Perpetual Chess Podcast

IM Jop Delemarre is a former Dutch Youth Champion who has been a full-time chess trainer since 2004. Over the years, he has worked with many strong young players who went on to earn IM and GM titles.  Jop is an expert in the Chess Steps curriculum, and was a student of one of its founders, Rob Brunia. Due to his expertise in the Steps Method, Jop recently offered a Chess Steps Certification Workshop, that I and a few other U.S. based chess teachers completed and greatly enjoyed. Jop joined me to discuss this workshop, share plans for potential future workshops, and to reflect on his career in general. Jop shared plenty of great advice for chess improvers and teachers alike. Please read on for more details and show notes.  0:00- Jop shares some details about his life background, and the background of the Chess Steps Method.  Mentioned: GM Robin Van Kampen, Chess Steps Method, Rob Brunia, IM Cor van Wijgerdan, NM Matan Prilleltensky, Paul Swaney, NM Shawn Hoshall, NM Han Schut, US Chess Digital Editor John Hartmann  11:50- A Patreon supporter of the pod writes in to ask if the Chess Steps Method can be used as a “stand alone” improvement method.  Mentioned: Chess Steps Manuals, Chess Steps Workbook, Chess Tutor CDs 21:30- IM Jop Delemarre gives more details about how an opportunity for a Chess Steps Teacher Training Workshop came about, and discusses what the future plans are for more teacher certification workshops.   Mentioned: Paul Swaney, Geert van der Velde  26:40- Question from friend and former guest of the podcast, NM Han Schut, about whether the Steps Teacher Trainer program is sanctioned by the founder of the Steps Method, IM Cor van Wijgerdan Mentioned: Han Schut on Perpetual Chess  31:00- For the teachers listening, and for those interested in learning more about this generally, I share a few of the lessons that I learned from completing Chess Steps Teacher Certification Training.  Mentioned: Email Jop here: jdelemarre@hotmail.com,  39:00- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Chessable. You can check out FM Kamil Plichta’s new course, Four Horsemen: The Sicilian Four Knights here: https://www.chessable.com/four-horsemen-the-sicilian-4-knights-defense/course/33443/ 39:30- Jop discusses the reasons why practicing things repeatedly is important to acquire chess skills.  Mentioned: Peter Newhall, Susan Polgar series, Yusopov series   47:00- Jop shares a few of his favorite chess books.  Mentioned: Techniques of Positional Play, Chess Lessons by Popov, Tatiana and Nadhezda Kosintseva, Greatest 525 Puzzles by GM Csaba Balogh, IM Mark Dvoretsky’s books, Aagaard’s books, GM Boris Gelfand’s books, My Great Predecessors by GM Garry Kasparov , Tactics Time, Elizabeth Spiegel, IM Jeremy Silman, Mastering Opening Strategy by GM Johan Hellsten, IM Herman Grooten  1:01:00- Jop shares a few highlights from his career as a chess competitor, including a mini match with Dutch chess legend GM Jan Timman.  Mentioned: GM Alexey Dreev, GM Evgeni Bareev. GM Anatoly Karpov, Delemarre-Brodsky 1994,  Delemarre-Timman 1995, Sokolov-Delemarre 1997, GM Loek Van Wely  1:06:00- As a polyglot, what language-learning practices is Jop able to apply to chess improvement?  1:14:00- Thanks to Jop for joining the show! You can reach him via email here: jdelemarre@hotmail.com Visit his website here:  https://schaaktrainer.nl/online-chess-lesson/ You can learn more about the Steps method on the official website here: https://www.stappenmethode.nl/en/index.php And you can order the Steps books in the U.S.here: https://www.chess-steps.com/home.php If you would like to help support the podcast you can do so here: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/donate   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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This week we feature a double attack from two of the premier chess trainers in the world! GM Jacob Aagaard is the co-founder of Quality Chess Publishing,  is an award winning author, and has worked with many elite grandmasters including GM Boris Gelfand and GM Sam Shankland. GM R.B. Ramesh, is an award-winning trainer and author, who has coached the India National Team many times, and has worked with many young talents including GM Pragganandha. GMs Aagaard and Ramesh are both return guests  to Perpetual Chess, as they visit to discuss their new project, 365ChessAcademy.com. This new site offers dedicated chess students worldwide the ability to access daily lectures from a cadre of high level trainers, including themselves. In addition to explaining the vision behind this new project, they fielded many chess-improvement questions from Perpetual Chess listeners and provided many insights about common issues faced over the board. As always, you can find more details and timestamps below.  (If embedded hyperlinks aren't visible in your podcast feed you can find them here: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/new-blog/2020/2/25/episode-166-gm-jacob-aagaard-and-gm-rb-ramesh) 0:00- We kick off by discussing the vision behind GM Aagaard and GM Ramesh’s new initiative, an online chess academy, called 365ChessAcademy.  Mentioned: GM Sam Shankland, GM Ivan Salgado-Lopez, GM Julen Arizmendi Martinez, IM Renier Castellanos Rodriguez, GM Sabino Brunello  16:00- What have been the unexpected challenges of launching this website?    19:30- This episode is brought to you part by Chessable.com. You can check out the first two volumes of GM Arthur Yusopov’s acclaimed Fundamental chess series on Chessable, here: https://www.chessable.com/the-fundamentals-1-build-up-your-chess/course/19145/ https://www.chessable.com/the-fundamentals-2-boost-your-chess/course/14534/ 20:30- We dive into some questions from the Patreon mailbag, beginning with Jacob and Ramesh tackling the age-old question of how to allocate one’s chess study time. Is it better to focus on improving your weaknesses or building your strengths in your game? As a baseline for club players, GM Ramesh recommends spending 60% of study time on middlegame, 20% on endgame, and 20% on opening.  Mentioned: GM Elizbar Ubilava   35:30- The next Patreon question relates to chess study.  How does one know when to switch areas of focus in study, and how to draw up chess training plans.  Mentioned: GM Sam Shankland, GM Boris Gelfand, GM Viswanathan Anand, Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual   45:00- Another Patreon supporter writes to ask how he can work to limit tactical oversights in his games.  Mentioned: Quality Chess’s Yusopov Build up Your Chess Series, 365 Chess Academy’s Youtube Channel  54:30- Another Patreon question: How can one structure studies such that they acquire actual chess skills instead of just chess knowledge?  Mentioned: Quality Chess Academy Camps: https://qualitychessacademy.com/june2020/ 1:00:00- One more question: Should we change our study approach as we get closer to a tournament?  Mentioned: John Hartmann, GM Jan Gustafsson  1:02:00- Why is it that GM Aagaard has said that he doesn’t believe in goals?  Mentioned: TheBestChessBooks.com, S.M.A.R.T. goals, How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big 1:06:00- Would GM Ramesh or GM Aagaard be interested in working on a World Championship prep team if an opportunity presented itself?  Mentioned: GM Boris Gelfand, The Anand Files, IM Christopher Yoo  Thanks again to Jacob and Ramesh to share so much of their wisdom about chess improvement. To find out more about their academy head on over to https://365chessacademy.com/       See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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We are back with another edition of Chess Books Recaptured, a monthly bonus pod where we break down the highlights, best quotes and chess tips to be derived  from a classic chess book. This month, I am lucky that a friend of the podcast, USCF Master, author, and renowned Cognitive Scientist Christopher Chabris, has agreed to join me to discuss the classic Soviet era book, Think Like a Grandmaster, by GM Alexander Kotov. Lots and lots more details and timestamps below. Enjoy! 😀 0:00- Chris provides a background details and shares why he wanted to discuss this book.  Mentioned: Christopher Chabris’ Perpetual Chess Interview, October 9, 2018,  Recommended by Perpetual Chess guests, GM Rafeal Leitao, GM R.B. Ramesh, and Adult Improver Stepian Tomic (aka Hanging Pawns), Book versions- Batsford paperback, Kindle version,  GM John Nunn, FM Graham Burgess  9:00- What was happening in the chess world when this classic was first published, in 1971?   Mentioned: 1971 in Chess (link includes top 10),  Zurich 1953, GM Bobby Fischer,  The Rise and Fall of David Bronstein by GM Genna Sosonko,  16:00- We segue into some biographical details about GM Kotov.  Play Like a Grandmaster, GM Mikhail Botvinnik, GM Vassily Smyslov, GM Grigory Levenfish, The Soviet School of Chess, The Soviet Chess School, Averbakh-Kotov 1953, Averbakh-Kotov Kingscrusher Video, LiChess Analysis Board, GM Viswanathan Anand  22:00- For what level of chess player is this book best suited?   24:30- Perpetual Chess Recaptured is brought to you in part by Chessable. If you are looking for a great improvement manual for club-level players, check out Chess Strategy for Club Players by IM Herman Grooten here: https://www.chessable.com/chess-strategy-for-club-players/course/27755/ 25:00- We dive into the opening paragraph of the book and discuss the structure of Think Like a Grandmaster.  Mentioned: My System, Chess Fundamentals, Lasker’s Manual of Chess, Tree of Analysis, Candidate Moves  33:00- What have other authors written about the idea of “candidate moves”? Mentioned: IM Mark Dvoretsky’s Attack and Defense, Move First,Think Later, by IM Wlly Hendricks, Improve Your Chess Now by GM Jonathan Tisdall, Secrets of Practical Chess by GM John Nunn, GM Jacob Aagaard, GM Eugene Perelshteyn on Perpetual Chess, GM Arthur Yuspov  45:00- We exchange some of our favorite quotes from the book.   There are some fun ones. :)  Mentioned: GM Mikahil Botvinnik, GM Miguel Najdorf, Mr. Mike Shahade, Sitsfleisch, Spassky-Korchnoi 1968, Game 7, Hot-Cold Empathy Gap, IM Kostya Kavutskiy’s Blueprint: Time Management, GM Alexander Grischuk  1:03:00- We highlight a few of our favorite games that are mentioned in Think Like a Grandmaster  Mentioned:Rossolimo-Nestler 1950, Chessgames.com Membership, Plater-Botvinnik 1947  Im Peter Romanovsky, GM Mark Taimanov 1:10:00- What are the chess improvement takeaways from this book? Mentioned: Sergey Belavenets, GM Salo Flohr, Gm Vassily Smyslov, GM Jonathan Rowson, GM Jacob Aagaard, IM Erik Kislik, Blumenfeld’s Rule  1:21:00- How useful for your chess improvement is this book?   1:23:00- What would we change about this book if we could?  Mentioned: Quality Chess Books 1:25:00- We share our closing thoughts on the book, including the reading of  a quote from IM Kostya Kavutskiy about why he included it in this fun and popular YouTube Video Top 4 Overrated Chess Books.  Mentioned: Pump Up Your Rating, Improve Your Chess Now  1:28:00- Thanks to Chris Chabris for sharing so much great insight.   You can keep up with him on Twitter or reach him via his website.  Mentioned: Maryland Chess Association, Donate to support the Washington International here:  Tournament Director Michael Regan’s Perpetual Chess Appearance  1:31:00- In keeping with our tradition, I leave with 2 blindfold chess puzzles. Here is the piece placement and the diagram links.  Puzzle #1-  White- Pawns on c5, d5 and f4, king on b2 Black- Pawns on d7, e7 and h7, King on b5  Puzzle-  https://share.chessbase.com/SharedGames/share/?p=RHhuFi0hv1fonVvn7AHKZPBb3dE65H4q4k9H27j+iKB/hlMfqSErCmr2NcYnwHmJ Solution  https://share.chessbase.com/SharedGames/share/?p=PyQ8CWaYgNLRBSbjvHE34rLBbU3Gt9h8bfgm1g/pKsKRGnSA46tFfsapiV3sUxPt Puzzle #2- White- Pawns on f2 and g4, Bishop on f5, Queen on h8, King on d8 Black- King on g5  Puzzle-  https://share.chessbase.com/SharedGames/share/?p=MGHFVw9/+CFYT8LQnSRn80+L5fcqpbxWlMLIBI2RP8uTrfCE3KgfhsKbj/pwrIw2 Solution- https://share.chessbase.com/SharedGames/share/?p=Hq/Y1By5LdPw3sRhFRdNF7dtVRn9oT8SgVFc92ZAWSkTS+BhVMmpF3OOdhSq3tIZ   If you would like to help support Perpetual Chess, you can do so here: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/donate   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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This week my esteemed guest is none other than five-time World Champion and living chess legend, GM Viswanathan Anand!! Vishy has been busy as usual with high-level chess, as Tata Steel 2020 recently completed, and the Greinke Chess Classic is coming up for him in April. GM Anand also has recently released  (with co-author Susan Ninan) the inspiring and illuminating book, Mind Master: Winning Lessons from a Champion’s Life. This brilliant book provides a springboard for us to discuss various topics about which Vishy has unique insights. They include the effects of aging on his chess game,chess in the era of super engines, reflections on World Championship matches, life as a dad, and the side effects of fame. Please continue reading for more details and timestamps. (If embedded hyperlinks are not visible in your podcast feed, you can find them here: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/new-blog/2020/2/18/episode-165-gm-viswanathan-anand) 1:00- Vishy reflects on the highs and lows of his recently completed tournament,Tata Steel 2020. Topics discussed include how he copes with tough losses as compared to how he coped earlier in life.  Mentioned: Caruana-Anand 2020, Firouzja-Anand 2020, Anand-Vituigov 2020, Chessbase India- Anand gives an endgame lesson to Firouzja, IM Sagar Shah, GM Ivan Sokolov 9:00- The conversation segues to a discussion of the lost art of post-mortem analysis, and the broader topic of how computers have changed chess.  Mentioned: GM Elizbar Ubilava, GM Gukesh D, GM Alireza Firouzja 16:00- A Patreon/Paypal supporter of the podcast wrote in to ask Vishy how he manages to appear so composed over the board. His answer surprised me!  Mentioned: Chessbase India video: Vishy Anand on the 9 Best Games of his Career, Kramnik-Anand 2008  22:00- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Chessable.com.  Among many other great offerings, you can check out their free course, Tournament Tactics: Tata Steel Chess 2020, featuring game analysis from GM Harikrishna   22:30- Vishy fields another Patreon mailbag question relating to how he maintains elite status into his 50th birthday.  Mentioned: GM Magnus Carlsen, GM Ian Nepomniatchi, GM Nikita Vitiugov,  GM Ali Firouzja, GM Jordan van Foreest, Jeroen van den Berg (Tata Steel Organizer), GM Vladimir Kramnik,  October 2001 FIDE Top 100 list, 2013 FIDE World Chess Championship, 2014 FIDE Candidates Tournament , GM Judit Polgar, GM Alexander Morezevich,GM Vassily Ivanchuk, GM Boris Gelfand, 2017 FIDE World Rapid Championships 35:15- Is Vishy’s son enjoying chess? What are his other interests?  Mentioned: Chesskid.com 38:00- Vishy reflects a bit more on prior world championship matches, and he expounds on a few memories and stories shared in Mind Master.  Mentioned: The Anand Files by Michiel Abeln, GM Ivan Cheparinov, Silvio Danilov, Susan Ninan 44:30- Another Patreon supporter writes to ask about the standards Vishy uses in selecting a World Championship preparation team.  Mentioned: GM Peter Heine Nielsen, GM Radoslaw Wotjaszek, GM Surya Ganguly, GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov, GM Grzegorz Gajewski, GM Sandipan Chanda 49:00- Is there a scenario in which Vishy would help out on a World Championship team in the 2020 match? How does he handicap the upcoming Candidates tournament?  Mentioned: GM Ding Liren, GM Fabiano Caruana 54:30- Another listener writes to ask, “Are there downsides to being as famous as Vishy is, especially in chess circles?” This question led to Vishy’s sharing a couple of funny stories relating to being recognized or unrecognized in public.  1:02:00- GM Anand’s next tournament is the Grienke Open in April of 2020. Thanks so much to GM Anand for joining me.  You can follow him on twitter, and can buy his book from Amazon and many other chess book  retailers. If you would like to help support the Perpetual Chess, you can do so here: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/donate                 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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I had a lot to catch up on with IM John Bartholomew 2.5 years after his first visit to Perpetual Chess. Then,  as now, John is best known for his very popular Chess YouTube channel, and for being the co-founder of Chessable.com.   John has seen the company and his following continue to grow rapidly in the past few years, and as you may have heard, Chessable merged with GM Magnus Carlsen’s Play Magnus company in September of 2019. John also has recently released a large-scale  project, a Chessable video course , explaining the endgame classic, 100 Endgames You Must Know, and he even got to film a video testing the World Champion on the material from this vital chess book.  In our conversation, John gave some behind-the-scenes details on all of these exciting events. He also threw in lots of good chess improvement advice in reply to some good questions from listeners. Please read on for more details and timestamps.  