray, and Peter Singer. [Ed. note: Each preceding link goes to the corresponding episode.] I've always loved being able to talk to such acclaimed and interesting personalities and have direct access to them, being able to ask any questions that are on my mind. I feel amazing every time I have one of those conversations.

And now I have them with chess players! That is also fascinating every time, and that's why I love podcasting. I've recorded close to 1,000 podcast episodes in both Russian and English.

I feel amazing every time I have one of those conversations. And now I have them with chess players!

What is your single favorite piece of chess content that was created by someone else?

The "24 hours with Garry Kasparov" on the Levitov Chess channel. This is golden. It's in Russian, but there is a version with English subtitles uploaded here:

Imagine you could do a chess-based collab with anyone in the world. Who would it be, and why?

I'd like to record podcasts for my channel with Magnus, Anand, and Kasparov. These would be the top three collabs. Hopefully, I'll make them happen!

You've interviewed pretty much every other huge name in chess! How have you managed to get so many great interviews?

Some people think that I'm a well-connected individual, or maybe I have some money that I pay my guests, which never was the case. The answer is actually that you have to ask and you have to be creative, trying different avenues for approaching the guests. For example, just before I started my English channel, it was December 2023 and I went to Samarkand for the World Rapid & Blitz tournament. I know some people at FIDE and I asked them which hotel the top players would be staying at, and they told me the name of the hotel. So I booked that hotel and I asked for press accreditation, which almost anyone can get.

So I went to Samarkand—it's a 90-minute flight for me—and checked into the hotel. During breakfast next day, I saw some chess players whom I approached. Levon Aronian was one of them, and I just told him that I was a big fan and wanted to invite him on the podcast. He agreed and we recorded the episode next day!

The only case in Samarkand where I used my connections was when I approached Ian Nepomniachtchi, whom I already knew (we had a podcast in Russian before). I invited him on the new pod as well and he was talking to Fabi, so I asked him to introduce us. Before that, I had tried to reach Fabi over email, but I got no response, but I did not stop there. I used another avenue of approach and it worked—Fabi also agreed, because Nepo said that I was a nice guy and he should do it. 

Even the first time I had Nepo on the podcast, I did nothing too crazy. I just wrote to him on Instagram. I think he didn't reply, but then I wrote to his manager, and his manager replied and finally we made it happen.

So it just takes patience and creativity. If you don't have a lot of followers obviously you have to be more creative and more patient, so now it's easier for me to get guests on the podcast. Many of the top players I reach out to now, they already tell me that they are fans of the pod!

But even before that, it didn't stop me, the fact that I did not yet have any prominent guests or subscribers. So maybe this will inspire other people to try podcasting because it's not that difficult—it just takes creativity and perseverance!

Maybe this will inspire other people to try podcasting because it's not that difficult—it just takes creativity and perseverance!

Can you tell us a little bit about your creative process?

I think about chess and chess content all the time. I pity my girlfriend who has to deal with it—even though she is gradually becoming a chess fan herself due to my influence! So, my creative process never stops. But I most like thinking about my content when I walk my dogs (I have three dogs and four cats) and when I work out.  

Anything else you'd like to share?

My current goal in chess is obtaining the FM title, so that I can compete in Titled Tuesdays and other tournaments against the best in the world. Over the past year and a half, I've gained around 200 points and now am 2008 FIDE in classical, so I need 300 more to become an FM. 

My next tournament will be the Asian Individual Chess Championships 2025 in Al Ain, UAE (May 6-16), where there'll be lots of 2600+ and even 2700+ players playing in the same group as me. Hopefully I'll play some games against strong GMs. Recaps of all rounds will be available on my YouTube, "Chess with Mustreader"—do not miss it!