Good evening. You're listening to Three Moves Ahead, and I'm tonight's host, Michael Hermes.

We're doing things a little bit different tonight. I've been able to convince Rob and Troy that I can have my very own episode

so I can talk about a topic that's near and dear to my heart, and that's chess. More specifically,

we're going to be talking about the state of chess in 2016 and why I think it's an exciting time for a game that's roughly a thousand years old.

As a strategy board and video gaming podcast, I feel there's going to be a large subset of

you, the listeners who have at least a passing interest in chess.

And my goal is to encourage that interest and get some more people into the game.

I am a chess enthusiast, but I am by no means a chess expert. So I've gotten one, and he's agreed to come on to the show. Our guest is a well-known chess YouTuber, a rated F-I-D-E International Master, and a lover of the Scandinavian John Bartholome. John, welcome to the show. Thanks, Michael, for having me. So I've brought you on so we can talk about several topics, such as how YouTube and streaming

have affected the game, a little bit about the competitive scene, and some tools and sites

that people may not be familiar with as ways to get deeper into the game.

But first, let's get to know you.

Like I said before, you're an FIDE International Master, which we'll talk about later,

but you make your full-time living as a chess

professional. Is that right? That's correct. I've been doing chess full-time for about five years now.

Okay. And so that comes in the form of either lessons or possibly what you get from YouTube or

any winnings from tournaments. You do tournament play, I'm assuming? That's right. I do play tournaments,

although at the rank I'm at, tournaments are not a primary means of income by any means.

Okay. Enter tournaments mainly for fun and just trying to keep myself sharp. But most of my

income is from teaching a little bit from YouTube, lectures, camps, that sort of thing.

Okay.

So you do, you're based out of the Midwest and you do a lot of coaching, I think, in person.

And then also, I imagine Skype and online things have been a real big help with that.

...