Take advantage of the wealth of chess content available on YouTube. Here are five valuable channels we think you should check out.

5 YouTube Channels to Learn More About the World of Chess

One of the easiest ways for both new and old information to circulate nowadays is through online videos.

A single video often reaches more people and has a greater impact than a blog post. And the fact that it’s free makes it more accessible than a subscription to any magazine.

With so much content out there, we’ve handpicked five channels that don’t just entertain—they educate, document, and enrich the global chess conversation. These aren’t your average game-analysis streams.

When putting together this short list, we based our choices on the following criteria:

The channels must broaden our understanding of chess culture. That is, the topics they cover should help us learn about key historical and current figures and shed light on the challenges the chess world faces.

So, this list doesn’t prioritize channels that analyze games, stream live tournaments, or focus solely on entertaining the public (though some do include these as part of their content).

What we do feature are channels that interview key players in the chess ecosystem and offer historically relevant content that serves to educate the audience.

This list doesn’t include Spanish-language channels, but we hope AI dubbing experiments on YouTube will soon be officially available so that language isn’t a barrier.

Let’s dive in.

Channel: Perpetual Chess Podcast

(English content only)

This channel is run by Ben Johnson, a master recognized by the US Chess Federation. He launched the Perpetual Chess Podcast in 2016 to raise the bar for chess-related podcast content. Its YouTube channel has been active since February 24, 2017.

Perpetual Chess Podcast has just over 15,000 subscribers and more than 667 videos.

It offers a variety of playlists that are especially interesting for players, future coaches, educators, and general fans of the game. Some of them include:

• Interviews with Chess Content Creators

• FIDE Elections

• Top Trainers

• Interviews with Chess Educators

• Chess History talk!

• Chess Books Recaptured- Chess Book Reviews

• Chess Business Interviews

• Interviews with Top Players

The content is thorough and timely when it comes to covering the chess ecosystem. You’ll also find videos and interviews that touch on chess psychology.

Channel: Levitov Chess

(Mainly in Russian, but some videos are in English)

This channel belongs to Ilya Levitov, a Russian trainer and arbiter who also served as executive director of the Russian Chess Federation and as FIDE Vice President from 2010 to 2014.

Levitov Chess launched in March 2020 to share Ilya’s passion for chess. The channel has over 123,000 subscribers and more than 2,400 videos.

The interviews are excellent—Levitov encourages guests to be open and straightforward.

There’s a strong commitment to producing high-quality material. Just look at some of the great historical content, like “History of Chess” and “The Top 100 Chess Players in History.”

Other playlists include:

• Great Confrontations

• 24 Hours with Garry Kasparov

• Not a Single Word About Chess

• Chess and Life

• “In the first line” (a weekly analysis of recent chess events)

Levitov Chess is a must-watch for anyone looking to dive deeper into the world of chess and learn about key Russian historical figures in the game.

Channel: Chess with Mustreader

(English content)

Chess with Mustreader is a channel created by Greg Mustreader, who was born in Kazakhstan and is ethnically Russian.

The channel started in January 2024 and has over 13,000 subscribers and more than 300 videos.

Greg is a candidate master and previously created content about tech, AI, crypto, Web3, biohacking, longevity, and more on another channel called “Greg Mustreader.”

Some of the playlists on Chess with Mustreader include:

• Humans vs Chess Engines

• Historic Chess Games

• Road to FIDE Master

• Podcasts with top GMs

We discovered Greg’s channel thanks to his interviews with Daniil Dubov and Alexander Grischuk. Since then, it’s become a go-to source for hearing elite players’ takes on a wide variety of topics.

Channel: C-Squared

(English content)

C-Squared is the only channel on the list hosted and co-founded by two grandmasters: Italian-American Fabiano Caruana and Romanian Cristian Chirila.

Today, the channel has more than 85,000 subscribers and over 600 videos.

Their goal is to publish weekly content covering chess news and stars. And just from a few of their video titles, you can tell how engaging their approach is:

• Magnus Goes Legendary, Did FIDE Miss The Digital Revolution?

• We Questioned The Chess Mafia Boss In The Back Of A Van

• Hans Niemann’s Unexpected Move SHOCKS The Chess World

• Freestyle Chess Goes Global, Fabi Joins Team Liquid, Hikaru Retiring ?!?!

• JeansGate Explained | Magnus & FIDE Go To War Over Jeans

As you can see, the titles are super creative, which makes for a fun way to dive into chess and the latest trends.

We first heard about this channel through their interview with Judit Polgar.

Channel: ChessBase India

(English content)

We couldn’t leave ChessBase India off this list. The content here is always timely and insightful.

Run by Sagar Shah, ChessBase India boasts more than 2.62 million subscribers and over 15,000 videos.

Many of us discovered ChessBase India because it was the first channel to get players talking right after a match or to show us a more personal side of the players during tournaments—offering a vital window into the chess ecosystem.

Even though their slogan is “Powering Chess in India,” the content is highly valuable for fans around the globe.

We especially recommend the interviews with coaches and players involved in the fight for the world title, as well as many other significant interviews.

Some highlights include:

• Ding Liren after his loss to Gukesh

• Coach Gajewski from Poland

• Vishy Anand and his contribution to chess in India

• Vladimir Kramnik after coaching the Uzbek team

• Fabiano Caruana

• Hikaru Nakamura

• Vladimir Fedoseev

• Various Indian players

• Ian Nepomniachtchi

• Coaches Ivan Sokolov and Ramachandran Ramesh

It’s clear that one of the main hubs of chess today is India. So it would be a big miss not to explore this channel and learn from their experiences and successes.

We hope you keep diving deeper into the world of chess through the YouTube channels we’ve recommended here. All of the content creators on this list have one thing in common: a genuine passion for chess. So don’t hesitate—you’re in good hands.