Shows
Rooked: The Cheaters' GambitEpisode 10: The HistorySometimes to figure out where you’re going, you have to look at where you’ve already been - so, here’s a brief history of ALL OF CHESS. Not really, but at least the parts that we think are interesting: who we think chess’ mommy is, the dictator lovin’ FIDE president who was abducted by aliens in yellow space suits, and where the Hawk Tuah girl fits into all this. If you’ve forgotten everything you learned in history class about the Russian revolution, you’ll love this one. Or maybe you’ll hate it - either way, have a listen an...
2024-07-161h 10Rooked: The Cheaters' GambitEpisode 10: The HistorySometimes to figure out where you’re going, you have to look at where you’ve already been - so, here’s a brief history of ALL OF CHESS. Not really, but at least the parts that we think are interesting: who we think chess’ mommy is, the dictator lovin’ FIDE president who was abducted by aliens in yellow space suits, and where the Hawk Tuah girl fits into all this. If you’ve forgotten everything you learned in history class about the Russian revolution, you’ll love this one. Or maybe you’ll hate it - either way, have a listen an...
2024-07-161h 10
Rooked: The Cheaters' GambitEpisode 9: The LawsuitWe’re back with our regularly scheduled scandal, this time examining the legal implications of the Hans Niemann-Magnus Carlsen Sinquefield Cup anal beads cheating affair (say that 10 times fast). A half a billion dollar lawsuit, the Sherman antitrust act, tort law, jurisdictional requests for dismissal…this one has a lot of legal jargon. But we take you through all the twists and turns with not one, but TWO law professors to get to the bottom of exactly what happened (heh heh), speculate about NDAs, and talk about what this lawsuit means for the future of chess. CONTENT WARN...
2024-06-131h 10Rooked: The Cheaters' GambitEpisode 9: The LawsuitWe’re back with our regularly scheduled scandal, this time examining the legal implications of the Hans Niemann-Magnus Carlsen Sinquefield Cup anal beads cheating affair (say that 10 times fast). A half a billion dollar lawsuit, the Sherman antitrust act, tort law, jurisdictional requests for dismissal…this one has a lot of legal jargon. But we take you through all the twists and turns with not one, but TWO law professors to get to the bottom of exactly what happened (heh heh), speculate about NDAs, and talk about what this lawsuit means for the future of chess. CONTENT WARN...
2024-06-131h 10
Rooked: The Cheaters' GambitEpisode 8: The Misogyny - A More Inclusive Future (Part 2)Last episode, we took a deep dive into the open secret in chess of rampant sexism, misogyny, and abuse of women. This time we continue that conversation, and look at the ways that the chess community is fighting back to create not just better equality, but better chess. We talk with chessfeels hosts Julia Rios and JJ Lang, Women in Chess Foundation founder Emilia Castelao, streamer and chess player Lile Koridze, commentator and WIM Fiona Steil-Aontoni about what needs to change to finally bring the game we all love into the 21st century. CONTENT WARNING: This episode...
2024-05-071h 16Rooked: The Cheaters' GambitEpisode 8: The Misogyny - A More Inclusive Future (Part 2)Last episode, we took a deep dive into the open secret in chess of rampant sexism, misogyny, and abuse of women. This time we continue that conversation, and look at the ways that the chess community is fighting back to create not just better equality, but better chess. We talk with chessfeels hosts Julia Rios and JJ Lang, Women in Chess Foundation founder Emilia Castelao, streamer and chess player Lile Koridze, commentator and WIM Fiona Steil-Aontoni about what needs to change to finally bring the game we all love into the 21st century. CONTENT WARNING: This episode...
2024-05-071h 16
Rooked: The Cheaters' GambitEpisode 7: The Misogyny - Recent Controversies (Part 1)Misogyny and sexism are the two biggest issues we’ve encountered in chess outside cheating. It’s an institutional issue that has for too long been accepted in the sport as normal. Abuse of women in chess is still ongoing at a high frequency, and the organizations and governing bodies surrounding chess have seemingly let it slide…to the point that it’s become an open secret. We talk with Women in Chess Foundation founder Emilia Castelao, streamer and chess player Lile Koridze, and commentator and WIM Fiona Steil-Antoni about how misogyny affects the game, their experience as women in a fie...
2024-04-091h 12Rooked: The Cheaters' GambitEpisode 7: The Misogyny - Recent Controversies (Part 1)Misogyny and sexism are the two biggest issues we’ve encountered in chess outside cheating. It’s an institutional issue that has for too long been accepted in the sport as normal. Abuse of women in chess is still ongoing at a high frequency, and the organizations and governing bodies surrounding chess have seemingly let it slide…to the point that it’s become an open secret. We talk with Women in Chess Foundation founder Emilia Castelao, streamer and chess player Lile Koridze, and commentator and WIM Fiona Steil-Antoni about how misogyny affects the game, their experience as women in a fie...
2024-04-091h 12
Rooked: The Cheaters' GambitBonus Episode - Chess MurderersIn honour of International Women’s Day…this is not the episode on misogyny in chess that we teased last episode. How does that make sense? Well, we want to make sure we get such an important episode right. So instead of that episode, here’s a little bonus instead while we keep working to make sure the next episode is as good as we want it to be. Please enjoy this thrilling tale of two chess murderers: Alexander Pichushkin, aka The Chessboard Killer, and the conniving Claude Bloodgoode who killed his mother and manipulated the USCF rating system from w...
2024-03-0527 minRooked: The Cheaters' GambitBonus Episode - Chess MurderersIn honour of International Women’s Day…this is not the episode on misogyny in chess that we teased last episode. How does that make sense? Well, we want to make sure we get such an important episode right. So instead of that episode, here’s a little bonus instead while we keep working to make sure the next episode is as good as we want it to be. Please enjoy this thrilling tale of two chess murderers: Alexander Pichushkin, aka The Chessboard Killer, and the conniving Claude Bloodgoode who killed his mother and manipulated the USCF rating system from w...
2024-03-0527 min
Rooked: The Cheaters' GambitEpisode 6: The PsychologyJust what exactly is the psychology of chess? Damned if we know, we’re not psychologists. But Julia Rios and JJ Lang of the chessfeels podcast do a great job of discussing exactly that, among other things…and we were so inspired by them that we decided to do our own episode on psychology (well...pseudo psychology is probably a better term for what we do in this episode, honestly.) Anyways, if you want to hear us talk about what a typical chess player might look like, and why they seem more prone than the average bear to madness (look...
2024-02-061h 04Rooked: The Cheaters' GambitEpisode 6: The PsychologyJust what exactly is the psychology of chess? Damned if we know, we’re not psychologists. But Julia Rios and JJ Lang of the chessfeels podcast do a great job of discussing exactly that, among other things…and we were so inspired by them that we decided to do our own episode on psychology (well...pseudo psychology is probably a better term for what we do in this episode, honestly.) Anyways, if you want to hear us talk about what a typical chess player might look like, and why they seem more prone than the average bear to madness (look...
2024-02-061h 04
Rooked: The Cheaters' GambitEpisode 5: The SportsmanshipWhat does good sportsmanship in chess look like? Does it actually matter whether its best players are good sports? Well, we think it does - and so do some other people like, oh, I don’t know, Magnus Carlsen (not sure if you’ve heard of him, but he’s kind of a big deal.) Plus our main guest for this episode, Bill Cole - aka The Mental Game Coach - thinks so, too. But, decide for yourself, I guess. CONTENT WARNING: This episode briefly mentions the National Inquiry into the Missing and Murdered Women and Girls at the...
2024-01-091h 04Rooked: The Cheaters' GambitEpisode 5: The SportsmanshipWhat does good sportsmanship in chess look like? Does it actually matter whether its best players are good sports? Well, we think it does - and so do some other people like, oh, I don’t know, Magnus Carlsen (not sure if you’ve heard of him, but he’s kind of a big deal.) Plus our main guest for this episode, Bill Cole - aka The Mental Game Coach - thinks so, too. But, decide for yourself, I guess. CONTENT WARNING: This episode briefly mentions the National Inquiry into the Missing and Murdered Women and Girls at the...
2024-01-091h 04
Rooked: The Cheaters' GambitEpisode 4: The CheatingFinally, it’s the episode you’ve been waiting for: we talk about all things cheating, from the device itself (how easy is it to make and use?) to the history of cheating in chess, and what cheating means to the future of the game. Because if everyone is doing it, is it really that big of a deal? Hosted by good producer / bad chess player Jess Schmidt and first-time podcaster / good chess player Ryan Webb, this series explores the events leading up to and following the Sinquefield Cup cheating scandal and tries to unravel the truth of w...
2023-12-051h 07Rooked: The Cheaters' GambitEpisode 4: The CheatingFinally, it’s the episode you’ve been waiting for: we talk about all things cheating, from the device itself (how easy is it to make and use?) to the history of cheating in chess, and what cheating means to the future of the game. Because if everyone is doing it, is it really that big of a deal? Hosted by good producer / bad chess player Jess Schmidt and first-time podcaster / good chess player Ryan Webb, this series explores the events leading up to and following the Sinquefield Cup cheating scandal and tries to unravel the truth of w...
2023-12-051h 07
Rooked: The Cheaters' GambitEpisode 3: The Players - Hans Niemann (Part 2)Hans Niemann had already made a name for himself in chess prior to the 2022 Sinquefield Cup scandal…the bad boy of chess, plagued by online cheating revelations, and already marked as an oddball at the young age of 19. And to be considered weird by the chess world means you’ve really got some baggage (looking at you, Bobby Fischer (RIP)). But what exactly did Hans do to earn the ire of Magnus Carlsen and his legion of fans - was it really just the OTB cheating allegations? Or were Hans and Magnus already enemies even before the events at Sinq...
