NM Ben Johnson

NM Ben Johnson is the host of the Perpetual Chess Podcast, which recently joined the Blue Wire Podcasts family. Perpetual Chess has 1,000,000+ streams in over 100 countries and, since its inception five years ago, has been the gold standard for chess podcasts. Ben has interviewed everyone from competitive tournament players to World Champions (Anand and Kramnik) of the game.

Ben's podcasting empire has expanded well beyond traditional interviews with GMs and other figures in the chess world. With Chessable, he has started the How to Chess Podcast, where he and his guests share nuggets of chess wisdom in shorter length episodes. He hosts an Adult Improver series of his podcasts with all kinds of interesting guests from around the world and across the rating ladder. He also has another series on book recaps of chess book classics. Outside of podcasting, Ben achieved the National Master (NM) title many years ago, played poker professionally for several years, and has experience as an independent

In short, there's something for everyone with an interest in chess to check out on the Perpetual Chess Podcast. Long-time listeners of 64: A Chess Podcast will know that I've been a huge fan of Ben's work with the Perpetual Chess Podcast, and it was a pleasure to talk about recent news in the chess world, as well as general podcasting, with someone who has inspired me to work very hard on my own podcast. I want to thank Ben for coming onto the show this week, and to thank you all for checking out this episode of 64: A Chess Podcast.

Some highlights from this week's episode:

• Ruminations about the nature of the "chess pod-o-sphere"
• Ben and I discuss the Champions Chess Tour Final, its surrounding drama (NFTs, Hikaru Titled Tuesday, etc.), and the tour format
• We also briefly discuss FIDE's recent sponsorship agreement with Motiva, a breast implantation company. Check out Lichess's article on this agreement here
• What was the chess pod-o-sphere like in 2016? How did Ben ultimately find success?
• Ben's favorite interview on the Perpetual Chess Podcast
• How did the chess boom impact the Perpetual Chess Podcast growth?
• Ben talks a bit about his own chess goals, including returning to OTB chess and being inspired by the adult improvers who come on his show.
• Some b3 cowboy discourse
• Yet another edition of Aimchess Instant Insights!
• BONUS BASKETBALL CONTENT: Ben Johnson rants about Ben Simmons, and other light NBA discussion

64: A Chess Podcast is sponsored by Aimchess. Use code "DAVID30" to get 30% off your first month with Aimchess.

Join my Patreon!

Thanks again to Ben Johnson for coming onto the show. Follow Ben on Twitter here!

Follow Perpetual Chess Podcast!

Follow How to Chess!

Follow the podcast on Twitter: @64Podcast

Follow David Vizgan (the host) on Twitter: @davidvizgan