If you aren’t seeing embedded hyperlinks in your podcast feed, you can find them on the podcast website here: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/new-blog/2020/2/11/episode-164-im-john-bartholomew 0:00- Ways to interact with the Perpetual Chess Community include: Twitter, Perpetual Chess Facebook Group, and now, Perpetual Chess is sharing podcast clips on Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/perpetualchess/ 2:00- We begin by discussing John’s recent trip to Wijk an Zee in order to film a YouTube video with World Champion, GM Magnus Carlsen. Mentioned: Perpetual Chess Episode 26 with IM John Bartholomew, Chessable CEO David Kramaley, John’s YouTube video testing Magnus on 100 Endgames You Must Know , Geert Van der Velde of Chessable, GM Fabiano Caruana, GM Nikita Vitiugov, GM Viswanathan Anand, GM Magnus Carlsen, GM Jesus de la VIlla  10:50- The first Patreon mailbag question of the week has to do with how the Chessable interface responds when someone (such as Magnus) inputs a solution to a puzzle that is not the primary solution.  16:00- John digs behind the scenes of how he made his 19+ hour video course, and discusses how this project affected his work as a chess teacher.  Mentioned: Philidor position, Lucena Position, Vancura Position, John’s free Endgame Bootcamp Video, Floating Square, Bird’s Color Rule, IM Greg Shahade’s last Perpetual Chess Appearance  24:30- We discuss some of the points discussed in the Chess Reddit thread, Are Chessable video courses worth the money?   33:00- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Chessable. As John mentioned, in addition to his video course, one can check out AlanB’s courses here:  https://www.chessable.com/author/AlanB/ Chessable’s sale on the 100 Endgames You Must Know ends on February 16: https://www.chessable.com/100-endgames-you-must-know/course/5193/ 34:00- We switch to the topic of chess improvement and dig into the Patreon mailbag. John answers questions relating to his recent tweet  regarding planning chess study time, as well as one’s relating to the difference between IMs and FMs in chess skills, and what he notices in his most accomplished students.  Mentioned: IM Kassa Korley, The Woodpecker Method on Chessable, Checkmate Patterns by CraftyRaf, LiChess, Internet Chess Club  52:00- The last Patreon question requests some additional resources to drill endgames: Mentioned: Mastering Endgames Strategy, Chesstempo Endgame Drills, From Amateur to IM, Lifetime Repertoires: 1. E4 e5 with GM Jan Gustafsson  56:30- On John’s last visit to Perpetual Chess, he shared some good chess business ideas. Does he have more ideas?  Mentioned: GM Hikaru Nakamura, GM Wesley So, Chessbrah’s YouTube, Fiona Steil-Antoni’s YouTube Vlogs , Chess.com, IM Danny Rensch, Chess24.com, Play Magnus, IM Dmitri Schneider 1:05- What was it like for John to teach Bullet chess  phenom, GM Andrew Tang, aka Penguin GM, as a scholastic player? The puzzle John gave GM Andrew Tang can be seen here- https://share.chessbase.com/SharedGames/share/?p=8x0P2obR3gRql0KNZaMJR9QVt5zI/QtoD/aUWVDnrOkEIL4R6/E/1C1f0qlezi/O  (to see the solution turn on the Engine icon just below the chessboard):  Mentioned:  Tune Your Chess Tactics Antenna, GM Robert Hess  1:10- Thanks to John for coming back on the show! John’s YouTube Channel:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6hOVYvNn79Sl1Fc1vx2mYA John’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/fins0905?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor John’s 100 Endgames Video Course:  https://www.chessable.com/100-endgames-you-must-know/course/5193/ Perpetual Chess Patreon Page: https://www.patreon.com/perpetualchess See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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By day, USCF Tournament Director Michael Regan is an Observatory Scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute.  By night and weekend, he runs some of the most player-friendly chess tournaments in the United States, primarily in the Maryland/Washington DC area. Michael joins me this week, to share all of his insights and secrets, gained from many years of figuring out to how to improve the player experience at weekend chess tournaments. We talked about everything from hotel booking, to fair play to punctuality to hygiene. This is an important conversation for any active tournament player, so please take a listen. Timestamps and more details can be found below.  0:00- Perpetual Chess is now on Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/perpetualchess/ You can also interact with me and the Perpetual Chess community  via Twitter and the Perpetual Chess Facebook Group .  3:00- Michael goes a bit into his chess background, and shares what frustrated him about the other tournaments in which he and his son often played when he first got into chess. Michael’s primary frustration was with tournaments that often started late.  Mentioned: DGT Chess Boards and Clocks 11:30- Michael shared a lot of insight into the mechanics of booking hotels for chess tournaments.  Mentioned: The Baltimore Open (coming this weekend)  19:00- Why does Michael prefer to run tournaments with time increments rather than delay?  24:30- What does Michael think of the arguments that there needs to be shorter time control as well as more break times during chess tournaments? Mentioned:  IM Greg Shahade’s most recent Perpetual Chess Interview  30:00 This episode is brought to you in part by Chessable.com. Check out John Bartholomew’s video course explaining the endgame classic 100 Endgames You Must Know:  https://www.chessable.com/100-endgames-you-must-know/course/5193/ 31:00- Michael answers a question from a Patreon supporter of the podcast regarding how to handle a small tournament field with large rating gaps among the players.  33:30- We discuss the dreaded issue of fair play. How can we prevent people from cheating using engines?  39:00- How can we promote better hygiene among chess players and thus limit the risk of illnesses and viruses being spread?  43:00- What is going on with Michael’s chess game?  45:00- Michael’s closing advice for those looking to make chess tournaments better are: Start on time Provide equipment (helps start on time)  49:50- Why does Michael often use a prize payment structure of paying a fixed amount based on players’ scores, rather than paying “1st place, 2nd place, etc.:?  52:00- Thanks so much to Michael for sharing his ideas and for coming on the show. If you would like to try one of his tournaments and find out what it’s like to be treated like a professional, you can see his upcoming schedule on the Maryland Chess Association website.  If you would like to help support Perpetual Chess you can do so here: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/donate   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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GM Ivan Cheparinov is a very active player whose name can regularly be found amongst the top 50 players in the world,. He attained a peak rating of 2718, and has won or tied for first place in many tournaments, including the 2007 European Individual Championships, the 2014 Gibraltar Chess Festival, and the 2009 and 2010 Ruy Lopez Masters.   He has just released his first book, with Thinker's Publishing, called Cheparinov's 1. d4. As we discuss, this is to be the first of a multi-volume project, and offers some fighting lines to play against the Grunfeld and King’s Indian defenses.  Last but not least, Ivan was former FIDE World Champion, GM Veselin Topalov's second for 7 years, and had some great stories to tell from those times. He also dispensed a few important recommendations about the importance of visualization training and fitness for chess players. Please read on for more info and timestamps.  If you aren't seeing embedded hyperlinks on your podcast feed,you can find them here: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/new-blog/2020/1/28/episode-162-gm-ivan-cheparinov 2:30- Ivan joined me days before jetting off to the Gibraltor Chess Festival. At the beginning we discussed how he prepares before a big event such as this.  Mentioned: WGM Antoaneta Stefanova (his wife) 4:15- We dive into his book, Cheparinov’s d4, which is available from Thinker’s Publishing (Thinker’s website includes a free preview),  and is also now available on Forward Chess.  Mentioned: Grandmaster Repertoire 1.d4 by GM Boris Avrukh, GM Veselin Topalov, GM Jan Gustafsson’s Lifetime Repertoire, GM Ding Liren, GM Vishy Anand, GM Wesley So, GM Gawain Jones, GM Bassem Amin  18:50-A Patreon supporter of the podcast asks for a less common opening recommendation to use in play against 1. D4 for club players.  Mentioned: The Benoni, The Benko, The King’s Indian, The Grunfeld Opening, Nimzo-Indian, The Slav  21:30 Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Chessable. If you are a club-level player who would like to improve her visualization skills, check out this cool course called Visualize: https://www.chessable.com/visualise-1/course/25695/ 22:30- GM Cheparinov worked with GM Veselin Topalov for 7 years. He shares some stories and reflections from that period.  Mentioned: Topalov-Kasparov 2005 (Kasparov’s last game) , Topalov-Kramnik 2008, GM Jan Smeets  31:00- With the recent publication of the books The Anand Files and Mind Master, a lot of information has been shared about the 2010 Anand-Topalov World Championship match in Sofia, Bulgaria, so I was excited to ask GM Cheparinov (a team Topalov member) about some of the details.  Mentioned: GM Erwin L’Ami , Topalov-Anand World Championship Game 12, GM Vladimir Kramnik  42:00- Both GM Viswanathan Anand and Anand Files author, Michiel Abeln, wrote about Anand’s team’s  fears that team Topalov had a “super computer” at their disposal in 2010 to help with World Championship preparation- Was this true?  Mentioned: Silvio Danailov, Rybka Chess Engine, GM Romain Eduoard, Thinker’s Publishing  47:00- What are GM Chepariniv’s current study methods? What did he do as a rising scholastic player?  Mentioned: GM Vassily Ivanchuk, GM Boris Gelfand, Csaba Balogh’s Chess Books, Perfect Your Chess  59:00- Thanks to GM Cheparinov for joining the show. You can keep up with him via Facebook. Watch his last few rounds of the Gibraltor Chess Festival here.  If you would like to help support Perpetual Chess, you can do so here: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/donate     See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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This week’s guest, Geert van der Velde, is a semi-retired rock star who has recently managed to  turn his passion for all things chess into the role of Chief Content Officer for Chessable.com.   Geert is quite knowledgeable about chess books, chess history, and chess teaching, and we hit all of these topics in our conversation. Geert was also able to share lots of information about some exciting projects in the works at Chessable, as well as trends of which we should be aware in the chess education space generally. More details and timestamps can be found below.  If you are not seeing embedded hyperlinks in your podcast feed you can find them here: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/new-blog/2020/1/21/episode-161-geert-van-der-velde-chief-content-officer-of-chessablecom 0:00- Geert delves into his chess background and talks about how his passion for chess was born and how it was revived in the past decade.  Mentioned:  BIll Wall’s Chess Website, My Great Predecessors, My Best Games of Chess by Alexander Alekhine, Alekhine BBC Interview YouTube clip, GM Neil McDonald, Chess Books Recaptured: Bobby Fischer goes to War 9:00- Geert shares how he ended up in his current role as Chief Content Officer at Chessable.com.  12:30- We take a detour into Geert’s background as a successful touring rock musician, most prominently for a band called The Black Atlantic. Check out their music here: https://blackatlantic.bandcamp.com/ 14:45- We return to Geert’s chess background.  Mentioned: How to Reassess Your Chess by Jeremy Silman , Grenke Chess Open, Chessable’s 100 Endgames You Must Know, IM John Bartholomew, GM Jorden Van Foreest, GM Jan Gustafsson,  22:00- What does Geert’s work for Chessable entail?  Mentioned: GM Sam Shankland’s Small Steps 2 Success on Chessable, GM Wesley So, Chessable’s “Lifetime Pro” Membership deal will only be available for a few more weeks, Chessable CEO David Kramaley on Perpetual Chess, GM Alex Colovic, GM Pentala Harikrishna, Memory Champ Simon Reinhard, Memory Games on Netflix, Moonwalking with Einstein  35:50- This show is brought to you in part by Chessable- As we discussed, one of the many great books you can learn online is 100 Endgames You Must Know: https://www.chessable.com/100-endgames-you-must-know/course/5193/ 36:50- A supporter of the podcast sent in some great Chessable-related questions pertaining to when Chessable’s IOS app will be coming and other Chessable business-related questions.  Mentioned: NM Mike Zaloznyy, IM Dmitri Schneider  44:00- What books would Geert most love to bring to Chessable? As a chess dad and part time chess teacher, what are Geert’s favorite apps for kids who are learning chess?  ERROR ALERT- Contra what I said, Magnus Trainer is available on Ipad. I apologize for the mistake!  Mentioned: How to Reassess Your Chess by Jeremy Silman , The Chess Steps Method, Magnus Trainer, Chesskid.com, Chess Steps: Chess Tutor Program , Cor van Wijgerden 53:00- We discuss Geert’s plans for attending the ongoing Tata Steel Chess Tournament. Can spaced repetition be used to learn music?  Mentioned: Black Atlantic’s Most Popular Song,I Shall Cross this River, has been streamed 31,000,000.   Thanks to Geert for being on the show, you can keep up with him via Chessable and Twitter.  If you would like to help support Perpetual Chess, you can do here: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/donate   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Welcome to another edition of Chess Books Recaptured, a monthly Bonus Pod. This month, we tried something different and are recapping an enjoyable and informative chess history book, Bobby Fischer goes to War  by David Edmonds and John Eidenow. This book gives a deep and broad history of the “Match of the Century” between challenger Bobby Fischer, and World Chess champion, GM Boris Spassky, in Reykjavik, Iceland in 1972. To help me discuss the book, I enlisted the help of long time friend of the podcast, Chris Wainscott. Chris is a part time chess journalist, and a full time chess junkie and adult improver.  For lots more details of what we discussed, please keep reading. If you aren’t seeing hyperlinks in your podcast feed, you can find them here: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/new-blog/2020/1/17/bonus-pod-recapping-the-book-bobby-fischer-goes-to-war-with-chris-wainscott-chess-books-recaptured-series 2:00- We being by introducing guest co-host Chris Wainscott, and discussing why we picked Bobby Fischer goes to War  for this month's book recap.  Mentioned:  Recap of Life and Games of Mikhail Tal here, and Reassess Your Chess by IM Jeremy Silman, here. One Move at a Time podcast  with Chris Wainscott 8:00- I read the Kindle Version of Bobby Fischer goes to War, Chris read the Paperback version. Audiobook link here.  9:00- What was going on in the chess world in 2005 when Bobby Goes to War was published.  Mentioned: GM Garry Kasparov, FIDE World Champion GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov, GM Vladimir Kramnik  14:00- What other writing should we be aware of regarding the Fischer Spassky match? Mentioned: Edward Winter post on Fischer-Spassky, Fischer gegn Spassky by Freysteinn Jóhannsson and Friðrik Ólafsson (Reykjavik, 1973),  and Fischer World Champion! by Max Euwe and Jan Timman  15:30- We give a few biographical details about the writers, David Winter and John Eidenow  16:30- For what level chess player is this book suited?  18:30- This episode is brought to you in part by Chessable, check out My Great Predecessors, Volume 4, on Chessable to see GM Garry Kasparov’s reflections and annotations on Bobby Fischer (among others).  19:30- We dive into the book, Chris reads the opening paragraphs and we discuss some key events surrounding the match and the structure of the book.  28:30- What were the major themes of the match/book?  Fischer-Spassky Game 1, Game 5, The Anand Files by Michiel Abeln  31:30- We read a few of our favorite quotes from the book.  Fischer-Spassky Game 13, GM Awonder Liang, Bobby Fischer Against the World, IM Anthony Saidy, Paul Marshall, GM Nikolai Krogius, Psychology in Chess by Nikolai Krogius, GM Larry Evans, GM Anatoly Karpov, GM Mark Taimanov  41:00- What were our favorite games that were mentioned in the match? Spassky - Petrosian Game 5 1969 , Spassky-Fischer Game 3, GM Evgeny Bareev, IM John Watson’s The Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy  44:50- What were our favorite anecdotes from the book?  GM Lothar Schmid, Chester Fox, Saemi Palsson, Jim Slater, Reykjavik Open 2020 , Victor Jackovich  53:20- Are there chess improvement lessons to be derived from this book? 57:00- What are our quibbles with this book?  Mentioned: George Steiner’s Field of Force, Paul Morphy, NY Times Review of Bobby Fischer Goes to War  1:02:00- Coming next month, recapturing Think Like a Grandmaster by Alexander Kotov,  with Christopher Chabris. 1:02:00-  Thanks to Chris Wainscott for helping out this month! He will be generously  donating his compensation for this project to US Chess Women.   Keep up with Chris via twitter, Facebook and his blog  1:04:00- Blindfold chess puzzles of the month, here they are: Puzzle #1- Black to move and win  White- Pawns on h2, g2, d5, a2, Rook on f1, King on h1, Queen on d7, Bishop on a3 Black- Pawns on h7, g7, f7, d6.  King on g8, Bishop on f8, Rook on e8, Queen on d4 Puzzle- https://share.chessbase.com/SharedGames/share/?p=uRdvz3KWpscHk859Tf87okC5Ilmx1QQ7Pn/QduKIb67T7QTMUs43v9M5sPtBM1pH Solution- https://share.chessbase.com/SharedGames/share/?p=uzikPPig87+Zc0vNm2QP8BZf19uVsqrRv1PmSOFg83BKFkyixUDgfiD4Vu5cuhDB Puzzle #2- Black to move and mate in 4, only the checkmating solution counts! White- pawns on h2, g3, f2, e3, king on e2, queen on f3 Black- pawns on g7, f7, king on g8, Queen on c3,Bishop on b3  Puzzle- https://share.chessbase.com/SharedGames/share/?p=HJ2B61vb+nCxTLUIfIk3rHGsBFlRB0wJEdRdU2OP85FFWlvargvwm7soeflbP5LM Solution-  https://share.chessbase.com/SharedGames/share/?p=U31R2/dyPiHjEUMyeksXuxy1+aQGm4eS9LN2NAWxrnsjibxsTDWK/nEMItY67c6R Thanks for listening.  if you would like to help support the podcast, you can do so here: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/donate       See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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This week it is my honor to be joined by Antonio Radić, the creator of the most popular Youtube Chess Channel in the world, Agadmator’s Chess Channel!  In about 3 years, Agadmator has taken his channel from 0 to an astounding 539,000 subscribers! In our conversation, Agadmator takes us from the channel’s modest beginnings to its current status. We spent a lot of time talking about his “secret sauce,” and discussing the past and future of Antonio’s content creation.  Antonio is also a strong chess player, with a peak ELO at over 2000, so we also discused his chess playing goals, chess improvement and chess books as well. Timestamps and links can be found below.  If you are not seeing embedded hyperlinks on your podcast feed you can find here: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/new-blog/2020/1/14/episode-160-antonio-radi-aka-agadmator 0:00- To check out the World Championship chess mugs, go toChessmugs.com. If you decide to buy a set of mugs, use the code “perpetualchess” at checkout to save 15%. 2:00- We begin by discussing the origins of Antonio’s chess channel. What were his goals and visions?  Mentioned:  IM Sagar Shah of Chessbase India’s Interview with Agadmator, Bobby Fischer Beats a Chess Grandmaster in 10 moves, Mikhail Tal vs. Alexei Suetin: Not Bad for a Dead Man Video, Chess Network’s Chess Channel, Here are Agadmator’s Videos sorted from oldest to newest, Ivanchuk vs. Shankland video, GM Eric Hansen 11:00- Did Antonio’s enthusiasm for video games inform the way he presents his chess videos?  14:30- When did Antonio first think of quitting his job to focus on his Youtube channel? 17:00- What is the origin of his deep love for chess history?  Mentioned: GM Mikhail Tal, GM Anatoly Karpov, GM Garry Kasparov, GM Judit Polgar, Paul Morphy, Blue Yeti microphone 20:00- Antonio gives some details on the podcast that he has hinted at starting.  Mentioned: Jose Raoul Capablanca  23:00- Antonio reflects on his trip to London for the last World Chess Championship match in London, and we discuss the 2020 World Chess Championship match a bit.  Mentioned: GM Ivan Saric  26:00- Antonio fields a couple of questions from Patreon supporters of the show on the subjects of how he learned English, and why he thinks his chess channel is so popular.  33:45- When the Agadmator channel began, what were the most popular chess channels? How does he build a community via his YouTube channel? Mato Jelic, KingsCrusher, The Chess Channel, John Bartholomew, A Song for Bobby Fischer, by GM Eugene Torre, Rashid Nezhmetdinov Chess Biography  This episodes is brought to you in part by Chessable.com. Check out GM Alex Colovic's latest Chessable offering, Break-down Anti-Sicilian's here: https://www.chessable.com/break-down-anti-sicilians/course/31178/   39:30- Does Antonio have a rooting interest in the Candidates Tournament that will determine who will face Magnus Carlsen for the World Championship?  Mentioned: GM Vassily Ivanchuk, GM Ding Liren, Fabiano Caruana, 41:00- What are a few of his favorite chess books?  Dimitrije Bjelica- My Friend Bobby Fischer (not available in English?) , Spassky Move by Move, Chess Fundamentals by Capablanca , Strategy and Tactics books by Georgy Lisitsyn, Olympiu Urcan, Video: Imagine if he Were a Najdorf Specialist 44:30- Antonio breaks down a recent tournament in which he played, how it went for him, and shares his  plans (or lack thereof) for future tournaments.  48:00- Another Patreon question- Can Antonio tell whether a GM game is a fast or slow game based on the quality of the moves?  Mentioned: GM Magnus Carlsen, GM Andrew Tang 49:30- We talk about Agadmator’s beloved dog Medo, who can often be seen in the background of his video. 52:30- What other projects is Antonio working on? In closing we discuss his channel a bit more, specifically how Antonio deals with haters and negative feedback.  58:30- Thanks to Antonio for coming on the show! Here is his info:  YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL5YbN5WLFD8dLIegT5QAbA Twitter-https://twitter.com/agadmator?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/agadmator/?hl=en If you would like to help support the podcast, you can do so here: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/donate   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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With the Pro Chess League (of which he is the commissioner) set to resume on Monday, January 6,  it was a great time for my old friend, IM Greg Shahade to make another visit to Perpetual Chess. Greg broke down all of the changes that have taken place with the league’s format, and previewed some some of the interesting matches and players that we will see this season. We also had a lot of chess news to talk about, ranging from the World Championship Candidates selection process to some recent speed chess controversies involving prominent chess professionals. Greg also dispensed some great advice on chess improvement in our wide ranging conversation. Please read on for more details and timestamps!  If you are not seeing embedded hyperlinks in your podcast feed, you can find them here: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/new-blog/2020/1/5/episode-159-im-greg-shahade-is-back-again 0:00- We start off by getting Greg’s perspective on some recent chess controversies, both “online” and offline. These include a controversial blitz game between Magnus Carlsen, and strong young GM Alireza Firouzja, and a not safe for work, viral clip of a blitz game by super GM Gata Kamsky. Mentioned: IM Lawrence Trent, Video of IM Shahade vs. IM Trent Grudge Match, FIDE World Rapid and Blitz, Zhigalko-Nakamura controversy, Chess24 “Famous Effing Legend”,  16:00- We follow up on another controversy, GM Kirill Alekseenko’s selection for the wildcard spot in the upcoming Candidates’ Tournament.  CORRECTION- I mentioned the wrong tournament in which Alekseenko excelled, he came in 3rd place in the FIDE Grande Swiss, not the FIDE World Cup.  Mentioned: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave’s Open Letter regarding qualification process, MVL interview with Chess.com’s Peter Doggers, GM Anish Giri  26:00-  The Pro Chess League is coming back, with major changes to the format! Greg tells us  the reasons for the changes and discusses some of the teams to watch out for. The first match takes place on Monday, January 6 at 2pm EST.  Mentioned: St. Louis Arch Bishops, Fabiano Caruana, GM Leinier Dominguez, GM Wesley So,GM Le Quang Liem, GM Alexander Grischuk, GM Alireza Firouzja, GM Ivan Saric, GM Anish Giri, New York Marshalls, GM Hikaru Nakamura, GM Sam Sevian, Turkey Knights, Armenia Eagles,GM Gabriel Sargissian, Poland Hussars  36:30- We discuss the exciting changes that are taking place with faster time controls and Chess960 becoming more popular at the Elite level.   Mentioned: Puzzle Rush World Championship, Chess.com Speed Chess Championship, New in Chess Magazine  44:00- A Patreon supporter of the podcast asks, “How would Greg change tournament formats for the casual chess players?”  Mentioned: Bill Goichberg of the Continental Chess Association  53:30- Chess improvement talk! A couple of Patreon supporters submitted questions to Greg regarding improvement. Questions include: 1) Is there is a chess book that hasn’t been written, but should be?   Mentioned: GM Jan Gustafsson, A Grandmaster, actually tried the novelty Greg mentioned. 1:04- Greg submits his resume to join #TeamScandi! Mentioned: IM Lawrence Trent, GM Bryan Smith  1:08- A couple more Patreon mailbag questions- Who was the youngest IM Greg lost to in a serious game? And a listener asks for practical advice about how to think about the imbalances from Jeremy Silman’s Reassess Your Chess.  Mentioned: GM Alex Lenderman, Perpetual Chess Recaptured: Reassess Your Chess  1:17- Is chess a sport? Does it really burn one zillion calories? 🤔 Mentioned: The Grandmaster Diet: How to Lose Weight While Barely Moving 1:19- A Patreon supporter asks: “What does Greg do for a living anyway?” Mentioned: The 5 Best Chess Books I Read in 2019, IM Lawrence Trent, GM Simon Williams 1:26- Greg tells the story of a long-ago blitz match he played with a young GM Hikaru Nakamura  1:29- We discuss some nonsense relating to Greg’s television viewing habits.  Mentioned: Humans, Brooklyn Nine Nine  1:31- Has Greg read any chess books lately?  Mentioned: Tal-Botvinnik 1960, FM Mike Shahade,  Inside Chess Magazine, IM John Donaldson, GM Yasser Seirawan, IM Vivek Rao 1:36- Thanks to Greg for coming back on. Be sure to tune in to the Pro Chess League starting Monday, January 6 at 2pm EST.   If you would like to help support the podcast, you can do so here: https://www.patreon.com/perpetualchess See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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It’s an annual tradition!  Popular Chess24 personality,  noted opening theoretician and friend of Perpetual Chess, GM Jan Gustafsson returns to the show! Jan has just released his first Chessable course, Lifetime Repertoires: Jan Gustafsson’s 1. e4 e5 , so it was a great time to catch up with him. In addition to discussing the details of his course, and a bit about the theoretical trends of double king pawn openings, we also discussed Jan’s near term plans with Chess24, past and future World Championship matches, plus much more. Please read on for more details and timestamps.    0:00- We kick off by discussing a few recent Bundesliga games of Jan, and Jan’s impressive new Chessable course,  Lifetime repertoires: 1. e4 e5 Mentioned: German Chess Bundesliga (aka Schachbundesliga), Fatih Baltic-Jan Gustafsson 2019, Gustafsson-Naumann 2019, LeelaZero, Rybka, Stockfish, IM Christof Sielecki, GM Larry Kaufman, IM David Vigorito   15:00- We transition to discussing a popular Chess Reddit thread, in which Jan dared to criticize the theoretical status of the King’s Gambit opening.  Mentioned: The End of the King’s Gambit by GM Ivan Salgado. The Petroff defense   21:00 - A couple of  our Patreon supporters ask  some questions relating to Jan’s current work plans and the business of Chess24.com Mentioned:  Essential Pawn Structures by GMs Jan Gustafsson and Laurent Fressinet, GM Magnus Carlsen    28:00- How much credit does Jan deserve for  GM Magnus Carlsen’s Fantasy Football (soccer) League dominance?  What are the latest trends in coffee consumption?  .  Mentioned: flat white coffee, cold brew coffee, Bulletproof coffee, GM Laurent Fressinet, GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave   31:30- We revisit a topic we discussed in our very first Perpetual Chess interview.  How important is talent in chess?  Mentioned: Magnus documentary   34:30- Jan recently read The Anand Files by recent guest of Perpetual Chess, FM Michiel Abeln, so I was very excited to pick his brain about it, based on his experiences on World Championship prep teams.  Mentioned: GM Peter Heine Nielsen, GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov, GM Radoslaw Wotjasek, GM Surya Ganguly, The Exchange Slav, IM Gary Lane, Facebook Chess Book Collectors Group, GM Cristian Chirilia, GM Alejandro Ramirez, GM Leineir Dominguez    47:00- What are Jan’s early thoughts on who will win the 2020 World Championship Candidates Tournament (for the right to face Magnus Carlsen in the next World Championship Match)? Mentioned: GM Fabiano Caruana, GM Ding Liren, GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, GM Peter Svidler, GM Alexander Grischuk, GM Anish Giri, Wijk an Zee chess (aka Tata Steel Chess)   54:30- We discuss a few movies, TV shows and podcasts, with a tinge of chess improvement philosophizing at the end.   Mentioned: Barry, Succession, Bill Burr, Jeselnik and Rosenthal Vanity Project, How Neal Feel, Two Bears One Cave, Frozen 2, Parasite, FM Fatih Baltic , IM Yochanan Afek, The Lowe Post, The Bill Simmons Podcast, Hollinger and Duncan NBA Podcast, and US Chess Podcasts   Thanks to Jan for coming on the show! The best place to keep up with him is on Chess24.com    Catch Jan Gustaffson’s prior Perpetual Chess visits here: Episode 2-  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-02-grandmaster-jan-gustafsson/id1185023674?i=1000378779364 Episode 62- https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-62-grandmaster-jan-gustafsson-returns/id1185023674?i=1000405079252 Episode 115- https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-115-gm-jan-gustafsson-returns-again/id1185023674?i=1000430646087   If you would like to help support Perpetual Chess, you can do so here: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/donate If you would like to help support the podcast via Patreon, you can do so here. https://www.patreon.com/perpetualchess See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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IM David Vigorito is a Massachusetts-based chess player, author and trainer. As a player, David been the state champion of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Nevada. He has also competed in the U.S. Championship and has been among the top 50 player in the US. David and his publisher, Quality Chess, have just released his 9th book,  Playing the Najdorf. David also has been  a tremendously accomplished adult improver. As his USCF rating graph shows, he took his rating from the 2200s in his early 20s to a peak of 2565 in his 40s in 2013! In our conversation,  we dug into how David was able to improve so much at a phase when many others stall. Naturally, we also spent some time discussing the state of the Najdorf variation of the Sicilian. Please read on for timestamps and more details!    0:00- We begin by discussing David’s chess background, with an emphasis on how he gained so many rating points in his 20s.  Mentioned: FM Dennis Monokroussos,  Pawn Structure Chess by Soltis, Art of Defense, IM Mark Dvoretsky, GM Ulf Andersson, Inside Chess Magazine, New in Chess Magazine, Chess Informants  16:00- David answers a question from the Perpetual Chess Patreon mailbag about what advice he would give to other working parents who want to improve at chess.  20:30- One of David’s  old schoolmates writes in to ask for David’s thoughts about the nature of chess talent.  30:00- David traces the arc of his career as a chess writer, beginning with his decision to write his first Quality Chess book, Challenging the Nimzo-Indian.  Mentioned:  Gambit Chess Books, IM James Rizzitano, Everyman Chess, The Sicilian Dragon, GM Daniel King’s Winning with the Najdorf, GM Larry Kaufman, IM Christof Sielecki, Sozin, Nikolaos Ntirlis, The Sicilian Sozin by Golubev  46:00- Chess opening talk! How can a non-professional player handle the complexity of the Najdorf? What can attacking players play against 1.d4?  Mentioned: The King’s Indian Defense, The Grunfeld Defense 55:00- Another supporter of the show writes in to ask David to assess the past and present of the Boston, Massachusetts chess scene.  Mentioned: GM Alex Ivanov, 2020 Charlotte Open, North American Open, 2020 Foxwoods Open 1:02- Does David worry about giving away too many opening secrets?  GM Alex Khalifman, GM Hikaru Nakamura Thanks to David for a fun conversation! You can keep up with him via his website here: https://www.vigoritochess.com/ His book is available through Quality Chess and Forward Chess.  If you would like to help support Perpetual Chess, you can do so here: https://www.patreon.com/perpetualchess See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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We are back with another Chess Books Recaptured Bonus Pod. This month, we recap the classic chess improvement manual, Reassess Your Chess (4th Edition), by Jeremy Silman. To help me discuss the book, I enlisted the help of Todd Kennedy. Todd is an adult improver, as well as being a dad, husband, actuary, chess player and chess fan. For lots more details of what we discussed, please keep reading. If you aren’t seeing hyperlinks in your podcast feed, you can find them here: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/new-blog/2019/12/20/bonus-pod-discussing-reassess-your-chess-with-todd-kennedy-chess-books-recaptured-series 0:00- My guest go-host, Todd Kennedy, shares a bit about his life and his chess background, and discusses why Reassess Your Chess is a favorite book of his.  Mentioned:Robert Katende initiative , Chess Books Recapured Episode #1- Recapping The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal with NM Sam Copeland 12:00- I share a couple reflections and observations about the impact of Reassess Your Chess, from prior guests of the show, IM Sagar Shah , and IM Cyrus Lakdawala, and we discuss some biographical details about IM Silman.  Mentioned: Chess Historian Edward Winter’s post on Chess book sales, Amazon’s Best Selling Chess Books    22:50- To order or find out more about the Chess World Championship Mugs go to Chessmugs.com, if you decide to purchase them, you can save 15% if you use the discount code “perpetualchess”   23:40- We dive into the book, beginning with Todd’s reading the first sentence, and a discussion of the structure of the book and our favorite chapters. Here are the imbalances Silman covers in the book:  Superior minor piece, pawn structure, space, material, control of a key file, control of a weak square, lead in development, initiative, king safety, and statics vs. dynamics. 30:45- We take turns reading and discussing our 3 favorite quotes from the book.  40:00- We each pick some favorite games from the book.  Mentioned: Volokitin-Delchev 2004 (p. 292), Catig-Mills (p.266), Karpov-Yusopov 1993 (p.304) Read Silman’s chess.com follow up post about the Micky Mills game here: https://www.chess.com/article/view/the-greatest-amateur-game-of-all-time 45:00- We discuss our primary takeaways for chess improvement  from the book.  Mentioned: The Seven Deadly Chess Sins, Chesssentials.com, Adrien Demuth’s Chess24 London Course  53:00- How useful is this book for chess improvement?  56:00- Do we have any quibbles with the book? Mentioned: Forward Chess, The Anand Files, E-plus Chessbooks App, Chessify  1:02- Thanks to Todd for his great work recapping Reassess Your Chess. Keep up with Todd on chess.com here.  Puzzle #1- from Reassess Your Chess, page 45, 4th edition, guessing 1400 level  White: King on h1, Pawn on a4, Bishop on a2 Black: King on g7, knight on d8 White to move and win   Puzzle #2- guessing 2200 level?  From Pocket Training Chess Book #2 by GM Lev Alburt and Al Lawrence White- King on c1, Pawn on h6, Bishop on B8 Black- King on h4, Pawn on e5, Bishop on d4 White to move and win   Puzzle 1 diagram-  https://share.chessbase.com/SharedGames/share/?p=DWzguclcWL54tXH/y4uoLZSjPnXil4VrnRc9nw6Pwx236uPtOR9MB2rkUtOgTFx0 Puzzle #1 solution- https://share.chessbase.com/SharedGames/share/?p=vtSdUaXGfpaq288H+oQuaqvfRskiXpy6usEDJSql9756jJOQ3m42yfi3CQzsPNX0    Puzzle #2- diagram https://share.chessbase.com/SharedGames/share/?p=BcSBW9vQ+bcalu1mUPqQn2PyRbyr6tB0bCy0NNlS+lYHdnwittsLQiizALPVuLZU Puzzle 2 Solution-  https://share.chessbase.com/SharedGames/share/?p=LzHwAYecjcalMYqO3gXPmG7P4jGgTuwNoRPpfVJx3yxmgHL29PQar08eHyb6Eu9w   If you would like to help support the podcast, you can do so here: https://www.patreon.com/perpetualchess See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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In addition to his day job, in which he maintains a senior leadership role at Shell Oil, FM Michiel Abeln is a chess trainer and a chess journalist. Late this year, he and Quality Chess Publishing released his book, The Anand Files: The World Championship Story 2008-2012. It is an incredible book, which goes deep into the ups and downs, games, opening theory, and most of all, the emotions of GM Viswanathan Anand’s team during the 2008, 2010 and 2012 world championship matches. In our conversation, Michiel takes us from the nervous beginnings of this project, through to many of the interesting details he learned and decisions he made in terms of how to structure the book. Please read on for more details and timestamps.  If you are not seeing embedded hyperlinks on your podcast feed, you can find them here: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/new-blog/2019/12/16/episode-156-fm-michiel-abeln 0:00- We dive right into the Anand files, as Michiel discusses why he decided to donate the proceeds of The Anand Files to charity. Michiel also tells the fascinating story of how this project came into existence.  Mentioned: Eric Van Reem, Cathy Rogers, GM Vladimir Kramik, GM Viswanathan Anand, GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly, GM Peter Heine Nielsen, GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov, GM Radoslaw Wojtasek 18:30- Why did Michiel decide to delve so deeply into opening analysis in his book? Mentioned: IM Sagar Shah’s interview with Michiel Abeln, GM Veselin Topalov    23:00- For more info on the strong chess robot Square Off! Order now atsquareoffnow.com and enter online coupon code SCHACH for 20 percent reduction! If you are in Cologne, you can visit the intercultural chess club: Satranç Club 2000 in Cologne (satranc2000.de , Mail: satrancclub2000@gmx.de )   24:00- How did Michiel keep up with all of the opening theory shared in the book? Mentioned: GM Peter Heine Nielsen, GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov, The Meran   29:30- Friend and Patreon supporter of the podcast John Hartmann wonders what sort of preparation work was done, aside from opening work, if any?  Mentioned: GM Anatoly Karpov, The Sicilian Dragon, To see IM Sagar Shah’s excellent “Anand quizzes” with various elite players, go here, The Slav, 2012 World Championship between Gm Boris Gelfand and Anand   44:00- I ask Michiel a question posed by IM Gary Lane in the Facebook Chess Book Collectors Group, “Do World Championship teams try to find out which GMs are helping the opposing teams?” Mentioned: GM Wojtasek, GM Ganguly, GM Laurent Fressinet, GM Sergei Rublevsky, GM Danil Dubov    53:00- Will there be a Forward Chess or Chessable version of The Anand Files?  Mentioned: Hugh Jordan, Michiel Abeln’s Philidor article in the 2006 New in Chess Yearbook  58:00- A Patreon supporter asks what lessons from Anand’s team can be applied away from the chessboard?  1:08- Nicolas Noel asks, what can club players learn from this book? Anand-Kramnik Game 6, 2008, Bonn  1:11- Where will Michiel donate the proceeds of the book sales?  Mentioned: Mark Crowther of The Week in Chess  1:15- In closing, we discuss the state of Michiel’s own chess game and have a brief discussion of chess books. Mentioned: Mig Greengard’s chess blog, Brian Karen, Mark Dvoretsky’s books, Bent Larsen’s Best Games, My Great Predecessors, Max Euwe’s books, From London to Elista  1:26- Thanks again to Michiel Abeln for the fantastic book and interview. You can email him here, or keep him with him via his Tumblr,  Twitter and Facebook If you would like to help support Perpetual Chess, you can do here: https://www.patreon.com/perpetualchess   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Elizabeth Spiegel is a USCF expert who played in the US Championship in 2006 and the US Women’s Championship in 2007. Of course, her greatest accomplishments have come in the realm of coaching, as she is an award winning and renowned scholastic coach, as well as a New York Public City School teacher.  Elizabeth has been a guiding force for the incredibly successful Junior High School chess program at IS-318 in Brooklyn. The students at IS 318 have amassed 57 National Championship Titles (!!), and the program was featured in the award-winning, outstanding 2012 documentary, Brooklyn Castle.  Elizabeth was honored as the 2019 Chess Educator of the Year by University of Texas at Dallas, and her teaching was also memorably featured in the excellent book, How Children Succeed.  In our conversation, Elizabeth shared tons of insights from her experiences as a chess teacher, and parent. We also talked about ways to further popularize chess, and a bit of  US Chess politics, as Elizabeth voiced her frustration about some recent rule changes relating to age groupings at US Chess Scholastic Nationals. Please read on, as always for more details.  If you are not seeing any embedded hyperlinks in the episode description, you can find them here: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/new-blog/2019/12/10/episode-155-elizabeth-spiegel 0:00- We begin by talking about the chess activity in Elizabeth’s own household. Wiith chess-obsessed 12 and 6 yr old’s living under her roof, she sees a lot of chess learning first hand.  Mentioned: FM Mike Klein of Chesskid (aka FunMasterMike), Chessable, The Steps Method 13:50- How much is it appropriate for typical scholastic players and club level players and study openings?  Mentioned: Elizabeth’s 2019 Chess Educator of the Year Acceptance Speech, FM Justus Williams, NM James Black, FM Donny Ariel  19:30- 2 Patreon supporter of Perpetual Chess submit questions for Elizabeth asking for some teach tips.1)  How to motivate students to do chess puzzles? 2) How to manage classes with disparate skill levels?  Mentioned: The great chess Books for kids by Jeff Coakley 25:00- How has Elizabeth’s teaching changed since Brooklyn Castle was released in 2012?IS 318 Web Site  Mentioned: IS 318 Vice-Principal John Galvin, Facebook Chess Teacher’s Forum, Katie Dellamaggiore (Director of Brooklyn Castle), John Hamm of Mad Men    32:00- To check out the World Championship chess mugs, go toChessmugs.com. If you decide to buy a set of mugs, use the code “perpetualchess” at checkout to save 15%. 33:00- Elizabeth shares a few more book recommendations.  Mentioned: Mastering Chess Strategy, Positional Decision Making in Chess,  Chess School: The Manual of Chess Combinations. More of Elizabeth’s favorite books for teaching can be found here and here.  37:00-  How could chess be better marketed? Elizabeth thinks there should be more titles in scholastic chess, and that chess could be better marketed to autistic students.  Mentioned: IM Cyrus Lakdawala   45:00- As Elizabeth details on her blog, in 2019 the US Chess Scholastic Committee changed the rules regarding which grade levels are eligible for Junior High Nationals prizes. Despite the fact that most schools labeled “Junior High” in the U.S. go up to 8th grade, the US scholastic Nationals allows 9th graders to compete for Junior High prizes as well. As Elizabeth explains, this primarily benefits private schools and magnet schools, at the expense of more traditional junior highs, such as, IS 318. A Patreon supporter of the podcast asks for Elizabeth’s thoughts on this issue, as well as whether it may have effected her winning the 2019 Chess Educator of the Year prize from University of Texas at Dallas.   Mentioned: Elizabeth’s blog, FM Sunil Weerumantry, WIM Beatriz Marinello, J.J Lang’s Perpetual Chess Interview  1:03- We discuss Elizabeth’s developing thoughts on chess parenting.  Mentioned: GM Jonathan Rowson’s All the Moves that Matter , Elizabeth’s beginner curriculum is available for download here,   Elizabeth’s “pin and skewer puzzle” here- https://share.chessbase.com/SharedGames/share/?p=Ohq5ew6aMX8jfa/9PpWEh02Z/+kYuDvPO6m93orqYYhrxTLkgkYoQifCP5/kltL7 Solution here-  https://share.chessbase.com/SharedGames/share/?p=9X/QHzGoTQrE3QVL9browbeYG4G76LfpL8sT73650khNCeYFbxN1wTRYJhcptlP0 1:09- Thanks to Elizabeth for joining us! You can keep up with her via Facebook and her blog.  If you would like to help support the kids at IS 318, you can do so here: https://t.co/YUUvGHIl1L?amp=1 If you would like to help support the podcast, you can do so here: https://www.patreon.com/perpetualchess See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Among his many chess distinctions, GM Larry Kaufman was the 2008 World Senior Chess Champion.  He is also quite accomplished as a chess author, and a developer of chess engines. He helped to develop many renowned chess engines over the years, and currently works on Komodo with its co-creator Mark Lefler. When he sits down to write a chess book, GM Kaufman puts his vast knowledge of chess engines to good use. His new work, Kaufman’s New Repertoire for Black and White is filled with fresh opening ideas and its moves have been vetted by multiple 3500+  elo engines.  In addition to discussing chess engines generally, and GM Kaufman’s new book in particular, we had some other fascinating topics to discuss. For one thing, GM Kaufman was the best non-Japanese born Shogi player in the world for many years. For another, his son, Raymond Kaufman has also ascended to the level of International Master. Please sit back and enjoy GM Kaufman talk about his illustrious career and share some great stories. As always,  more details and timestamps can be found below. (If you are not seeing embedded hyperlinks on your podcast app, you can find them at the podcast website here:) https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/new-blog/2019/12/3/episode-154-gm-larry-kaufman 0:00- We begin by discussing GM Larry Kaufman’s new/forthcoming book, New Repertoire for Black and White. Our conversation starts with GM Kaufman’s providing some details about which engines and computers he used for his research of openings for this book.  Mentioned: LcZero, Komodo MCTS, NM Jeremy Kane, FM Larry Gilden, Chessbase’s Fat Fritz, GM Fabiano Caruana, Keep it Simple 1. e4  16:30- We transition to discussing some of the broader conclusions from GM Kaufman’s engine work. Is White getting an advantage? If so, with which openings, and how big is the edge?  Mentioned: The Grunfeld, The Nimzo-Indian, The Spanish, The Ruy Lopez, The Tarrasch French  27:30- Larry fields a few questions from a Patreon supporter of the podcast, Han Schut,  relating to which modern engine is the strongest, and whether his new book will be published on Chessable?  Mentioned: Stockfish, New in Chess Publishing, Sabotage the Grunfeld by GM Larry Kaufman  33:30- Larry explains the nature of the partnership between Komodo and Chess.com    36:00- To check out the World Championship chess mugs, go to Chessmugs.com. If you decide to buy a set of mugs, use the code “perpetualchess” at checkout to save 15%.    37:30- As a 72 year old chess player who has remained active for decades, what advice does Larry have for other adult chess players? How should we be utilizing chess engines? How is Larry’s chess game aging? 47:30- Larry tells some fun stories about some well-known chess players of the past and present. .  Mentioned: Harold Phillips, Wilhelm Steinitz, GM John Fedorwicz, GM Bobby Fischer  57:30- We discuss GM Kaufman’s groundbreaking research on how to assign point values to chess pieces.  Mentioned: IM Erik Kislik, NM Dan Heisman, The Evolution of Material Imbalances (by GM Larry Kaufman). Here are Larry’s more accurate point values for chess pieces: Pawn= 1, Bishop = 3.5 Knight = 3.5, Bishop pair = 7.5, Rook = 5.25, Queen = 10 1:05- Supporter of the podcast Peter Newhall writes in to ask GM Kaufman some salient questions about the differences between shogi and chess.  Mentioned: Toshiyuki Moriuchi, IM Jack Peters, GM Jonathan Rowson’s The Seven Deadly Chess Sins, GM Magnus Carlsen, GM Peter Heine Nielsen, The Art of Shogi by Tony Hosking 1:19- Larry shares his experiences as a chess parent.   His son is IM Raymond Kaufman.  Mentioned: GM Arthur Bisguier  1:24- Thanks to Larry for sharing his wisdom and stories. Keep up with him via the Facebook Komodo group or his Chess.com account.  Pre-order his book from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Kaufmans-Repertoire-Black-White-User-Friendly-ebook/dp/B07ZQT4NVH/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=kaufman+chess&qid=1575310518&s=books&sr=1-1 or get it from Forward Chess (available now) here: https://forwardchess.com/product/kaufman's-new-repertoire-for-black-and-white?sscid=91k3_fazxa If you would like to help support Perpetual Chess, you can do so here: ttps://www.patreon.com/perpetualchess See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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IM Christof Sielecki is a popular YouTube presenter and an award-winning chess author. He has published 9 courses for Chessable, and his book, Keep it Simple, 1. e4 won the 2018 Chesspub Book of the Year.  Christof talked with me a few days after releasing his latest Chessable course, Fight like Magnus: The Sicilian and a few years after his first visit to to Perpetual Chess. We talked in detail about Christof’s newest course, but also caught up on chess books, chess improvement and lots of other stuff. Please keep reading for timestamps,  more details and hyperlinks. (If you are not seeing hyperlinks on your podcast app, you can find them at the Perpetual Chess webpage here :https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/new-blog/2019/11/26/episode-153-im-christof-sielecki-returns  0:00- The next Perpetual Chess, Chess Books Recaptured will actually be released on December 20. Keep up with the project here: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/recaptured 3:00- We dive right into Christof’s great new Chessable course, Fight Like Magnus. Topics include Christof’s research methods, and how he went about sharing it with GM Magnus Carlsen and his trainer, GM Peter Heine Nielsen. Mentioned: Christof’s Chessable Course Keep it Simple 1.d4, The Wing Gambit, Leela Zero, Stockfish, The Najdorf Sicilian , IM Greg Shahade, The Sicilian Rossolimo Variation , Svidler-Carlsen Greinke 2019, AlphaZero 23:30- Fellow Chessable author (and recent guest on Perpetual Chess), Han Schut, writes in to ask Christof some questions relating to the Quickstarter Guide in his course, Short and Sweet: The Magnus Sicilian. 34:00- What kind of feedback did Christof get from GM Magnus Carlsen and his second, GM Peter Heine Nielsen on his Sicilian course? Check out Chessable’s free short and sweet Magnus course by clicking here: https://www.chessable.com/sicilian/?utm_expid=.Z4IcSo2-T1qBINX0FGr-jA.0&utm_referrer= Check out Chessable’s ongoing Black Friday sale, here.  https://www.chessable.com/courses/all/all/offer/ 38:00- Another Patreon supporter of the podcast, writes in to ask what  IM Sielecki thinks of the future role of paper chess books, as opposed to digital chess books? In this segment, Christof also shares a few chess book recommendations.  Mentioned: Positional Decision Making in Chess, Grandmaster Repertoire 1. e4 , Playing 1.e4: French Defense and Sicilian Sidelines , Endgame Strategy by Mikhail Shereshevsky, Game Changer   59:45- What Perpetual Chess episodes has IM Sielecki most enjoyed?  Mentioned: Perpetual Chess Interviews:GM Vladimir Tukmakov, GM Gata Kamsky, Megan Chen  1:04-  In what way does Christof think chess books have improved in recent years? Mentioned: Ulf Andersson-Huebner 1981, From Amateur to IM, Botvinnik-Capablanca Avro 1938, Small Steps to Giant Improvement, Small Steps to Success (on Chessable) , Endgame Virtuoso: Magnus Carlsen, Karpov’s Strategic Wins 1:15- If you are focused on studying endgames, is it better to study the endgame greats, or to learn specific endgames like the Lucena position, etc.?  1:18- What was it like to announce a chess event with the legendary GM, Artur Yusopov?  