NEW
"CHESS IS COOL" PODCAST
with GM Alexandra Kosteniuk

Report by Pufichek, November 2005

On November 7, 2005 Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk started a new free service for the world:
A CHESS PODCAST.

For those of you who don't know what a podcast is, read along: As defined in Wikipedia, Podcasting is a term used to describe a "collection of technologies for automatically distributing audio programs over the internet via a publish and subscribe model. It differs from earlier online collections of audio or video material because it is automatic, usually through RSS feeds." In simple terms, it's like a radio show on demand. A user who wants to see or hear the podcast subscribes to the feed in special "podcatching" software (a type of aggregator), which periodically checks the feed and automatically downloads new programs as they become available. Typically, the podcatching software also transfers the program to a desktop or portable MP3 player, such as an iPod. Any digital audio player or computer with audio-playing software can play podcasts. And best of all, podcasts are free, and are considered the modern improved voice version of old-fashioned blogs, since they are automatic, easy to control, portable, and always available.

There are presently more than 25,000 available podcasts in the world, on all subjects possible, such as news, entertainment, sports, health, technology, etc. The number of podcasts is growing daily, as is the number of people embracing this new technology.

The most comprehensive aggregator for all these podcasts is iTunes, closely followed by Podcast Alley and Yahoo Podcasts.

On all these aggregators you can search for programs by keywords, for example, "chess" and you will easily find Alexandra's podcast "Chess is Cool" or any other podcast you may be interested in, on any subject.

ITunes is a free music program running on both PC's and Mac's and is best because it allows automatic downloading of new episodes when they are issued, and the new episodes automatically "sync" to the user's computer and also to the user's MP3 player (such as an iPod) if it is attached to the PC. This way the user can simply take along his iPod each day, for example to the gym, or on the train to work, knowing that his favorite podcasts will have been automatically downloaded and are waiting for him to listen to when he so wishes.

You can also subscribe to Alexandra's podcast (free), using any other RSS "podcatcher", for example iPodder for the PC.

Here are the direct links to Alexandra's Chess is Cool Podcast: Yahoo Podcasts, Podcast Alley, iTunes.

Yahoo Podcasts and Podcast Alley also run a rating system for Podcasts. They count the number of subscriptions, downloads, star ratings and collect feedback from listeners. Their ratings start at zero each month, so please make sure to cast your vote for Alexandra's podcast at least once a month by clicking as follows:

Click here to vote for Alexandra's Podcast in Podcast Alley. You will need to enter any email address you have so they verify your vote is valid.

Click here to vote for Alexandra's Podcast in Yahoo Podcasts. Here you need to click on the numbers of stars you want to give the podcast (for example 5), then save rating, Yahoo may ask you to enter your Yahoo email address for verification, since you are not allowed to vote more than once a month.

The more you will vote the higher the podcast will make it in the overall ratings of all world podcasts, and that will bring more people to chess, helping to popularize our wonderful game. Over the last 3 weeks, there has been a continuous growth of the number of listeners, with Alexandra's podcast passing the 1000 download mark after 2 weeks, and now counting more than 1000 listens a week. The best rating we have seen in Podcast Alley was 146th, and we hope "Chess is Cool" will make the top 100 in iTunes very soon.

Alexandra's Podcast is a breath of fresh air in the chess news and entertainment areas, making it fun and easy to listen to the chess news of the week and learning new chess tips and tricks at the same time.

Note that Alexandra's podcasts are stored in the universal MP3 format, and so if you wish, you can simply listen to Alexandra's podcasts without visiting any aggregators, but simply visiting Alexandra's Podcast page and clicking on the podcast you'd like to listen to. From Alexandra's home page you can click on the following image to get directly to Alexandra's Podcast page:

Alexandra is grateful to all of you who send her comments and suggestions to her email address, or via the contact form of her site, or by voice message to her number +1-305-7672143.

It is great if you send Alexandra a recording of you saying the following:

"Welcome to the Chess is Cool Podcast, with Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk" or "And remember... Chess is Cool!", or anything else you'd like to say to Alexandra. The best recordings will be played on the air and will be rewarded with a special prize from Alexandra!

Please join the podcast revolution, help Alexandra promote Chess in the world, by telling all your friends about it, listening to her podcast, voting for her podcast, and sending your comments so she can do even better! Thanks!

And remember... Chess is Cool!