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"Be Bold, And Share Your Ideas With Others": Meet The Creator Behind The Creator Cup

"Be Bold, And Share Your Ideas With Others": Meet The Creator Behind The Creator Cup

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Matt Perchard, a.k.a. houseline, is a relative newcomer to the field of chess content creation, but he has already accomplished something few creators have: organize a successful online chess streaming tournament. The Creator Cup is but the first of many great accomplishments that Matt plans to achieve in chess content. In a wide ranging interview full of tips that can help anyone, Chess.com spoke with Matt about the Creator Cup, his creative process, how calculated risk taking has gotten him where he is today, and much more.


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

I’ve been creating chess content for about five months now. I started playing chess during Covid, and I quickly caught the bug (pun intended). Since then, I’ve been completely hooked. Joining the incredible London Hammersmith Chess Club was a game-changer—I’ve made lifelong friends there and cemented my love for the game through the amazing people I met. Honestly, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better club!

I decided to dive into chess content after moving out of London. I missed the guys and girls from Hammersmith, and I saw an opportunity to bring that sense of community into the online chess world. I wanted to share and spread the passion I’ve built for the game.

Thumbnails of Matt’s “Doing The Work” chess series. Click to check it out!

Beyond chess, I’ve had a weird and wonderful creative career spanning TV, design, lighting, and fashion. One of my highlights was working on a shoot with Anya Taylor-Joy for BAFTA—long before The Queen’s Gambit or my introduction to chess. All of these experiences have given me a skill set perfectly suited to creating content.

I’ve never followed a strict career path or journey—it’s always been about following my passions and building something unique. Chess content has been the next exciting chapter in that adventure.

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

The process is what makes anything fun for me. It’s why I fell in love with skydiving (I’m a qualified skydiver), why I’m obsessed with chess, and why I’m so passionate about creating content and experiences. The learning never stops.

There’s something unbeatable about the creative journey—starting with a crumpled, coffee-stained scrap of paper, scribbled with an idea, and watching it evolve into something that resonates with people before finally becoming real and tangible.

Fun fact: chess gets my heart rate higher than skydiving ever did. Crazy, right? Honestly, I think chess deserves to be classified as an adrenaline sport falling out of planes is chill in comparison.

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

LulaRobs 🐈 She is my inspiration for getting into content and has been super insightful when ever I bug her with questions. I'm also from Jersey, so not biased at all!

GremlinPlaysChess 🔥is an absolute baller. She brings so much personality and great vibes in her streams and she's just started going on instagram. 

FarzyPlaysChess🚨embodies everything I love about how chess can connect people Farzy has met every streamer under the sun and will do anything to connect everyone together. 

ChessSharkz 🦈 They did commentary on my Creator Cup tournament and they've kept in touch and we will do some cool things in the future!

EmilyPlaysChess - you won't find a better YouTube for breaking down the basics and taking you on the journey she's on, super relatable and her improvement is great. 

BSlkyWalk ⭐️ What a guy. Super positive energy and a bundle of fun.

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

I’ve just started a Doing the Work chess series, which I’m super proud of, but my standout project has to be the Creator Cup! Technically, it’s more of an event than content, but it was a passion project that gave me the chance to connect with so many amazing chess streamers. 

The Creator Cup was inspired by PogChamps and it was a 16-player tournament for 1500-2000 Elo I organized to bring smaller streamers together, build a sense of community, and shine a spotlight on all the small pockets of greatness in the chess world.

It was a monumental amount of work. What started as an idea I had while sitting in bed in my boxers turned into a fully produced, professional tournament in just four weeks. I knew I had the skills to produce an event. I hadn't done a digital chess event before, so I just got stuck in. I've managed teams at a global agency, and in comparison, this was a breeze. I found some creative and inspiring people through this journey and process because you find people that are passionate about something and it's not just their job.

With zero budget, a mere 152 hours of my time 😭, and the incredible support of the creators involved, we made it happen. Huge shoutout to FarzyPlaysChess, GilbyFish123, and Zmoothly for being such amazing collaborators—chess, sweat, and tears all the way!

I thought it was really important for the production value to feel incredible and meet the standard of a Chess.com event. Smaller streamers don't get an opportunity to feel like they're part of an event or have something to work towards. I wanted this to be a spotlight for smaller content creators to help them share their audience and just generally grow the game in general.

I had no idea about what times would work across the eight different time zones and all that kind of stuff. So, I was just winging it entirely. And that's also a lesson to people: just fix problems as they occur, but don't spend too much time thinking about it. Have the idea and then let it become its thing. I messaged everyone and started confirming. I had to change schedules around. I was essentially project managing, and then I was also competing in a tournament which I will never do again ever. Do not organize and compete in a tournament!

I only had the time and drive to pull it off because I took a risk: I had just left my job as Head of Design and Digital at a creative agency in London to start my own design company. With a huge void to fill, I decided to dive into chess content and saw an opportunity to collaborate with these incredible creators. Now, I’m balancing chess content and setting up my design company, and honestly, it all fits together really well.

Since the Creator Cup, more and more streamers as well have been getting in touch. I did some commentary for Hannah Sayce and EmilyPlaysChess. So, I'm building more and more connections. 

Between leaving your job to start your company, your time skydiving, running with ideas that might not work out, it seems like risk plays a big role in what you do and your path into chess. 

I would definitely categorize myself as a calculated risk taker. So, I don't take any risk that I see as unnecessary. I do think it's super important in whatever you're doing that you push the boundaries. A lot of people talk around this, especially in the creative industry, but being able to just accept failing. There's a whole definition change that needs to happen around the word failure, because to me failure is not trying. Trying and not working is very different to failing, and I would much rather do something and learn through that way.

