Try ChessReps and start learning chess openings from the best: https://www.chessreps.com/ Today’s guest is Jan Henric Buettner — a candidate for FIDE President and co-founder of Freestyle Chess. Jan shares the story behind his unexpected presidential run: why he decided to enter the race after stepping back from running Freestyle Chess, and how Javokhir Sindarov and Bibisara Assaubayeva helped spark the idea. We discuss whether he could bring Magnus Carlsen back into the classical World Championship cycle, why he questions the transparency and fairness of the FIDE election, and what he plans to change if he becomes president. Jan also shares his vision for the future of classical chess, how to make chess more popular, and discusses his position on Russia and Belarus in FIDE events. This one got pretty heated — don’t miss it! Support me on Patreon: https://patreon.com/mustreader My DISCORD server: https://discord.gg/QYX5VcpTBP My X: https://x.com/mustreader My channel with podcast highlights: https://www.youtube.com/@CwMClips My chess.com club: https://go.chess.com/MustreaderClub Collabs: mazdrid@gmail.com Jan's X: https://x.com/JanHBuettner Jan’s campaign website: https://janhenricbuettner.com Links and resources mentioned in the podcast: FIDE Budget: https://doc.fide.com/docs/DOC/2025_GA_online/GA-202509.pdf Jan’s Chess Manifesto Summary: https://onecdn.io/media/4chessmanifestosummary-ce195d9b-272c-4eca-9af2-ea9cb9036ac6.pdf My previous podcast with Jan: https://youtu.be/4qLJHs2J-KY My podcast with Magnus’s coach, Peter Heine Nielsen: https://youtu.be/bXQAvKUiA7A My podcast with Nodirbek: https://youtu.be/IIQ3eguWJdY My podcast with Boris Gelfand: https://youtu.be/fj5BmOc6Rrk?si=aEkzLvPMmkbdSLZl My podcast with Levon Aronian: https://youtu.be/3EuVAo74L4U Many thanks to my Patreon supporter: Sarterus 00:00 — Intro 01:11 — Why run for FIDE President? 08:51 — Preparing for the election 10:11 — Weren’t you leaving chess? 12:44 — Who runs Freestyle Chess now? 14:38 — A conflict of interest? 17:02 — Why Freestyle’s model failed 23:01 — What’s going on with Magnus? 24:42 — Can Jan bring Magnus back? 28:43 — Jan’s campaign platform 32:14 — How to make chess more popular? 34:32 — The future of classical chess 38:15 — Russia and Belarus at FIDE events 43:24 — Is FIDE favoring one candidate? 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 32 years old, I have a girlfriend, three dogs and four cats. I speak English, Russian, German, and a bit of French and Chinese. Don't forget to subscribe! #janhenricbuettner #fide #fideelection #magnuscarlsen #freestylechess #chesspolitics #chesspodcast #chess #chesswithmustreader #mustreaderchess #gregmustreader #cwm