Mentioned: Tarjei Svensen,  1:30- Goodbye! You can keep up with IM Sielecki via his webpage here: http://www.chessexplained.com/ If you would like to help support the podcast, you can do so here: https://www.patreon.com/perpetualchess   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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GM Adrien Demuth is a 28 year old chess trainer, author and competitor. Adrien has worked as a trainer for the French National Team at Olympiads, and due to his own performance over the board, he recently qualified to play in next year’s French Closed Championship. He has published two opening books with Thinkers Publishing, The Modernized Reti, and The Modernized Dutch and also created a course on the London System for Chess24. In our conversation, we discussed all of these openings, and also touched on Adrien’s career highlights and interests away from the board. Please read on for more details, timestamps and links. (If hyperlinks aren’t showing up in your podcast feed, go to the podcast webpage to see them: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/new-blog/2019/11/19/episode-152-gm-adrien-demuth ) 0:00- We begin by discussing a recent tournament in which Adrien played. He tied for first in the “Accession”  section of the French championship, which qualifies him to play in next year’s closed French Championship.  Mentioned: 2019 French Chess Championship   9:30- Adrien discusses the current state of chess in France, as well as giving some historical perspective.  Mentioned: GM Boris Spassky, GM Anatoly Vaisser, GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave,    13:00- We dive into Adrien’s recent publications on openings, these include The Modernized Reti, The Modernized Dutch and a Chess24 course on the London System.    16:00- We discuss one of Adrien’s career highlights, a victory over former World Champion Viswanathan Anand in 2016.  Mentioned: Anand-Demuth 2016, GM Richard Rapport, Rapport-Demuth 2016, Grande-Zuniga-Demuth 2014   26:00- We return to the topic of Adrien’s opening publications. Which is a better choice for club players- the Reti or the London?  Mentioned: GM Josif Dorfman, Gledura-Demuth 2019, GM Boris Gelfand, GM Fabiano Caruana, The Stonewall Dutch, The Leningrad Dutch, GM Gata Kamsky, GM Hikaru Nakamura    40:00 GM Demuth shares improvement advice that he often gives to his students.  Mentioned: Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual, Silman’s Endgame Course, Practical Endgame Play by Glenn Flear, Chess Calculation Training , Lichess Tactics Trainer , Greatest 460 Puzzles by Csaba Balogh    48:30- Adrien grew up partially in Tahiti, a tropical paradise. What’s it like to play chess there? Where else has he enjoyed playing chess?  Mentioned: Fahim: The Little Chess Prince    Thanks to GM Adrien DeMuth for coming on the show- you can keep up with him on Facebook.  Find his books here: Modernized Dutch from Thinker’s Publishing Modernized Reti from Thinker’s Publishing Modernized Dutch on Amazon Modernized Dutch on Forward Chess Modernized Reti on Amazon Modernized Reti on Forward Chess Chess 24 Course on the London System   If you would like to help support the podcast, you can do so here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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It is my great pleasure to announce a new monthly podcast project, called Perpetual Chess: Chess Books Recaptured. This series will be on the same podcast feed as “regular” Perpetual Chess, and on the show, we will reflect upon and synthesize classic chess books! We will try to place the book in historical context, give a few favorite quotes from the book and and offer some chess improvement takeaways. We will even drop a couple of chess blindfold puzzles at the end!    This series will feature a rotating cast of guest co-hosts, and this month I am happy that USCF Master Sam Copeland of Chess.com is hosting with me to discuss one of everyone’s favorite chess books, The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal.  Please check it out and then let me know what you think, whether via email, The Perpetual Chess Facebook Group or Twitter. Show notes, timestamps and links below, as always. I hope you like it!  Note- if you are not seeing hyperlinks, you can find them at the podcast website: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/new-blog/2019/11/15/bonus-pod-bonus-pod-discussing-the-life-and-games-of-mikhail-tal-with-nm-sam-copeland-chess-books-recaptured-series     0:00- My somewhat rambling introduction of the vision for Perpetual Chess: Chess Books Recaptured.  Mentioned: The Overdue Podcast, Animal Spirits: Re-Kindled, The Ringer: Rewatchables, Affiliate links:  If you buy a Forward Chess book using this link, or an amazon product using this link, it helps support the podcast without costing you any additional money. The same is true if you sign up for a chess.com premium account (as you should) using this link.   4:15- This month’s guest co-host, Sam Copeland joins the conversation  Mentioned: GM Murray Chandler, IM Jeremy Silman’s Review of The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal   7:30- About the authors, Mikhail Tal, Iakov Damsky  Mentioned: Kramnik: My Life and Games, The Art of Defense in Chess,   Chess Brilliancy, Ken Neat (translator), The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Fire on Board   13:30- We jump into the meat of The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal, commencing with Sam's reading the opening quote of the book and recalling a few other favorite quotes and games.  Mentioned: Alexander Koblencs 28:00- We add in a bit more color of lessons drawn from GM Genna Sosonko’s The World Champions I Knew and Tal-Botvinnik 1960.  32:30- We select a few favorite games from the book. Mentioned: Botvinnik Tal 1960, Game 6 , Tal’s Most Famous Quote, Donner-Tal 1961, Capablanca, Alekhine, Smyslov-Tal 1964, John Nunn, Chess.com’s CAPS System, Dr. Kenneth Regan  41:30- Chess improvement takeaways: This book can increase your love of chess, which is ultimately indispensable if you want to improve. Chess is a game between humans- initiative in a game can be more important than objective truth  Play openings that suit your style and get you excited to play. Mentioned: The Benoni Defense  51:00- Quibbles. I mentioned the lack of quality e-book for this book-  I am happy to report that Everyman Chess has now informed that The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal is coming soon to Chessable and Forward Chess!  Mentioned: Sam’s excellent video recap of Tal vs. Flesch 1981, The Magic of Mikhail Tal, Checkmate: The Love Story of Mikhail Tal and Sally Landau  57:00- Thanks so much to Sam Copeland for all of his work on this project! Keep up with him via-Chess.com blog, Twitter, YouTube, and Twitch.  Here is the home page for Perpetual Chess Chess Books Recaptured. To apply to be a co-host fill out this form. If you would like to help support this project, and Perpetual Chess generally, go here. Email Ben here.  1:01- Blindfold puzzles! To see the puzzles and answers click here (answers may be visible upon clicking): Puzzle #1: White K on f4, White R on c5, White pawn on b6. Black pawn on b2 Black K on a6. White to move and win. Puzzle 1 diagram (adapted from IM Kostya Kavutskiy's twitter feed) Puzzle #2: White to move and mate in two: White Q on b5, White N on f5, White K on c1. Black K on c3. Puzzle 2 diagram (adapted from Step Workbook 4 of the Steps Series)     Last chance to find out more and/or support the “Square Off Chess robot” Kickstarter project , check it out here.    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Jonathan “JJ” Lang is a Chicago-based 28 year old Philosophy grad student, chess player and chess teacher. In July 2018, JJ returned to tournament chess after a 7 year hiatus. In the following 17 months, he has taken his rating from 1798 to a high of 2106!! How has he done it? Can it be easily replicated? Tune in to hear all of JJ’s reflections on the keys to his rapid improvement. Timestamps, links and more details can be found below (or if the links aren't showing up, check for them at PerpetualChessPod.com) Enjoy!  0:00-  We dive right into JJ’s chess background. What brought him back from a 10 year hiatus from tournament chess? To which factors does he attribute his impressive success?  Mentioned: Marshall Chess Club,  JJ’s coach, WGM Adriana Nikolova, Charlotte Chess Center, FM Peter Giannatos   14:00- A few of the secrets of JJ’s success include: 1) Play in tournaments as frequently as possible 2) Address your biggest weaknesses (openings in his case). In this segment JJ expounds on these lessons.  19:00- JJ reveals a good rule of thumb for when to calculate in faster time control games, and we discuss JJ’s approach to different time controls generally.  Mentioned: Nathan Kelly, Chicago Chess Blitzers, National Blitz League, Stephen Jennings, Tom Murphy  33:45- Back to openings! How did JJ fix his opening repertoire?  Mentioned: Chess Structures by Mauricio Flores Rios, Listen to GM Flores' Perpetual Chess Interview here 40:00- How did JJ allocate his chess study time, and what would he recommend for others? JJ has a unique approach to studying openings that could be helpful for many.  Mentioned: GM Ding Liren, FM Kamil Plichta, Jay Bonin, Rubinstein-Janowski 1907 (30… Qb8!) 47:30- How does JJ recommend tweaking his approach to study for lower rated players? This includes some tactics books recommendations for the 1500-1800 level. Magnus Carlsen’s explanation for the move he missed vs. GM Matlakov can be found within this recap by Peter Doggers of Chess.com Mentioned: ChessTempo, Chess.com tactics trainer, Chess Tactics for Champions by Susan Polgar, Chess by Laszlo Polgar, LiChess, Chess Calculation Training by GM Romain Edouard, Grandmaster Preparation: Calculation by Jacob Aagard, Vladimir Kramnik, Viswanathan Anand,  Carlsen-Matlakov 2019, Tactics Time by Tim Brennan, Winning Chess Exercise for Kids by Jeff Coakley, The Steps Series, Can You be a Positional Chess Genius by Angus Dunnington, Practical Chess Exercises by Ray Zheng  1:05- We talk a bit how JJ’s approach to playing has changed since he moved to Chicago, and what tournaments he is planning. Mentioned: Chicago Class Tournament, Amateur Team Midwest, Adia Onyango  1:10- We go back to discussing JJ’s opinion on how to allocate one’s study time.  Mentioned: 100 Endgames You Must Know, NM William Aramil of Dynamic Chess, 100 Endgames You Must Know on Chessable, GM Jan Gustafsson, Christopher Chabris, Prior Adult Improver Interview with Jason Cigan, My Great Predecessors on Chessable  1:23- JJ gets philosophical (as is his wont) about why he quit chess and why he came back.  1:34- We wrap up with JJ’s contact info. Find him on Facebook, chess.com or contact him via email   If you would like to find out more and/or support the “Square Off Chess robot” Kickstarter project that I mentioned at the top of the show, check it out here.  If you would like to help support the podcast, you can do so here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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GM Jonathan Rowson is a philosopher, a researcher, the 3-time British Chess Champion,  and an acclaimed chess author. Many chess fans will be familiar with his classic books, The Seven Deadly Chess Sins, and Chess for Zebras. Today GM Rowson joins me to discuss his eagerly anticipated new book, The Moves that Matter: A Chess Grandmaster on the Game of Life . In our conversation, GM Rowson shares some of the memories and life lessons that chess has provided him, and he helps us contextualize the contributions that chess can make to society at large. Please read on for timestamps and relevant links. 0:00- GM Rowson discusses the genesis of and themes of his new book, which has been 13 years in the making! As Jonathan tells us, his new book is primarily about what chess has taught him about life. 9:30- One of my favorite themes of Jonathan’s new book, is that chess is a pretext for concentration, which is a “precious experience.” In this segment Jonathan expounds on this idea.  15:30- Jonathan’s 10 year-old son has recently become interested in competitive chess. How does he approach chess parenting?  Mentioned: GM Viswanathan Anand  20:00- GM Rowson reflects on his experiences working on GM Anand’s team during the 2008 Anand-Kramnik World Championship match. Mentioned:  GM Peter Heine Nielsen, Bobby Knight  27:30- Now that he has stepped away from competitive chess, what is GM Rowson’s current relationship with the chess world? Mentioned: McShane-Caruana 2019, Peter Heine Nielsen, GM Alex Baburin, GM Lev Psakhis, GM Alexander Grischuk  34:00- Jonathan discusses his day to day work at the research institute that he co-founded, called Perspectiva. One of the primary issues that his institute tackles is the challenge posed by climate change. Mentioned:  Royal Society of the Arts, Tomas Björkman  43:00- What is GM Rowson’s view of the proper role of chess in schools and in education?  49:00- Good news, audio chess content fans! There will be an audiobook forthcoming for The Moves that Matter. GM Rowson talks about the experience of doing the voice work for his own book. The audiobook will be available on November 14. 55:00- A supporter of the podcast asks GM Rowson about whether or not there will ever be an update or electronic version of his classic opening book, Understanding the Grunfeld.  Mentioned: Han Schut 57:00- In closing, GM Rowson tells a story of a crucial realization that he had during a memorable game with GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov.  Mentioned: Kasimdzhanov-Rowson 2000, GM Vladimir Kramnik, GM Vishy Anand, GM Luke McShane, GM Levon Aronian, GM Nigel Short, GM Matthew Sadler, GM Mickey Adams, GM Magnus Carlsen Thanks to GM Rowson for coming on the show, you can order his book here, and keep up with him on twitter here. To hear more from GM Rowson, check out his interview with "On Being with Krista Tippett" podcast here. If you would like to find out more and/or support the “Square Off Chess robot” Kickstarter project that I mentioned at the top of the show, check it out here.  If you would like to help support the podcast, you can do so here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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GM Robert Hungaski is an Argentina-based, American chess player who has been making a name for himself as a trainer and presenter. In his work as a coach, he is a certified FIDE Senior trainer who often works with US Chess World Youth teams. Robert has been a resident GM at the Saint Louis Chess Club several times, and most importantly for our purposes, he is a down to earth and funny guy with lots of good chess advice and stories! Please read on for timestamps, details and relevant links.  0:00- Intro- We discuss what Robert’s day to day life is like. Robert also goes into some detail about he earned the FIDE Senior Trainer and FIDE arbiter titles. Mentioned: St. Louis Chess Club, FIDE Arbiter Title  9:00- What does Robert notice amongst the top World Youth players he works with? Mentioned: Aren Emrikian, GM Mesgen Amanov , Zurich 1953, My System, Small Steps to Giant Chess Improvement, The Woodpecker Method  18:00- We discuss the tendencies of the modern chess elite to violate what were once considered sturdy chess principles. This is illustrated in two recent Magnus Carlsen games. Mentioned: Carlsen-Caruana 2019, Carlsen-So 2019,  Botvinnik’s 100 Selected Games  22:30- With limited time to compete these days, how does Robert choose his chess tournaments? Does he play for both the US and Argentina?  Mentioned: American Continental Chess Championship, US Open Chess Tournament , FIDE World Cup 30:00- Why are a lot of primarily online American Chess Trainers relocating outside of the US?  Mentioned: GM Gata Kamsky, IM Bill Paschall 31:45- Mar del Plata, Argentina is a famous chess location due to a historic tournament and epononymous chess opening. What can Robert tell us from having played there?  Mentioned: King’s Indian Defense Mar del Plata Variation, Mar del Plata Chess Tournament  36:00 When and how did Robert meet legendary Danish GM Bent Larsen? Mentioned: GM Miguel Najdorf, GM Bent Larsen  37:30- Robert says he was a terrible scholastic player and many people urged him to quit. Is this true? What motivated him to work to become stronger?  41:30- When he lived in New York, Robert worked with legendary GM William Lombardy. What helpful advice did GM Lombardy give when Robert hit a lengthy rating plateau? In this segment Robert gives some great insight on how to take a big picture approach to analyzing one’s chess games.  Mentioned: IM Mark Dvoretsky, GM Rafael Leitao, Chess Steps Method 51:30- Book recommendations!The Books of IM Jeremy Silman, Chess Middlegames by Laszlo Polgar, The Anthology of Chess Combinations, Chess Strategy for Club Players, Dvoretsky Books, Positional Play, Winning Pawn Structures, The Middlegame- Book 1,GM Jonathan Rowson’s Books 57:00- Was Robert a good student in High School? What did he learn from chess? Mentioned: The Moves that Matter by GM Jonathan Rowson  1:05- In the 2000’s Robert played some blitz matches with IM Greg Shahade, some of which can still be found on Youtube.. How did those go? Mentioned: Jenn Shahade , IM Lawrence Trent vs. IM Greg Shahade grudge match, GM Hikaru Nakamura  1:11- Robert tells some stories about meeting former World Champion, GM Anatoly Karpov and playing him in a simul. Here are a few of Robert’s favorite Karpov games:Karpov-Yusopov 1988,  Karpov-Lautier 1992, Korchnoi-Karpov 1981 Game 9  1:15- One more hilarious GM Lombardy story that has nothing to with chess. :)  1:18- Goodbye! Contact Robert via his website. Follow him on Twitter. You can also purchase some lessons of his on ChessLecture.com. Here a couple of my favorite of his YouTube lectures: The Resurgence of Romantic Chess, My Greatest Losses  If you would like to help support Perpetual Chess, you can do so here.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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FM Kamil Plichta is a popular Chessable author, a chess trainer, and something of a rapid and blitz specialist. His strength at fast time controls is borne out by the the fact that he recently finished 3rd at the Polish Rapid Championship, and that he has won online blitz games against the likes of Nakamura and Artemiev. In our wide ranging chess talk, we hit topics ranging from how to tailor your game for a specific opponent, to blitz and time trouble tips, to how much time one should spend studying openings. As always, please read on for more details, hyperlinks and timestamps.  0:00- Intro. We begin by discussing Kamil’s recent success at the Polish Rapid Championship, where he finished 3rd overall, ahead of notable Grandmasters like GM Michail Krasenkow and GM Kacper Piorun.  Mentioned: GM Bassem Amin 13:10- We transition to discussing how Kamil chooses his opening repertoire and designs his Chessable courses. Kamil also dispenses advice about how much time chess players should devote to studying openings at different ratings levels.  Mentioned: GM Simon Williams,  Break the Rules, Play the Trompowsky, Erwin’s Opening Lab, the Dubov Tarrasch, GM Danil Dubov 19:00- What makes Kamil so strong at blitz, and what blitz advice can he give to listeners? Mentioned: Hikaru Nakamura  27:00- We discuss some of Kamil’s other chess related work, including a business he is starting in Poland, and some other business plans of his.  32:00- Kamil delves into the background of how he was able to successfully pitch a course to Chessable  Mentioned: Video intro’s by Kamil for his courses on the King’s Indian Attack, and The Trompowsky 43:00- I ask Kamil some follow up questions based on his excellent interview with Vjekoslav Nemec of Chessentials. I was particularly interested in hearing Kamil’s thoughts about his psychological approach to each chess game.  Mentioned: IM Eric Rosen, IM Cyrus Lakdawala  59:00- How does Kamil approach coaching individual students? What mistakes does he often see?  Mentioned: Kamil’s LiChess Coaching Page 1:05- Is it better to work on improving your strengths or your weaknesses? How should you play against a time trouble addict?  1:12- We get another fresh book recommendation! Why does Kamil love the book, Your Opponent is Overrated by FM James Schuyler?   1:14- A question from a Patreon supporter of the podcast asks Kamil why chess players are often drawn to poker and vice versa? Kamil answers the question, and also delves into his years as a poker pro.  1:21- Switching back to chess, Kamil dispenses some important advice for those looking to improve at chess.  1:26- Uh oh, more poker talk.😉  What variant of poker did Kamil play?  Mentioned: Sit and Go Poker Tournaments, IM Greg Shahade  1:30- Kamil turns the tables and asks me about the origins of Perpetual Chess and who my dream guests would be.  Mentioned: GM Boris Spassky, GM Magnus Carlsen, GM Jan Timman, GM Genna Sosonko, Lessons of a Grandmaster with GM Boris Gulko  1:35- Goodbye and contact info! You can contact Kamil via LiChess or follow him on twitter here.  If you would like to help support the podcast, you can do so here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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GM Rafael Leitão is the highest rated Brazilian chess player and its 7 time National Champion. As a Scholastic Player, he won World Junior titles at two different ages, and he is also a Correspondence Chess GM! In addition, GM Leitão runs a successful online chess academy. As you may gather, we had much to talk about.😀 Our topics of conversation ranged across continents and generations of chess, with many great stories and recommendations for chess improvement. Please read on for more details, hyperlinks and timestamps. Enjoy!  0:00- We begin by discussing Rafael’s background a bit, how he got into chess and what the chess culture in Brazil is like. Mentioned: Fischer-Spassky 1972 , GM Peter Leko 10:30- We dive in to the first question from a Patreon supporter of the podcast. John Hartmann writes in to ask GM  Rafael Leitão to share some memories of his interactions with the legendary trainer, IM Mark Dvoretsky. Mentioned: The Legacy of Mark Dvoretsky,  GM Gilberto Milos, GM Jaime Sunye Neto, GM Peter Heine Neilsen  23:00- GM Leitão discusses the impact that legendary Brazilian GM Henrique Mecking has had in Brazil. Mentioned: GM Lev Polugaevsky, GM Viktor Korchnoi  28:30- Several supporters of the podcast write to ask GM Leitão about his popular article in which he discusses his choices for the Top 10 Chess Players of all time, and particularly about his choice of Bobby Fischer as the best ever. Mentioned: Magnus Carlsen’s comment on Kasparov vs. Fischer as the best ever, GM Fabiano Caruana, GM Anish Giri, Paul Morphy, Russians vs. Fischer, GM Kasparov, GM Petrosian, GM Karpov, GM Mikail Tal, GM Vladimir Kramnik  44:30- We talk a bit of openings! A Patreon supporter of the podcast asks GM Leitão to compare the relative merits of the Sicilian Najdorf and the Sicilian Taimanov defenses. Mentioned: Ziska- Leitão 2018, Kulaots-Leitão 2018GM Evgeny Bareev on Perpetual Chess, GM Anatoly Karpov, GM Samuel Reshevsky  52:00- What have been some of Rafael’s most memorable encounters with chess greats? Mentioned: Karpov, Anand, Kasparov, GM Gionvanni Vescovi 57:30- GM Leitão answers another listener question about his experiences with playing Correspondence Chess, and what he thinks about the future prospects for this version of the game. Mentioned: World Champion at the Third Attempt  1:02- GM Leitão discusses his chess academy, at https://rafaelleitao.com/ ,and shares some chess improvement advice. Mentioned: The Best Chess Books Ever Written, The 20 Chess Books That Helped Me Become a Grandmaster, Think Like a Grandmaster,Secrets of Grandmaster Chess, Lessons from a Grandmaster by Boris Gulko and Joel Sneed, Positional Decision Making in Chess , Capablaca-Yates, Capablanca-Janowski 1:15- Thanks to Rafael for joining the show! You can keep up with him and reach him via https://rafaelleitao.com/  If you would like to help support the podcast, you can do so here.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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GM Bassem Amin is a 31 year old Super GM, who was the first Egyptian, Arab and African chess player to reach the rating of the 2700. Among many other titles, he has been the champion of Africa 5 times. As if that weren’t enough, GM Amin is also a medical doctor, but as the #38 ranked player in the world he his professional focus has been on playing chess in recent years. In our interview we discuss topics ranging from the FIDE World Cup, to the chess scene in Egypt and Africa to his chess study habits and advice. Please read on for timestamps, details and relevant links.    Intro: A world cup trip report from GM Bassem Amin. He details the events that led to his unfortunate early exit, and discusses his opinions of the format and the nerves one may feel at such an important tournament.  Mentioned: GM Amin Tabatabaei, GM Mikhailo Oleksienko,  GM Nikita Vituigov Chess.com Isle of Man International, Chess24 Interview with GM Vituigov, GM Laurent Fressinet, GM Vishy Anand, GM Ivanchuk,  21:00- Why did GM Amin choose to focus on chess as a profession? How popular is chess in Egypt? GM Vidit Gujrathi,  23:30- GM Amin discusses what it was like to experience and compete in the Grand Chess Tour in Africa at the 2019 Cote D’Ivoire Rapid and Blitz  Mentioned: GM Magnus Carlsen , GM Hikaru Nakamura, GM Ding Liren, GM Wei Yi, GM Ian Nepomniatchtchi, GM Vesilin Topalov  30:00- What is GM Amin’s study routine like? What were his study methods like as a top scholastic player in Egypt? Mentioned: Karpov Cup in France , GM Edvins Kengis, GM Ahmed Adly, GM Sergey Grigoriants, GM Mikhailo Oleksienko 38:00- What does Bassem consider to be his biggest career milestone? 41:30- What advice does Bassem have for adult improvers?  44:30- Goodbye! You can follow GM Bassem Amin’s progress via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. If you would like to help support Perpetual Chess, you can do here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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WIM Beatriz Marinello is a Chilean-American chess player, educator and organizer. Beatriz was recently named the Director of the Chess Program at the Dalton School in New York City, and in the past few decades, she has also worked and volunteered in countless other capacities in the chess world. Beatriz was the first woman to be elected as President of the US Chess Federation and was also the first woman to be elected Vice President of the World Chess Federation (FIDE). She is also one of the founders of and the President of Checkmating Dementia. Beatriz was very forthright about the good and bad that she has seen during her years in the chess world. Her experiences highlight the growth that the chess world has seen in recent years, but also show that there is still much more that can be done to promote and grow chess. Please read on for timestamps, links and a few more details.  0:00- We begin by discussing Beatriz’s roles on the FIDE Social Action Committee and as the Director of the Chess Program at The Dalton School  Mentioned: David MacEnulty retires from his role as Director of the Dalton School, IM Josh Waitzkin,IM Kassa Korley, Charu Robinson,  GM Maxim Dlugy, USCF Master Gus Huston    6:45- What was it like to grow up playing chess during the Pinochet regime in Chile?  11:00- Beatriz transitions to discussing her chess work in the US, including living in Miami, Las Vegas, and ultimately New York.  Mentioned: Svetozar Jovanovic, PS 9, The Anderson School, Carmen Farina, Dr. Robert Ferguson, Castle Chess Camp,  US Chess Federation  25:00- As Beatriz retells, she became the first female president of the US Chess Federation, only to discover that the organization faced serious financial difficulties. How were she and others able to help US Chess recover?  Mentioned: Stan Booz, Sam Sloan  35:00- How did WIM Marinello end up becoming affiliated with FIDE? What was that experience like?  Mentioned: FIDE Social Action Commission, FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, Former Fide President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov 47:00-A Patreon supporter of the podcast asks about Beatriz’ efforts to promote chess as a vehicle to fight dementia.  Mentioned: Checkmating Dementia, Michael Glassman  1:04- Beatriz tells a funny Bobby Fischer story that she heard from a reliable friend of hers.  Mentioned: Beatriz Marinello Interview with Chessbase, Dr. Leroy Dubeck,    GM Tigran Petrosian   1:12- We talk a bit of chess improvement and chess books, and some of Beatriz’ favorite chess players and chess games.   Mentioned: My Great Predecessors, GM Hou Yifan, Polgar-Berkes,Hou Yifan-David Navara 2016, GM Humpy Koneru, GM Antoaneta Stefanova, Jennifer Shahade, Kimberly Doo McVay  1:21- Goodbye! You can keep up with all of Beatriz’s initiatives via her Facebook page. If you would like to help support the podcast, you can do so here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Grandmaster R.B. Ramesh is the author of the highly regarded book, Fundamental Chess: Logical Decision Making,   and was the 2002 British Chess Champion, but these days he is best known as one of the top chess trainers in the world! He has served as the coach of the Indian National Team many times, and in recent years has been the trainer of the teenage super-talent, GM Praggnanandhaa, among many others. In our conversation we talk about topics ranging from  how Ramesh finds and keeps track of material for his students, to how to fight chess slumps, to a list of his many favorite chess books,plus lots more! Please tune in and read on for timestamps and relevant links.    0:00- We begin by discussing R.B. Ramesh’s current whereabouts. He is conducting a training camp for talented young Indian chess players with GM Vishal Sareen and IM Dejan Bojkov. Ramesh shares the sorts of material and themes he often emphasizes in these types of camps, including the advice he gives to students who get upset by losing games.  In this segment Ramesh answer a question from a Patreon supporter of the podcast about how trainers organize their teaching materials.  Mentioned: Chessbase 15 21:30- Are there any traits GM Ramesh has noticed in his most accomplished students, such as GM Praggnanandhaa?  31:00- When GM Jacob Aagard was a guest on Perpetual Chess, he discussed an upcoming chess camp he would be teaching with GM Ramesh. GM Ramesh provides us with some details about the camp.  Mentioned: GM Sam Shankland, GM Ivan Salgado Lopez,  34:00- Another supporter of the podcast asks GM Ramesh for advice about how to think about and persevere during periods of stagnation in one’s chess development.  46:30- GM Ramesh talks about his own chess playing career, was he discouraged in the period when it took him 8 years to go from IM to GM? Mentioned: GM Anand, GM Sasrikan  Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of GM Ramesh’s insightful  3 part 2017 interview with Niklesh Jain on Chessbase India 50:30- Another supporter of the podcast asks GM Ramesh whether he thinks the competition amongst players in India is particularly fierce. From here we transition to a more general conversation about support for chess in India.  Mentioned: IM Sagar Shah, GM Vidit Gujrathi, GM Harikrishna, IM Tania Sachdev , GM Viswanathan Anand, GM Aravind Chithambaram, GM Nihal Sarin gets an endorsement with a milk company, GM Koneru Humpy  1:01- Chess books! Get ready! No surprise that a renowned trainer like GM Ramesh has a long list of recommended books. :)  Mentioned: My 60 Most Memorable Games, Zurich International, The Art of Attack, The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal, Judgement and Planning in Chess, Fire on Board, The Works of Mark Dvoretsky, The Works of GM Jacob Aagard, Secrets of Practical of Chess, Winning Pawn Structures (out of print), Think like  a Grandmaster, Endgame Strategy, The Works of Boris Gelfand, Dynamic Chess Strategy, Theory and Practice of Chess Endings, Imagination in Chess, Perfect Your Chess, Its Only Me by Tony Miles, The Yusopov Series, Fundamental Chess Endings, Timman On the Attack,Creative Chess by Amatzia Avni, Improve Your Chess Now by GM Jonathan Tisdall,  1:11- At his ChessGurukul Academy GM Ramesh sometimes teaches yoga and meditation to his students. How have they responded to it?  Mentioned: The Grandmaster Diet: How to lose Weight While Barely Moving , GM Praggnanandhaa 1:15- We conclude with a brief discussion of GM Ramesh’s excellent book, Fundamental Chess: Logical Decision Making,  and an exciting tease for another book project that GM Ramesh is planning. You can keep up with GM R.B. Ramesh via Facebook and Twitter.  If you would like to help support the podcast, you can do so here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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More than 2.5 years after our first interview it is once again an honor to talk chess with renowned chess author and historian IM John Donaldson. As we discuss, John has remained extremely busy despite recently retiring as Director of the Mechanics' Institute Chess Club in San Francisco. In addition to co-authoring acclaimed books about Bobby Fischer and Akiva Rubinstein, John is a member of the Samford Fellowship Committee and has served as the Captain of many U.S. Olympiad Teams. So as always, we had much to discuss! Please read on for many relevant links and timestamps.  0:00- Intro- We begin by discussing what is new with John's ongoing research related to his series of books about GM Bobby Fischer, written with IM Eric Tangborn. Mentioned: Bobby Fischer’s Final Years: A Memoir, GM William Lombardy, IM Anthony Saidy  11:30- When he retired from the Mechanics' Institute one of John’s goals was to play chess competitively more often. Has he been able to achieve this goal? Which older players inspire him?  NM Han Schut, IM Anthony Saidy, USCF Master Viktors Pupols 20:00- John has been the captain of the U.S. Olympiad team many times, He explains the selection process for determining the next team for the U.S. Olympiad.  Mentioned: Khanty-Mansiysk, Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, Sam Shankland, Jeffrey Xiong, Hikaru Nakamura  24:30- What is Samford Fellowship, and how do its recipients get selected? Mentioned: Allen Kaufman, Sam Sevian, Hikaru Nakamura, Awonder Liang, Joel Benjamin Wesley So, IM Christopher Yoo,  32:00- More Olympiad talk! Who will be the strongest teams in the next Open Chess Olympiad? What are John’s favorite Olympiad memories?  Mentioned: 38th Chess Olympiad (2008), GM Viswanathan Anand, GM Pentala Harikrishna, GM Vidit Gujrathi, GM Gata Kamsy, GM Vassily Ivanchuk  44:00- Is drug testing necessary in chess? How thorough is the monitoring for computer assistance at the Olympiads?  Mentioned: IM Kenneth Regan  49:00- We discuss John’s 2 volume work on legendary GM Akiva Rubinstein (co-written with IM Niklay Minev) , which is available on Forward Chess and Amazon. A Patreon supporter of Perpetual Chess wonders if there is hope for a 3rd edition of the book and also asks John’s opinion on whether Peak Rubinstein could have beaten GM Emanuel Lasker for the World Championship. John did not dodge the question!  