Today's guest is a legend of Kazakh chess — GM Darmen Sadvakasov! Former World U20 Champion who defeated Anatoly Karpov in 2004 and beat the world's strongest grandmasters, he was forced to abandon his professional chess career at his peak. Why did he make this painful decision? How did he return to transform Kazakhstan into a chess superpower and was behind the massive support system for young talents? Watch this fascinating conversation! Following our tradition, we finish with an exciting blitz game — don't miss it!

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00:00 — Intro

01:36 — Defeating legendary Karpov!

06:36 — Was Karpov strong in 2004?

07:41 — Darmen could've been world champion?

09:10 — Carnegie Mellon instead of chess

13:56 — Time for chess in presidential administration?

14:24 — Armageddon vs Hikaru!

16:27 — Kramnik invited to World Team Championship

18:58 — World Team Championship 2025

21:23 — Kazakhstan Chess Federation's huge support

25:59 — Why Kazakh women outperform men?

28:14 — Young male talents in Kazakhstan

32:17 — Kazakh player world top 10 soon?

35:17 — 20,000 Kazakh kids already learning chess!

37:29 — New profession: chess teacher

42:11 — Kazakhstan world #1 juniors?

43:53 — Blitz against Darmen

How THIS COUNTRY became #1 in chess | Darmen Sadvakasov PODCAST

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My name is Greg Mustreader, I am a Candidate Master in chess, an entrepreneur and host of several podcasts.

On the Chess with Mustreader channel, I interview top chess players, play against chess AIs, analyze the most interesting chess games and combinations of today and of the past, as well as show you my path in chess and the way I work on my chess improvement (including recaps from the tournaments I play).

I live in Almaty, Kazakhstan and travel the world extensively (been to 50 countries). I'm 31 years old, I have a girlfriend, three dogs and four cats. I speak English, Russian, German, and a bit of French and Chinese.

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