My guest in this week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast is French grandmaster Joel Lautier. Although he was one of the world’s best players for more than a decade, his name may not automatically ring a bell with our younger listeners.
Nevertheless, I am convinced that they will be as happy with today’s guest as I am. Let me first provide them with some background information.

To begin with, Joel Lautier is the youngest Junior Chess World Champion in history. In 1988, at the age of 15, he won the title in Adelaide, Australia, ahead of the odds-on favourites Ivanchuk and Gelfand who were 19 and 20 at the time.

Joel is also one of the few players who hold a lifetime positive score against Garry Kasparov. And, besides Vasyl Ivanchuk, he is the only grandmaster of his generation who defeated all world champions of his time, including the so-called FIDE World Champions. That’s such an impressive list that it’s worth mentioning them all: Karpov, Kasparov, Kramnik, Khalifman, Anand, Ponomariov, Kasimdzhanov and Topalov.

What’s more, Joel was one of Vladimir Kramnik’s seconds when the Russian sensationally defeated Kasparov in the world championship match of 2000 in London.

And finally there is another fascinating side to his career: Joel Lautier is one of very few world-class grandmasters who quit chess to pursue a totally different career, and who did so successfully.
He started his new career in 2006 at a Russian consulting firm (he is fluent in Russian) and quickly worked his way up. After about two years he was handling mergers and acquisitions and soon he got involved in a separate company within the firm called “RGG Capital”. The next step was to buy out his partners’ shares and become the CEO of his own company.
These days Joel is living in Malaga, in the south of Spain, and his investment company mainly focuses on startups.

In the podcast Joel Lautier speaks about his chess career - particularly his encounters with Kasparov and his childhood idol Bobby Fischer - and his career as an investment banker; including the shocking moment in 2022 when the US State Department unjustly put him on the sanctions list after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a dramatic and painful error that was corrected about a year later.

Joel is a great storyteller and you should not miss this lively episode full of great chess stories - that will make you want to play through the games he mentions - and remarkable insights in his business career.
And you’ll hear more about the remarkable talent of his 13-year-old daughter Naomi, who has attracted international attention in the art world and just exhibited some of her paintings at the Venice Biennale!


The New In Chess podcast is published every Friday and can be listened to on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and the New In Chess website. 

Timestamps

0:00 – Intro
2:10 – Welcome Joel!
3:05 – Becoming the youngest Junior World Champion in history in 1988
4:24 – Meeting his great influence, Bobby Fischer, in 1992
8:52 – Realising upon meeting Fischer that he did not want to remain in chess forever
10:42 – Dropping out of school at 16 to pursue chess, Joel’s father’s influence
13:05 – Joel’s experience being coached by Lev Polugaevsky
16:25 – Joel’s positive score against Kasparov|
20:41 – Joel’s spectacular three-queen game against Kasparov 
23:49 – The legendary Linares 1994 tournament 
26:23 – AD BREAK 
27:02 – Joel’s victory over Kasparov in Amsterdam 1995
33:16 – Joel’s experience as a second for Kramnik in 2000
40:18 – The evening of Kramnik’s victory
42:17 – Joel’s visit to Fischer with Spasski in 1992
47:01 – The start of Joel’s business career and move to Russia
52:48 – AD BREAK
53:47 – Continued business career and eventual move to Barcelona
59:53 – Being incorrectly put on an American sanctions list after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 (a mistake which has since been corrected)
1:06:49 – AD BREAK
1:07:42 – Will Joel be compensated by the American government for their mistake?
1:08:09 – Joel’s talented 13-year old daughter Naomi, whose paintings are displayed at various exhibitions in Europe
1:14:26 – Outro