EP 359- Davaun Williams (aka Chess Knowledge with H1) on Chess TikTok Stardom, Opening Traps, and Improvement Recs

This week I am joined by a rising star in chess media, Davaun Williams. To his 200,000+ Tiktok followers and nearly 80,000 Instagram followers, Davaun is better known as “Chess Knowledge with H1.” In our conversation, we discuss H1’s chess origins, the origins of the nickname “H1,” and how he gained fame for using a demo board and throwing the captured chess pieces during his entertaining videos. Davaun’s videos feature a lot of opening traps, and he has just released his first Chessable course, “Opening Traps You Must Learn.” In addition to discussing chess openings, Davaun shares other chess improvement advice, and even advises me on whether or not I should continue to post videos on TikTok. All in all, this was a fun conversation, and it was great to learn more about Davaun’s background. Timestamps of topics discussed are below. Thanks to our presenting chess education sponsors, Chessable.com. You can see their latest courses here: https://www.chessable.com/courses/all/new/ Make sure you are also subbed to the How to Chess Podcast on your podcast app of choice: https://open.spotify.com/show/74A0JotybXUvnviTCzsSUp?si=e58986b2ce124911 And sub to my free newsletter, The Perpetual Chess Linkfest, here: https://benjohnson.substack.com/ 0:02- Davaun has been making chess content for years, but during the past year he has seen his TikTok channel explode. What changed? 0:05- Does Davaun have plans to dedicate himself full time to chess content? 0:06- Davaun discusses his unusual USCF rating history: 12:00- Davaun’s favorite chess content creators Mentioned: Gotham Chess, IM John Bartholomew, KingsCrusher, The Chessbrahs 13:00- Davaun’s chess origin story Mentioned: Chessmaster: Grandmaster Edition 17:00- How did Davaun develop the habit of throwing the Demo board pieces after they are captured in his videos? 20:00- How did Davaun decide to write a Chessable course on Opening Traps? Mentioned: Davaun’s video about the Polish/Orangutan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQQW_ZHbut4 23:00- What is Davaun’s theory as to why his shorter videos get more traction than the longer ones? How is his podcast, Chess Knowledge with H1 doing? https://open.spotify.com/show/6AefOx7Atzw3bgyfHG2bjR?si=3ed28f8e7d794837 27:00-Is Davaun interested in, and does he cover, top-level chess? Mentioned: Agadmator, Gotham Chess 30:00- Will Davaun’s kids play chess? 33:00- What is Davaun’s favorite aspect of chess? What is his favorite opening to play? 39:00- Davaun gives both chess improvement and chess content advice. 44:00- I ask Davaun’s advice: Should I continue to post videos to TikTok if noone is watching them? Thanks to Davaun for joining me on the pod, here is his linktree: https://linktr.ee/H1chess Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices