This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with Georgian-Dutch grandmaster Robby Kevlishvili. Robby is a varsity chess player for St. Louis University, currently representing them in his fifth season while simultaneously completing his finance and business degrees. Robby has won numerous national prizes with his teammates, especially in the online blitz format, where St. Louis University has dominated the American collegiate scene for the past few seasons.
Interviewed by Alex Polak, Robby talks about his life as a chess player on the American collegiate circuit, his own strong performances in blitz play, and his impression of St. Louis, deemed by many to be the chess capital of the world.
In addition to our usual streaming platforms, this time a full video version of the interview will appear on YouTube as well! Subscribe to the New In Chess YouTube channel for future podcasts and related chess content. In addition to our usual Spotify player, an embedded YouTube video should appear below. If the video does not appear, access it directly on YouTube here (hyperlink, URL = https://youtu.be/DHjo1sxSWgs )
Timestamps
0:00 – Intro
1:01 – What it means to be a student athlete in the world of chess
1:54 – How Robby ended up in St. Louis
3:30 – Chess and academics
7:00 – The collegiate tournament schedule
9:43 – Robby’s strong coaches at SLU
11:03 – St. Louis, the city of chess
13:11 – Robby’s incredibly strong online play
17:53 – Other strong chess universities
23:13 – Robby’s training schedule
24:49 – Experiencing the chess boom while a part of SLU
28:48 – Outro