2023-11-071h 07Rooked: The Cheaters' GambitEpisode 3: The Players - Hans Niemann (Part 2)Hans Niemann had already made a name for himself in chess prior to the 2022 Sinquefield Cup scandal…the bad boy of chess, plagued by online cheating revelations, and already marked as an oddball at the young age of 19. And to be considered weird by the chess world means you’ve really got some baggage (looking at you, Bobby Fischer (RIP)). But what exactly did Hans do to earn the ire of Magnus Carlsen and his legion of fans - was it really just the OTB cheating allegations? Or were Hans and Magnus already enemies even before the events at Sinq...
2023-11-071h 07
Rooked: The Cheaters' GambitEpisode 2: The Players - Magnus Carlsen (Part 1)Magnus Carlsen accused Hans Niemann of cheating at the 2022 Sinquefield Cup - but the story leading up to how he got there actually started over 30 years ago. Magnus was captivating the chess world way before this scandal: from breaking records and claiming his place among the greatest players of all time, to winning on and off the chessboard in poker and fantasy football, to selling a multi-million dollar website and app - Magnus is a cultural phenomenon. But like many phenomena, he’s not entirely…knowable. Even authors writing entire books about him can’t get an interview with the ma...
2023-10-031h 02Rooked: The Cheaters' GambitEpisode 2: The Players - Magnus Carlsen (Part 1)Magnus Carlsen accused Hans Niemann of cheating at the 2022 Sinquefield Cup - but the story leading up to how he got there actually started over 30 years ago. Magnus was captivating the chess world way before this scandal: from breaking records and claiming his place among the greatest players of all time, to winning on and off the chessboard in poker and fantasy football, to selling a multi-million dollar website and app - Magnus is a cultural phenomenon. But like many phenomena, he’s not entirely…knowable. Even authors writing entire books about him can’t get an interview with the ma...
2023-10-031h 02
Rooked: The Cheaters' GambitEpisode 1: The ScandalThe date is September 4th, 2022. Two elite players sit down at a chess board. In the third round of action at the Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis, Missouri, the number one classical chess player in the world Magnus Carlsen loses to 19-year-old Grandmaster Hans Niemann, who has been making his name as the bad boy of chess. Magnus accuses Hans of cheating - and this ends up being the first domino to fall in what would soon become one of the most outrageous scandals to shock the chess world. Anal beads, Elon Musk, and a $400-million dollar lawsuit ensue…in...
2023-09-051h 01Rooked: The Cheaters' GambitEpisode 1: The ScandalThe date is September 4th, 2022. Two elite players sit down at a chess board. In the third round of action at the Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis, Missouri, the number one classical chess player in the world Magnus Carlsen loses to 19-year-old Grandmaster Hans Niemann, who has been making his name as the bad boy of chess. Magnus accuses Hans of cheating - and this ends up being the first domino to fall in what would soon become one of the most outrageous scandals to shock the chess world. Anal beads, Elon Musk, and a $400-million dollar lawsuit ensue…in...
2023-09-051h 01
Dork MattersThe Dork’s GambitCheck: It’s Dorks to Rooked Podcast as hosts Jess Schmidt and Ryan Webb join Lexi & Ben to dork out about chess scandals! We talk automatons, chess in pop culture, toiletgate, and anal beads! You may actually learn something this time. Check mate!FURTHER DORKSCUSSION:AnalbeadgateToiletgateThe TurkBONUS CONTENT:Geri's GameThe Queen's GambitHarry Potter's Chess SceneX-Men2001: A Space OdysseySearching For Bobby FischerStar Trek - 3D ChessQueen of KatweYou can find guest hosts Jess Schmidt and Ryan Webb at rookedpodcast.xyz, instagram, and twitter.SOCIALS:Here's where you can find us!Le...
2023-03-291h 00
Rooked: The Cheaters' GambitWelcome to Rooked: Trailer Speaks for ItselfWelcome to Rooked - the podcast that explores the ongoing (and very dramatic) chess cheating controversy. Two men sit down at a chessboard in front of thousands of spectators both in person and online. One controversial win later, accusations of cheating, lies, and anal beads start to fly. (Yeah, you read that right.) This story has made for some wild news headlines, but beneath the facade is a fascinating tale that could have wide-reaching implications for one of humankind's most competitive and strategic board games. Who is telling the truth? What does a cheater stand to gain...
2022-10-1605 minRooked: The Cheaters' GambitWelcome to Rooked: Trailer Speaks for ItselfWelcome to Rooked - the podcast that explores the ongoing (and very dramatic) chess cheating controversy. Two men sit down at a chessboard in front of thousands of spectators both in person and online. One controversial win later, accusations of cheating, lies, and anal beads start to fly. (Yeah, you read that right.) This story has made for some wild news headlines, but beneath the facade is a fascinating tale that could have wide-reaching implications for one of humankind's most competitive and strategic board games. Who is telling the truth? What does a cheater stand to gain...
2022-10-1605 min