Mentioned: Michael Negele, Positional Decision-Making in Chess, Dynamic Decision-Making in Chess  1:00:00- John shares some memories about notable recent passings in the chess world. This includes Fischer-era chess commentator Shelby Lyman, Chess Historian Dale Brandreth, and GM Pal Benko  Mentioned: Steve Brandwein , Henry Kissinger, Karl Burger, IM Jack Peters, GM Michael Wilder, Albrecht Buschke, John Rather, Oscar Shapiro, USCF Master Fred Wilson  1:19:00- Has John read any standout chess books lately? Mentioned: Quality Chess, Chess Evolution, Thinkers Publisher, McFarland, Mongoose Press, New in Chess, Russell Enterprises, Everyman Press, Andy Soltis, 300 Most Important Chess Positions, The Survival Guide to Rook Endings, The Woodpecker Method , The King’s Indian According to Tigran Petrosian , Opening Simulator - King's Indian Defence, Perfect Your Chess , Learn From the Legends  1:36:00- John reviews the performance of the U.S. Teams at the 2019 World Team Championship. Mentioned: GM Darius Swiercz, GM Sam Sevian, GM Alex Onischuk, GM Alex Lenderman, GM Elshan Moriadiabadi, GM Melik Khachiyan, GM Alejandro Ramirez, Carissa Yip, Rochelle Wu, GM Zviad Izoria 1:41:00- Thanks to John for coming on! You can email him here.  If you would like to help support the podcast, you can do so here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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This week the Adult Improver series returns with another great guest. Fifty-five year-old USCF Master Han Schut is a Certified Chess Steps Trainer, a blogger, and a chess parent. His daughters Donna and Lisa were both top Dutch scholastic players, and Lisa is the youngest ever Dutch Women’s Champion. She won it at the age of 19.  Han returned to competitive chess in 2013 and has since seen his rating steadily climb from 2120 to a recent high of 2270.  Given the age and relatively high rating from which Han started, this is quite an accomplishment! How did he do it? What resources did he use?  How does he combat Father Time? What do we need to know about the Steps Method? Tune in to find out. Timestamps and relevant links below: 0:00- Intro and discussion of the Steps Method. The Steps is a Dutch chess curriculum which is designed to take you from the Novice to the Master Level. You can order Steps books here. Han also asks some questions from Patreon supporters of the podcast relating to the qualifications for becoming a Certified Steps Trainer and how to “mine the data” of the LiChess Online database .  Mentioned: Perpetual Chess Patreon Page, Rob Brunia, IM Cor van Wijgerden, GM Loek Van Wely, GM Erwin L’ami, Chess Tutor discs, LiChess Opening Explorer, Hiarcs Opening Book Subscription  30:00- We transition to talking about Han’s chess playing and chess improvement more generally.  Han shares how he has managed to continue to improve into his 50s, and answers a few questions from supporters of the podcast about how to budget one’s chess study time.  Mentioned: Chess Steps, Step 3 Books, 100 Endgames You Must Know (Chessable version), Perfect Your Chess, Chess Structures, Keep it Simple 1. D4 (Chessable Course) . Grandmaster Repetoire 1. e4 , 1. d4 : Dynamic Systems, Game Changer, Chess for Life, Vladimir Chuchelov, Alex King, IM Ali Mortazavi, Fred Wilson  1:04- Han retells a great story from his blog relating to former World Champion, GM Boris Spassky.  Mentioned: Daniel Yarur Elsaca 1:15- Han shares some advice for other parents based on his experiences as a chess parent.  Mentioned: GM Robin Van Kampen  1:18- Goodbye. Keep up with or contact Han via his Chess.com account If you would like to help support Perpetual Chess, you can do so here.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Isaac Steincamp is only 22, but has already been quite busy making a name for himself in the chess world. He is an expert level chess player, and after recently graduating from the University of Pittsburgh, he has begun working at Chess.com as The Lead Solutions Architect. In  the past he has been a chess streamer, has made videos for ChessOpenngsExplained.com, and he founded Chess Summit. In our conversation, we talk about how Isaac got his new gig, what is going on at Chess.com, and Isaac’s chess improvement recommendations, both for his own game and for other players. Please read on for timestamps, links and more details.  0:00- Intro. We begin by discussing how Isaac ended up with the position of Lead Solutions Architect at Chess.com  Referenced NM Sam Copeland, Aran S, Nick Barton  9:00- As the Deputy Commissioner of the Pro Chess League, Isaac gives us a rundown of all that is going on with the Pro Chess League, including the Summer Series, which is winding down.  Referenced The Pittsburgh Pawnsgrabbers, IM Greg Shahade, Reykjavik Puffins, IM John Bartholomew, Chessbrahs  24:00- We dive deeper into the Fischer Random World Championship, which is a year long competition which begins on Chess.com and culminates in a live championship in Norway in October.  27:00- We digress into a discussion of the 2019 FIDE World Cup, my favorite event on the 2019 Chess Calendar. Email me if you would like to run a World Cup Pool and I will help promote it. :)  31:20- Chess improvement! A Patreon supporter of the podcast asks about the status of Isaac’s quest for the US Chess National Master Title. Why does he think he has plateaued of late? Mentioned: GM Eugene Perelyshteyn, FM Gabe Petesch  42:00- What has helped Isaac improve the most? Referenced Endgame Essentials, 100 Chess Master Trade Secrets, Chess Structures, Chess.com Survival Mode, IM Hans Niemann, IM Casper Schoppen  49:00- Another supporter of the podcast asks Isaac to share his views on the importance of “storyboarding” each game of chess.  54:00- Goodbye! You can keep up with and contact Isaac via Twitter and His Chess.com account If you would like to help support and grow the podcast, you can do so here.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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26 year old Grandmaster Aman Hambleton is one of Canada’s top 10 players and,  among other distinctions, he has represented his country in the Chess Olympiad multiple times.  Of course, he is best known as one of the founding members (along with GM Eric Hansen) of the extremely popular chess streaming team known as the Chessbrahs. In our lengthy and entertaining conversation we discuss topics ranging from Chessbrah origins, to the business of being a chess streamer to the struggles Aman endured to earn the Grandmaster title. This was a fun one! Please read on for timestamps and relevant links.  0:00- Intro! We kick things off by discussing all that goes into creating a vlog, like this awesome Reykjavik Open Tournament Recap Vlog  that Aman and the Chessbrahs recently released.  8:00- We transition to discussing the business of Chessbrah. How many employees does Chessbrah have? What project are they working on outside of chess? This includes a discussion of the origins of GM Eric Hansen and Aman forming Chessbrahs.  Mentioned: Aman Hambleton’s old blog  14:00- Aman tackles the first of many questions (thanks guys!)  from a Patreon Supporter of Perpetual Chess. This question relates to how much income Twitch streamers can expect to make. Other questions relate to advice for getting into chess streaming. 29:30- GM Hambleton fields some listener questions about how GM Yasser Seirawan joined team Chessbrah, what his favorite Yasser story is, and Aman even does an impromptu Yasser impersonation!  Mentioned: Trailer Park Boys. Chess World Cup 2019 (which the Chessbrahs will be covering), Second City Improv , GM Vidit Gujrathi  45:00- Another listener asks about how many mice the Chessbrah’s have broken due to chess rage, and whether people complain that the Chessbrah’s sometimes suggest moves to each other.  Mentioned: GM Robin van Kampen, FM Lefong Hua  51:45-  Chess improvement!  How much has Aman trained his blndfold chess abilities?   Mentioned: Jeff Coakley 58:00- Aman talks about the immense challenge it was for him to get the GM title, and about what motivated him and enabled him to get it.   Mentioned: The Taimanov Bible: A Complete Manual for the Sicilain Player, Aman explain his win vs GM Shirov to Fiona Steil-Antoni, or play through Hambleton-Shirov 2017 here  1:08- Another listener asks about the history of the opening containing a queen sacrifice that Aman has dubbed  “the undefeated opening”.  Mentioned: Check out one of Aman’s blitz games with the Undefeated Opening with it here. Englund Gambit game from Reykjavik Open vs. Lars Laustsen here 1:12- A listener asks, has blitz helped Aman’s chess, can it help ours? Does Aman play better or worse chess while streaming?  1:24- Who have been Aman’s toughest online blitz opponent? Mentioned: GM Alireza Firouzja, GM Sergei Karjakin, GM Hikaru Nakamura, GM Magnus Carlsen. Carlsen-Hambleton 2017  1:28- Spurred by another listener question, Aman assesses the current health of the Canadian Chess Scene  Mentioned: GM Pentala Harikrishna, GM Vassily Ivanchuk, GM Sam Shankland, GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly, GM Wang Hao, GM Wesley So, GM Fabiano Caruana, GM Leinier Dominguez  1:38- How can one become a Chessbrah?  Mentioned: GM Yasser Seirawan, John Urschel, Chessbrah Norway Chess 2019 Coverage  1:44- One last listener question- How does being a chess professional/well known personality help or hurts Aman’s dating life? 1:48- Goodbye! Here is how you can keep up with Aman and the Chessbrahs: Aman’sTwitter, Aman’s Instagram, Chessbrah Twitch, Chessbrah Youtube Channel,Chessbrah TV Twitter If you would like to help support the podcast, go here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Sasha Chapin is a writer who has just published his first book, All the Wrong Moves, a Memoir about Chess, Love, and Ruining Everything. Sasha’s book tackles themes quite familiar to many chess enthusiasts: Chess love, chess addiction, chess improvement, the inevitable intersection of chess and real life, and how to grapple with one’s own chess limitations. Sasha’s book is a fun read which resonated with me, and features mentions of many prominent chess players and personalities.  For another perspective on Sasha’s book, you can read the Washington Post’s review of his book here. For more details, timestamps, and relevant links please continue reading.  0:00- We begin by discussing how Sasha was able to get a book deal with Doubleday to write a “chess memoir,” and how he approached writing the book once the project was a reality.  Mentioned: GM Vassily Ivanchuk, Gm Alexander Morozevich, IM John Bartholomew, GM Ben Finegold, GM Eric Hansen, GM Var Akobian, IM Eric Rosen, GM Peter Svidler, Video of GM Magnus Carlsen and Peter Svidler doing post-mortem analysis  17:33- We transition from talking about chess streamers and announcers to Sasha’s favorite chess books. Mentioned: My System by Aron Nimzowhich, Chess for Zebras by Jonathan Rowson  21:00- A Patreon supporter of Perpetual Chess asks what helped Sasha the most in terms of chess improvement. As Sasha tells it, his greatest improvements came from some key insights that GM Ben Finegold provided during their lessons. .  32:00- Another Patreon supporter asks how to prevent one’s ego from ruining one’s chess mood, and also asks for Sasha’s input about the pros and cons of playing live vs. online.  39:00- Does Sasha think that chess is inherently addictive?  43:00- We circle back to what Sasha’s chess routine was like during the time that this book takes place. Was he working at the time? What did he study? How many hours per day did study? Mentioned: Chess Tempo Tactics Trainer  48:00- Sasha discusses a bit of his impressions of some of the places that he visited while writing this book, including St. Louis, and Hyderabad, India.  54:00- We wrap by talking a bit about Sasha’s future plans. You can keep up with Sasha via Twitter,Instagram, or his email list All the Wrong Moves is now available from Amazon and many other book sellers. If you are in the Los Angeles area you can go see Sasha Chapin discuss his book on August 20. Details here.  If you would like to help support the podcast, you can do so here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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This week the popular Chess Author, Presenter, and USCF Master,  Dan Heisman joins me. As someone who has been teaching adults (and kids) chess for decades, Dan has special insight into the way that amateurs should think about chess and also knows the ways that they actually do think about chess. It was a pleasure to pick Dan’s brain and to hear some of his stories! Please read on for many more details, relevant links, and timestamps.  0:00- Intro and we begin by discussing of why Dan recently decided to launch his instructive new Youtube Channel.  Mentioned: Kurt Schneider (chess master and creator of College Musical) , GM Daniel King’s Youtube Channel, John Bartholomew’s Youtube Channel, Christof Sielecki’s Youtube Channel, Back to Basics Tactics, John Nunn’s Learn Chess Tactics, The Evaluation of Material Imbalances by GM Larry Kaufman  19:00- Dan talks about how he transitioned from working as an engineer to teaching chess full time in the 1990’s.  Mentioned: Bobby Dudley, NM Daniel Benjamin, Arthur and Matthew Traldi, Everyone’s Second Chess Book by Dan Heisman  27:20- A Patreon supporter of the podcast asks for tips for how a 1700 rated player should approach teaching a 1300 rated player. Mentioned: Chess for Zebras by GM Jonathan Rowson, Thought and Choice in Chess by Adriaan DeGroot, FM Charles Hertan  44:40- Another Patreon supporter writes to ask whether it is important to use an actual chess board rather than screen when solving tactics.  Mentioned: Grandmaster Preparation: Calculation by GM Jacob Aagard,  52:30- Another Patreon supporter asks a question relating to how much time to spend studying the opening versus other aspects of chess.  Mentioned: WGM Jennifer Shahade, NM Mike Shahade, Ruy Lopez Riga Variation, GM Andy Soltis, Howard Stern, The World’s Most Instructive Amateur Games by Dan Heisman  1:13- Chess books! Here is the link to Dan’s excellent recommended chess books page. Mentioned: John Bain’s Chess Tactics for Students, Logical Chess Move by Move , The World’s Most Instructive Amateur Games, The Art of Logical Thinking by GM Neil McDonald, Tim Krabbe’s Chess Curiosities, The Joys of Chess by Christian Hesse , Pawn Power by Hans Kmoch, Alekhine’s My Best Games of Chess  1:22- Dan breaks down what you can find in some of his own books. Mentioned: Is Your Move Safe, The Improving Chess Thinker, The World’s Most Instructive Amateur Games, Everyone’s Second Chess Book , A Guide to Chess Improvement: The Best of Novice Nook, GM James Tarjan  1:31- Dan tells stories from the time that he spent teaching chess to the famous radio host Howard Stern, and from his encounters with former World Champion GM Garry Kasparov  1:39- Goodbye and final plugs! Links: Dan’s Youtube Channel, Dan’s Website , Dan’s Twitter Chess Tip of the Day See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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IM Erik Kislik is a popular American chess trainer and author who is now based in Hungary. We talk about Erik’s first book,  Applying Logic in Chess, which lays out his a framework for how to think about chess, and his just-released new book,Chess Logic in Practice.  Chess Logic in Practice expands on this framework and provides concrete examples to augment your chess understanding (more details about Erik's new book can be found at the bottom of this description). During our conversation, we discuss Erik’s favorite game collection chess books, and Erik shares lots of chess improvement advice based on his experiences as a player and coach. For relevant links, timestamps, and more details about all that we discussed, please continue reading.  0:00-  We begin by talking about how Erik developed the framework that he lays out in his first book,  Applying Logic in Chess, which he expands upon in his new book Chess Logic in Practice. This includes a detailed discussion of an updated version of the point values in chess, as laid out by GM Larry Kaufman (who is also the designer of the Komodo engine.)  GM Kaufman’s point values: Pawn – 1 Knight – 3.45 Bishop – 3.55 Rook- 5.25 Queen- 10 Mentioned: The Kaufman Repertoire for Black and White: A Complete, Sound and User-Friendly Chess Opening Repertoire, Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy by John Watson  Botvinnik-Tal 1960 World Chess Championship, John Nunn’s Secrets of Practical Chess (This book coined the term- Loose Pieces Drop off, aka “LPDO”), Jon Speelman’s Chess Puzzle Book  34:00- Erik answers a couple of questions from a Patreon supporter of the podcast, about how one can analyze his/her own games and what to do if one doesn’t have time to play tournament games, but understands the importance of playing serious games for improvement.  Mentioned: Perfect Your Chess, Imagination in Chess , IM Stefan Kuipers, Ed Latimore 56:00- What are some of Erik’s favorite game collection books? What is it like it live in a chess hub like Budapest, Hungary?  Mentioned: Chess by Lazslo Polgar, Winning Chess Strategies by GM Seirawan, Kramnik: My Life of Games,GM Peter Lukacs, IM Lazslo Huzai, GM Peter Prohaszka, Vishy Anand: My Best Games of Chess, Victor Bologan: My Selected Games 1985-2004, Alexander Alekhine’s Best Games 1:14- What methods did IM Kislik’s best improving( most improved?) student, Thomas Callea, use to get better?   1:20- What plans does Erik have for sharing free content on his Youtube Channel and elsewhere?  