#60. Peter Leko Talks About Chess Commentary, Vincent Keymer, Kramnik Match And More!

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with Hungarian grandmaster Peter Leko. A world-class grandmaster and former prodigy, Peter now works as a coach and has achieved acclaim as one of the most popular online chess commentators.

Peter Leko was extremely successful as a player. As a young kid of only 14 years, four months and 22 days, he became a grandmaster in 1994. This achievement made him the youngest grandmaster in the world at the time, breaking the old record of Judit Polgar. Peter rapidly grew into a world-class player and ultimately challenged for the world title against Vladimir Kramnik in 2004. This proved to be both a high in Leko’s career and a traumatic moment, as he was leading by one point going into the last game and dramatically lost that game, allowing Kramnik to retain the title. In 2025, Peter is no longer an active player and devotes himself to commentary and coaching, with Vincent Keymer as his most notable pupil.

In a lively and engaging conversation with Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam, Peter speaks about his years as a chess prodigy, his greatest successes, the Kramnik match, freestyle and much more. Enjoy this week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast!

0:00 – Intro

2:45 – Welcome Peter!

4:04 – Difference between top level chess now versus in Peter’s prime

6:36 – Becoming the then-youngest grandmaster of all time at age 14, first encounters with Kasparov and Korchnoi

12:58 – Peter’s first Wijk aan Zee tournament in 1992, first games with Vishy Anand

16:48 – First big victories

20:51 – The “Adorjan years”

26:02 – Peter’s flawless memory

28:50 – Music

32:40 – How the Hungarian government persuaded Peter to play in the Olympiad

38:02 – Preparing for the Olympiad

47:19 – AD BREAK

47:50 – Peter’s World Championship match against Kramnik

57:15 – Aftermath of the Kramnik match

1:00:47 – Retirement

1:04:30 – Peter’s relationship with Vincent Keymer

1:09:00 – Commentary

1:14:21 – AD BREAK

1:15:14 – How does Peter prepare himself for commentary?

1:17:40 – Freestyle and Peter’s problem with FIDE time controls

1:24:30 – Peter’s relationship with Bobby Fischer

1:27:50 – Vincent Keymer’s fantastic Freestyle performance

1:30:00 – Why top players are gravitating towards Freestyle

1:39:27 – Outro