Meet The Opening Maestro Behind The Alien Gambit

When you watch CM Volen Dyulgerov, a.k.a. Witty Alien, on stream or have a conversation with him, you can't help but be drawn in by his infectious positivity. Creative not only in his video content but also on the chessboard itself, Dyulgerov is responsible for one of the latest chess gambit crazes: the Alien Gambit. Chess.com chatted with him this month about the Alien Gambit, his creative process, and more.

Chess.com: How long have you been creating chess content, and what made you decide to start?

I have been making content since September 13, 2022.

I had been working as a web developer for a year when I literally started to feel bored. My intuition screamed that I needed to change jobs and try my best as a content creator. So I quit my job—before I even created my channel!— with one condition: Never give up. If you are good enough to entertain, always keep moving forward!

What’s your favorite thing about creating? What makes it fun?

My favorite thing about creating, if done right, is that you can create a safe place for people to laugh, enjoy, and spread happiness and peace together. It takes work, time, and consistency, but it's worth it!

Can you tell us a little bit about your creative process?

Well, I am not a smart person at all, but when I find something I love, I do it not 99.99% but 100%.

The most important thing in being a content creator is to be yourself. If you fake to be something you are not, eventually, maybe years later, people will find out and will no longer trust you. Integrity is everything.

Yes, you will get many haters for being yourself, but at the end of the day, if you do what you love, work hard, follow your dreams, and treat everybody with dignity and respect, I can affirm that the sky is the limit.

What is your single favorite piece of chess content you've ever created?

The Alien Gambit and Martian Gambit! I am so proud of inventing and popularizing the Alien Gambit. Knowing that I have created something that will last forever makes me sleep easier. People constantly text me their Alien Gambit games and are so happy that they have won a game with it. Seeing these games makes me the happiest man in the world!

This month, I Invented the "Martian Gambit," which has a skyrocketing win rate on Chess.com. It's the next big thing.

What inspired the Alien Gambit? Were you just messing around with an opening, or did you set out to create an opening, or how did that all start?

I had no intention of creating any opening! I have played 100,000 games on Chess.com and when faced with the move pony to f6—I call the knight the pony—in the Caro-Kann, I always took on f6, and I always got bored of the whole position. So dull. Then I got tired of taking and I started playing Ng3 just to have more pieces on the board, but then they go h5 and I'm always losing! I got so tired. 

Usually, on streams, I farm brilliant moves, and I wanted to create some chaos. So I played Ng5, and after h6, Nxf7. I didn’t notice at first, but I started winning so many games! I said okay, this is the Alien Gambit. And every time I played it, we would scream it in my chat, “Alien Gambit!!!” And it worked!

GothamChess, Eric Rosen, others covered it; I don’t know if Hikaru did, but he at least knows it; it’s in our opening book. Just how much it's blown up—what's that experience been like? 

I never said an answer to myself, "I did it, that's it. I'm a content creator, I'm famous." I never said that. I know that I have so much work to do because many new people have come to watch me, and I have to live up to expectations. I always know that it's a very good thing, but there's so much work to do.

And that's a good lead-in to the Martian Gambit. How did that happen?

Yeah, that's my latest creation, and it has an absolutely viral win rate on Chess.com. I have a Discord server, and many people share their games, and they’re winning in 10 moves—really 10 moves! And I'm working so hard to make the Martian Gambit a book move because it's such an O.P. gambit.

Who are some of your favorite chess content creators, and why?

Unfortunately, I don't have time to watch streamers, as I stream and make videos and moderate with my dear admins in my Discord and Chess.com club. But I love Magnus's streams, as he is just an incredible chess player and person. Hikaru is a fantastic player and streamer, too.

What is your single favorite piece of chess content that was created by someone else?

Many, but my favorite, were Magnus Carlsen's best friends, Askild Bryn and Odin Blikra Vea from the SjakkSnakk podcast, who completed the Guinness world record for the longest chess marathon at Norway Chess 2024.

Magnus Carlsen is proud of his best friends Askild and Odin for breaking the Guinness World Record for LONGEST CHESS MARATHON, playing blitz chess for 61 consecutive hours! 🥹❤️ pic.twitter.com/hfR6vVrDku

— Sjakksnakk (@sjakksnakk) June 4, 2024

Imagine you could do a chess-based collaboration with anyone in the world. Who would it be, and why?

King Magnus! I would love to hear Magnus's thoughts on the Alien and Martian gambits.

Any final thoughts?

Well, I want to thank all my dear viewers who watch me, comment on my videos, and support me through thick and thin, and when I suck, they give me constructive criticism so I do better.

Everything mentioned above could never come true without you my dear friends. Without you, I am zero, zilch, nada, zip, null, undefined. Thank you for being part of our community and walking this long journey together with me! In the words of Steve Jobs: "The journey is the reward."

I want to thank my sponsor Smardex.io. Without them, I could have never done it financially speaking.

To close it out, anyone who dreams of becoming a chess content creator should know that it's possible! You just need to believe in yourself and work hard. Every single one of you has something that you are good at, something to offer, and a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. 

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Go live now!