There's a whole definition change that needs to happen around the word failure, because to me failure is not trying.

So you should always start somewhere, and step by step you'll get somewhere else. And I think that's been reflective in my whole kind of journey and career.

I only started the Instagram Reel content recently with chess and the first post I did was me talking about Jeansgate, to just start putting stuff out there... and I got roasted. So many people did not like it, but that's the process. The earlier that happens, the more you accept that idea of failing, and the easier it is just to do something. I don't think chess drama is the way to go. I will try and avoid it in the future. But this is the process, and risk-taking and things not working is how you find what does work.

I've always changed my job almost every two years. A lot of people hate to do that or never do that. For me, I don't sit still. I always want that process of moving forward, trying to do something new.

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

Because this had such an impact on my chess. ChessBrah's Habits series they did on stream a couple years back. This series took me from 1100 to 1500 in 3 months, literally just following those basic rules of thumb if Eric or Aman read this and you want to do a collab hit me up, I have some ideas.

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

My approach is probably a bit different from most content creators. I’m obsessed with the process of building new experiences. My brain naturally gravitates towards the vision for events, physical products, and and human interactions—all areas I’ve worked in before. For me, the experience people have should create a lasting memory. That should always come first.

That’s why I’d love to collaborate with Jan-Henric Buettner. He's looking to build something new and exciting and working with those kind of people means I step up my game and push ideas. 

From my perspective, he truly understands how every detail of a chess event contributes to the bigger picture. Whether it’s creating custom jackets for the players, optimizing the locations, or fine-tuning the acoustics, every element matters. It’s about bringing these details together to create something truly memorable—within time and budget, of course.

I'd love to—scratch that, I will!—build events like the freestyle chess events in the future.

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

  1. Start with an idea: A good idea is always a good idea, even if it’s scribbled on the back of an envelope. No amount of good design can save a bad idea, so the key is to generate loads of ideas without worrying if they’re bad. Over time, you’ll get better and more consistent.
  2. Ask other people / put it out there: Be bold and share your ideas with others. It’s scary, and yes, some of your ideas will bomb or get harsh feedback. But that’s okay—the more ideas you put out there, the better you’ll get at curating what’s good and what’s not. Don’t waste time over-designing. I start with stickmen sketches on paper and show them raw. It’s quick, easy, and low stakes—no time wasted polishing something that might not work.
  3. Iterate: Listen to feedback, absorb it, and use it to improve your ideas. Keep older versions of your ideas and designs so you can compare and see if changes are for better or worse.
  4. Execute: When the idea is ready, get to work. Design it, write it, refine it, and then add that final sparkle to bring it to life.
  5. Always be curious: Curiosity is the ultimate creative tool. Ask questions, even about things you don’t think you care about. Curiosity opens doors—to people, ideas, and opportunities, both small and big.

How quickly can you decide if an idea is good?

Experience really accelerates what you can curate as a good or bad idea or what has potential. I've had more bad ideas than I ever have had good ideas, but I'm much better now at quickly having an insight that starts an idea. You can always give people a fact and if you can create something from that.

Part two of the answer is that you should just put it out there. and that's what helps you define quickly if an idea is good or bad. Sharing ideas is key. I've had ideas that I think are really good and really insightful, but I've put it out there suddenly I realize it isn't such a good idea.

The beauty of social media is that you can instantly put ideas out into the world. They don't have to be glossy, but you can very quickly understand and get a reaction. And the more you put out there, the more you'll gain this experience. That's what we're seeing in the world of content today, all of these people trying things, and that's a really exciting thing for me. 

Any final thoughts?

I think there’s a big gap in chess content. Right now, we have the heavy hitters like Levy, the Botez Sisters, and Anna Cramling. Then there are the amazing streamers who post loads of clips from their streams (very saturated), the YouTubers focused on educational content or “road to [insert goal]” journeys, and of course, the memes.

To me, the goals of most of these content buckets don’t quite strike the right tone or aim for the right things. For example, I don't think rating goals (or title goals—sorry Levy!) are helpful in the long run, there is a point where you will either stop or keep setting the bar until you can never achieve it. 

The majority of content creators are very focused on quantity of content. This need to be unpicked a bit as I think taking some more time to create considered content has real meaningful value. It's not great for quick growth but having an engaged audience that resonates with you will always be way more valuable and will outgrow any quantity algorithm growth hackers. If quantity is what brings in your audience if you stop posting as much your audience dies off. 

Having an engaged audience that resonates with you will always be way more valuable and will outgrow any quantity algorithm growth hackers.

I can't say this for certain, and hell I'm probably wrong. But, I think there is an element of lifestyle content missing from chess. I’m not entirely sure what that looks like yet, but that’s exactly what I’m testing with my new Doing the Work series. It’s definitely a work in progress—I’m learning as I go, figuring out what doesn’t work until I land on what does. To my knowledge, no one else in chess has tapped into the Instagram format I’ve created for this series.

The series is purely (and selfishly) about holding myself accountable to just do the work. There isn’t a big goal for my chess right now; the goal is the process itself. The execution is about keeping myself consistent, asking questions, sharing my weeks and creating connections within the chess community.

What I love about this format is that it’s not tied to performance or results. That means I can focus on making sexy, cinematic 90-second reels about my hobby, which is super fun for me!

Each reel takes about 8–12 hours to write, shoot, edit, and post. It’s a high-effort series—just like serious chess study should be.


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NathanielGreen
Nathaniel Green

Nathaniel Green is a staff writer for Chess.com who writes articles, player biographies, Titled Tuesday reports, video scripts, and more. He has been playing chess for about 30 years and resides near Washington, DC, USA.

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