Interview with FM Obad Andrija

Interview with FM Obad Andrija

On this occasion we interviewed FM Obad Andrija from Tuzla. If you are unfamiliar, Andrew live streams on his Twitch channel arrange matches that he thinks will be interesting to the audience, as well as live stream tournaments. Twitch channel link: https://www.twitch.tv/andro2204/videos


Can you tell us a little about yourself '?

I am FM Obad Andrew and I live in Tuzla. I spent my happy childhood in that precious city, my beautiful youthful days, and here I am today. First of all I can say that I love people, I love computers, and of course from childhood I love that ancient game of CHESS. I started chess in the seventh and eighth grades of elementary school and soon started to achieve good results in high school competitions and play club competitions.

Can you tell us what remarkable results you have had in your chess career so far? 

I quickly started to make progress. I won the Master Candidate title and soon became one of the better chess youths in the then Yugoslav Republic (today it is a country) of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Over time, I have been the champion of the Tusanj Chess Club. I have won awards in many tournaments. I would point out two tournaments in Italy where, in my competition, I was the first. I would also mention my last tournament before my big break. It was the BiH championship in the wartime of the 94th, where I won second place among a number of good players.

 After a break of about twenty years, I again played my first tournament in Konjic in 2015. when I first came out on the FIDE rating list with a rating of over 2000. In the last few years I have won awards in several different tournaments. Among them, I would like to point out some that are particularly dear to me: in 2018, the Brcko International Tournament was held where I won the first place in a competition of 120 chess players from several countries, with five grand masters from three international masters. In 2019, I won first place and FIDE Masters title at the Konjic Open.

How did you come up with the idea for live streaming on Twitch? 

Some time ago, I was asked to comment in English on the championship of ŠK Sarajevo, which was to be broadcast live online. In this regard, I went to Sarajevo for an interview with two representatives of the club and the distinguished author of this text. We tried to test it all live for a short while, but quickly realized we were having big problems. After returning home, I realized what it was about. The problem is that the live broadcast requires a good connection that I did not have, as well as my friends at the Sarajevo Sports Club. Of course, that wasn't the only problem. I realized that apart from commentary, I was also expected to do all the live streaming myself. Can you imagine how I felt? I've never done that in my life. I didn't know what live streaming programs were and all that had to do with it.

So I came up with the idea of ​​paying for at least one month a better internet package and opening an account on twitch.tv where I could stream it live. In early April, after getting better internet, I started learning a little about working in a program called OBS Studio and testing what it would look like on a twitch.tv channel. After the initial tests and the great loss of nerves, little by little, things started to progress. First, I made a short video in which I introduced myself, in completely English language, and, completely confused, explained the intended purpose of that channel. This was followed by live streaming of my first and second simultaneous matches, then playing blitz parties and my first blitz tournament. All this was done, of course, totally amateurish and only as a test of what might once happen. However, as we can see, it has grown into something bigger and better - a platform to entertain and bring together our beloved chess players.


How long did it take you to learn how to work on Twitch?

Within a few days, I learned basic things aboutTwitch, a YouTube-like platform, and OBS Studio - a video recording and live streaming program.

How are pre-recording preparations going?

Of course, every time before a live broadcast, I have more tremor than those who play matches transmitted to my Twitch channel. First of all, I need to contact our dear chess players to see if I'm ready for matches. The preparations themselves involve more things .... When I prepare the broadcast then I first check the camera and the microphone, set the scenes in the OBS Studio, and open all the necessary pages where I can follow the events.


Who do you plan to shoot in the next matches?

There are other nice things planned besides live-streaming matches that are likely to continue. The plan is to stream live tournaments as well. I also wish that, in the future, some of our international masters and masters would comment on their games. It is also possible to record more educational videos where you could see how to use some of the tools on lichess.org and more ...


What do you aim for live streaming?

What really is the goal is for us chess players to get together somewhere. To relax, watch, comment, and play chess. This is especially important during this difficult time when we have to stay home, we cannot travel and play real tournaments. Of course, we all can't wait for this to go through and see each other again, shake hands and play in the next tournaments.

At what pace do you like to play the most?

The tempo of the game that I like to play the most is three minutes or so, which is now a regular in FIDE competitions, which is three minutes plus two seconds of bonus for each move played from the first move.

Do you get a desire to play chess games after live streaming?

It is interesting that after the live broadcast of the matches of our excellent chess players, I get the desire to play some "cuger" online afterwards. The feeling is similar to when I watched top grandmaster tournaments before. Usually it warms you up and you get a strong desire to play.

Anything you have currently accomplished on Twitch, have you achieved it yourself or had other people's help?

I would like to point out that from the very beginning of this test and the amateur project, which has grown into something truly valuable, I have the support of dear friends. I have repeatedly bothered our dear FM Amir Hadzovic from Sarajevo for some tests and rehearsals. He always had a lot of patience for me. Also, I have contacted a number of times our dear boyfriend Faris Čunjal from Zenica who is very active in online chess. I would also like to mention my good dear friend Dino Markovic from Zenica, whose contribution is invaluable! After asking him for chess player contacts he sent me literally a "kilometer" long list of many chess players' phone numbers. Of course, he also played a key role in informing as many viewers as possible in a timely manner. This has greatly contributed to the viewership of this channel, its popularity and its rise!

We want to continue in this same spirit of love, a spirit of friendship, a healthy sporting spirit of camaraderie, and to show that this channel only confirms the truth of the ancient Latin words: "GENS UNA SUMUS"!

We from the Chess ABC team have chosen one beautiful game FM Obad Andrija against the celebrated GM Emd Dizdarevic, the silver Olympian of Bosnia and Herzegovina!

[Event "12th Pojedinacno Prvenstvo SS Federacije BiH"] [Site "?"] [Date "2018.12.16"] [Round "?"] [White "Obad, Andrija"] [Black "Dizdarevic, Emir"] [ECO "C07"] [WhiteElo "2271"] [BlackElo "2438"] [Result "1-0"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. Ngf3 cxd4 5. exd5 Qxd5 6. Bc4 Qd8 7. O-O a6 8. a4 Nf6 9. Nb3 Qc7 10. Qxd4 Nc6 11. Qh4 Bd6 12. c3 Ne7 13. Bd3 Bd7 14. Bg5 O-O-O 15. Rfd1 Ng6 16. Qc4 Qxc4 17. Bxc4 Bxa4 18. Rxa4 Bxh2+ 19. Kxh2 Rxd1 20. Be2 Rd6 21. Nc5 Rd5 22. Be3 b5 23. Rxa6 Ng4+ 24. Kg1 Nxe3 25. Rc6+ Kd8 26. fxe3 Ne7 27. Nb7+ Kd7 28. Ra6 Kc7 29. Na5 Nc8 30. b4 e5 31. e4 Rd6 32. Ra8 Rb6 33. Nxe5 Re8 34. Bg4 Rb8 35. Rxb8 Kxb8 36. Nxf7 Na7 37. e5 Kc7 38. Kf2 Nc8 39. Bxc8 Rxc8 40. Nd6 Rf8+ 41. Ke3 h5 42. Nxb5+ Kd7 43. Nd4 g5 44. Nac6 Rf1 45. e6+ Ke8 46. b5 h4 47. Ke2 Rc1 48. Nf5 1-0

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