Mentioned: Martin Shkreli, IM Kislik’s working list of 500 games you should study  1:29- Thanks and goodbye! You can keep up with Erik via his YouTube Channel, and The Internet Chess Club. His books, Applying Logic in Chess and Chess Logic in Practice are available from Amazon and many other book sellers. Courtesy of Erik Kislik, here is a bit more about what you can expect to find in Chess Logic in Practice: The book Chess Logic in Practice consists of Thinking Concepts, Positional Concepts, and exercises. The first two chapters deal with pursuing the most direct idea as actively as possible and, conversely, when the logic of that idea doesn’t work and how to fix it. The first essential type of thinking concept stressed is related to urgency, and the second thinking concept emphasized relates to your sense of danger (addressed in the chapters Overpressing, Only One Way to Lose and Unlikely Draws). In Part 2: Positional Concepts, a heavy emphasis is on • understanding piece exchanges (with three separate chapters to increase our positional understanding) • sensing the quality of pieces (with chapters on various weak pieces) • grasping and creating weaknesses • appreciating difficult moves we tend to miss or misevaluate • defensive play concepts like tenacity and the queen’s value and role in defense; • maneuvering in closed positions. With this book, players will learn how to analyze with helpful thinking methods and apply them practically in their games, developing their ability to handle common situations with a clear thought process. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Dr. Kenneth Regan is an International Master, an associate professor of Computer Science at the University of Buffalo, and is one of the world’s foremost experts on using predictive analytics to help detect computer-assisted cheating in chess tournaments. With the chess world abuzz about the alleged cheating of GM Igors Rausis, I thought it would be the perfect time to invite Dr. Regan to join me to discuss all of the challenges faced by those who work to stop chess cheaters from undermining the integrity of our beloved game. Naturally we also discuss IM Regan’s other research and hear stories and reflections on his background as a strong chess player. (Dr. Regan was the 1977 US Junior co-champion and broke the record of Bobby Fischer as the youngest USCF Master!)  Please continue reading for more details, links and timestamps.    0:00- Intro. We begin by discussing some background about the Igors Rausis cheating scandal and the issue of engine-assisted chess in tournaments more generally. As Kenneth explains, his work involves using predictive analytics to assess the probability that a person received engine assistance in a chess game or series of chess games.  Mentioned: 2006 Kramnik-Topalov World Championship Match (aka “ToiletGate”) ,  Frederic Friedel, Alekhine-Capablanca 1927 , Tamal Biswas  21:00- According to Dr. Regan’s metrics, what was the best played chess match in history prior to Fischer-Spassky 1972?  Mentioned: So-Karjakin 2019  26:00- Dr. Regan’s discusses some of the inherent challenges of his work detecting possible cheating in live chess tournaments, including the issue of the risk of “false positive” results in his algorithm.  Mentioned: Howard Goldowsky’s 2014 Chess Life Feature of Kenneth Regan 39:00- A Patreon supporter of the podcast asks Dr. Regan what club players can do to detect and deter potential cheaters.  44:00- How does online cheating differ from live tournament cheating?  Mentioned: Daniel Sleator of the Internet Chess Club, Danny Rensch and Mike Klein of Chess.com (the February 2019 Chess Life article by Danny Rensch that Dr. Regan mentions is behind the USCF paywalll.) 46:45- Another supporter of the show submits a list of questions for Dr. Regan touching on topics ranging to his own experiences with cheating to his background as a strong chess player, to where he sees the next battle being fought in the realm of chess cheating.  Mentioned: Dennis Monokroussos’ The Chess Mind Blog , Dr. Regan’s Ted Talk ., IM Regan’s blog post,  London Calling , Weapons of Math Destruction by Cathy O Neil  1:05- How surprised was Dr. Regan by the rise of neural networks like AlphaZero and Leela? 1:09- We talk a bit about Dr. Regan’s own chess career. How did he improve? What were his favorite chess books?   Mentioned: Sam Copeland’s interview with Kenneth Regan  Pawn Power in Chess, My System,Capablanca’s Hundred Best Games of Chess, Laszlo Szabo, Jaan Ehlvest, Rafael Vaganian, John Fedorowicz,  Tarjei Svenson article summarizing Magnus Carlsen’s dispute with Norwegian Chess Federation  1:19- Goodbye! Keep up with IM Regan via his blog and his professional page. If you would like to help support the podcast, you can do so here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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This week it was my honor to interview renowned player, author, and trainer, GM Vladimir Tukmakov. GM Tukmakov was once one of the world's top 20 players and was the 1970 Ukrainian national champion. More recently, he has switched his focus to coaching and writing about chess. He has had 4 chess books published in English, including the excellent new book Coaching the Chess Stars, which we discuss in great detail. This book shares his memories and annotates some key games from his time coaching teams such as the Ukraininian, Dutch and BeloRussian national teams, and from working with individuals like GMs Wesley So and Anish Giri, who currently sit #4 and #5 in the world, respectively.  Please read on for timestamps and relevant links. Enjoy!  0:00- Intro 2:30- We launch right into discussing Coaching the Chess Stars . GM Tukmakov tells us how he had the idea for this book, and he retraces the arc of his career as a chess trainer.  11:00- GM Tukmakov reflects on his experiences working with the legendary former World Champion Finalist Viktor Korchnoi.  Mentioned: GM Gyula Sax. GM Dmitri Gurevich GM Jan Timman  21:30- What was it like to work on the team of former World Champion GM Anatoly Karpov during his 1998 FIDE World Championship Match with GM Viswanathan Anand?  Mentioned: IM Mikhail Podgaets, GM Alexander Onischuk, and GM Ivan Morovic 34:15- GM Tukmakov discusses some details of working with Super GM Anish Giri Mentioned: Chess24 Jan Gustafsson interview with Magnus Carlsen,  This Anish Giri tweet  42:00- After working with Anish Giri for a few years, the next player with whom GM Tukmakov worked was GM Wesley So. GM Tukmakov discusses what it was like to work with this “pure chess talent.” Mentioned: GM Fabiano Caruana, GM Ding Liren, David Cox’ Chess.com interview with Wesley So  55:30- GM Tukmakov coached GM Vugar Gashimov, (who died tragically young) when he was a member of the Azerbijani National Team. You can read more about Vladimir’s interactions with GM Gashimov in Coaching the Chess Stars 58:30- We talk a bit of chess books and chess improvement. Mentioned: Zurich International Chess Tournament, 1953, Paul Keres Best Games of Chess  1:04- Thanks and good bye, GM Tukmakov can be reached via email here If you would like to help support the podcast go here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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This week the always popular Adult Improver Series returns with another rapidly rising adult guest. Megan Chen is a 24 year old software engineer and enthusiastic chess player. Since resuming tournament play in 2015 Megan’s USCF rating has ascended from 961 in 2015 to a peak rating of 1909! How did she do it? We discuss that in great detail, and as usual, you can find the links and timestamps below. The short answer, of course, is that she did lots of hard work on her chess and played in tons of tournaments.  0:00- Intro. Megan talks about how she rediscovered a passion for chess in college at Carnegie Mellon after many years away. Mentioned in this segment: USCF Masters Beilin Li and Grant Xu  8:00- Once Megan recommitted to chess as a serious hobby, what did she do to help improve her game? She found stronger players to review her games, and found her coaches, Ryan Murphy and WGM Nazi Paikidze.  Mentioned: Chicago Chess Meetup , Combinative Motifs by Maxim Blokh , Illinois Chess Association article about Megan Chen  18:00- Megan answers a question from a Patreon supporter of the podcast about how she structures her lessons and study time. 29:00- What change in Megan’s lifestyle helped her game of chess the most? What are Megan’s current goals in chess? How is she approaching a current slump in her results?   40:00- Megan answers some more questions from Patreon supporters of the show. They relate to the best way to spend one’s chess study time, choosing coaches, seeking book recommendations for a new player rated around 900, and her biggest challenge as an adult improver is. .  Mentioned: Chess: 5334 Problems Combinations and Games, and  Bobby Fischer Teaches ChessTwitlonger post from IM Alexander Katz LiChess Coaches Page, Chess.com coaches page 56:00- What are Megan’s favorite chess books? Mentioned: Combinative Motifs by Maxim Blokh , Active Pieces by Jay Bonin, Imagination in Chess, Attacking Manual Volume 1 and Volume 2 by GM Jacob Aagard  58:00- As is becoming a tradition in the Adult Improver Series, Megan gives her opinion of the importance of various study methods in the quest for improvement. These methods include: Studying Openings, playing blitz, having a coach, studying endgames, doing tactics, exercising, and watching chess broadcasts and videos.  Mentioned: 100 Endgames You Must Know,SIlman’s Endgame Course, Chess.com Endgame Practice, Nazi Paikidze’s Endgame Renaissance Video  1:12- Does Megan have any longer term chess goals?  1:14- Goodbye! Keep up with Megan via her LiChess and Chess,com accounts, or join her in the Chess.com club Play Like the Masters If you would like to help support the podcast you can go here: See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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GM Pentala Harikrishna has been World Junior Champion, Asian Individual Champion, and he has been ranked as high as #10 in the world! In between tournaments, while home in Prague, GM Harikrishna joined me to assess his most recent tournaments, reflect on his career, and to talk about his recently released Chessable course, which provides a complete repertoire against the French Defense. Please read on for many more details, notes and timestamps. ..  0:00- GM Harikrishna has been quite busy of late, so he begins our conversation by discussing his two recent most GM tournaments, The Shenzen Masters, and The TePe Sigeman Chess Tournament. GM Harikrishna finished in second place in both tournaments.  Players mentioned: Anish Giri, Nihal Sarin, Gawain Jones  Games Mentioned: Harikrishna-Giri 2019, Harikrishna-Sarin 2019 8:35- Does GM Harikrishna have a special knack for endgames? How does he prepare for an invitational GM tournament 11:45- Why did GM Harikrishna recently move from Belgrade to Prague?  Mentioned: Nový Bor Chess Club, GM David Navara  15:00- We talk about chess in India, includiing whether living away from India affects GM Harikrishna’s sponsorship with Bharat Petroluem Corporation Limited? We also briefly discuss some of India’s young phenoms including Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa and Nihail Sarin  19:00- As a former top junior player and World Junior Champion, what advice would GM Harikrishna give to other strong young players?  25:30- We talk about GM Harikrishna’s new Chessable Course, called French Toast: How Harikrishna Fries 1… e6  . This includes a question from a Patreon supporter of the podcast about the challenges GM Harikrishna faced in trying to tailor an opening course for players of a wide range of experience levels.  Mentioned: GM Magesh Panchanathan, IM Dmitri Schneider,  Harikrishna-Rapport 2019 (Watch GM Hari analyze his the game here),  Adams-Gupta 2018  36:30- We talk chess improvement. GM Harikrishna weights the importance of solving studies, and answers a question from friend of the podcast, Moonmaster 9000 about whether it is important to memorize games.  Mentioned: Domination in 2,545 Studies  44:00- What is GM Harikrishna’s favorite game of his? Mentioned: Mamedyarov-Harikrisha 2016, Bobby Fischer  48:00- We say our goodbyes. You can check out GM Harikrishna’s Chessable course here, and can keep up with him by following him on twitter here. To help support the podcast, go here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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FM Alex Dunne is the author of over 12 books,  including the recently released, Fred Reinfeld, The Man Who Taught America Chess. Alex is also an ICCF Correspondence Chess Master, and is well known for  his popular column about correspondence chess in Chess Life magazine, called The Check is in the Mail. In our interview we discuss Fred Reinfeld, correspondence chess, chess improvement, Bobby Fischer and more. Please read on for more details.  0:00- We kick off by discussing Alex’s latest book,  Fred Reinfeld, The Man Who Taught America Chess. We discuss the life and legacy of Fred Reinfeld. Reinfeld was a top 10 player in the US, and is probably the best selling chess author of all time. He was also one of the first Americans to make a living from chess, and managed to do so despite coming of age during The Great Depression.  Mentioned: Israel “Al” Horowitz, Irving Chernev, Fred Reinfeld Whales and Whaling . 1001 Brilliant Ways to Checkmate . Keres Best Games of Chess. 1931-1940  18:00- Alex discusses how correspondence chess has changed at its highest levels, and assesses the future of correspondence chess. We also discuss the nuts and bolts of how correspondence games are transmitted,  and the rules regarding when book/engine assistance is and is not allowed in correspondence chess.  27:45- Alex has written a book about chess books, and has over 2,000 chess books titles in his library, so naturally I had to ask him about chess books.  Mentioned: My Great Predecessors, Vassily Ivanchuk: 100 Selected Games, Mato Jelic’s YouTube Channel , The Complete Chess Course by Fred Reinfeld  36:00- It took Alex about 20 years to go from the expert level to the master level, and then he continued to ascend up to a peak rating over 2400 USCF. How did he improve so much as an adult?  Mentioned. Interview with Bob Ferguson and Alex Dunne  42:00- Alex reminisces about playing ping pong with Bobby Fischer as a teenager. Also mentioned GM Arthur Bisguier, GM Larry Evans  47:00- How did Alex get into chess writing?  49:30- Goodbye! You can email FM Alex Dunne here. If you would like to help support the podcast, go here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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17 year old GM Nicolas "Nico" Checa is one of the young stars of the American chess scene. He recently tied for first place in the 2019 National High School Chess Championship. With a 2617 USCF rating, he is #7 on the US Chess top 100 Under Age 21 List, and has beaten Fabiano Caruana in the Pro Chess League. On top of that, Nico is a regular 17 yr old, with other interests and activities competing for his time. In our interview Nico talks about how he finds time for everything, and shares a lot about his approach to chess and chess improvement. Read on for links and timestamps. 0:00- Intro. We launch right into a discussion of how getting the GM title has changed Nico’s tournament selection and preparation. Mentioned in this segment: GM Ruifeng Li, GM John Michael Burke, IM Advait Patel, IM  Praveen Balakrishnan 8:00- As Nico finishes his junior year at Dobbs Ferry High School, he touches on his after-high school plans, and discusses the reasons that he and his family never felt that home schooling was the right choice for him. 15:30- What “gaps in his play” did Nico need to plug in order to reach the strength to get the GM title? Mentioned in this segment: IM Alexander Katz, GM Jacob Aagard Game: Checa-Katz 2018, 2019 Philadelphia International , 2019 US Junior Championship 23:55- How did Nico discover and get so good at chess anyway? Mentioned: Marshall Chess Club  Books: Chess Secrets: Giants of Power Play by Neil McDonald,  Learn from the Legends, Chess Champions at Their Best by GM Mikahil Marin, The books of GM Jacob Aagard,Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations and Games Games: Checa-Smirin 2016, Fischer-Byrne 1956 40:30- Who are Nico’s favorite chess players? Mentioned: Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Bobby Fischer, Botvinnk, 44:30- Fast chess vs. slow chess we settle the debate once and for all!! Just kidding, but Nico weighs in and shares his ideas about the roles of classical chess and rapid chess in the chess world. Mentioned: IM Greg Shahade 47:00- We discuss Nico’s interests outside of chess, including soccer and political science.  Mentioned in this segment: GM Parham Maghsoodloo 56:00- Goodbye! Keep up with Nico via Chess.com If you would like to help support the podcast, you can do so here: See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Nearly two years after our first interview popular Chess YouTuber, Twitch streamer, Photographer, Author, and yes, chess player, IM Eric Rosen returns to Perpetual Chess. As we discuss, a lot has changed for Eric in the past two years, including his place of residence and many of his professional responsibilities, but he remains a great person with whom to talk all things chess. Read on for more details, timestamps and links. 0:00- Intro. Eric discusses why he has set up residence in St. Louis and gives some details on his most recent tournament, The St. Louis Norm Congress. This includes a discussion of a new video approach Eric recently tried, where he recorded his opening preparation for specific opponent’s and subsequently posted it to YouTubet. Check out one of these YouTube prep videos here. You can see the list of Eric’s most popular YouTube videos here (as we discuss) here. 12:00- Why has Eric decided to deemphasize competing in tournaments as compared to all of his other chess work? Mentioned in this segment: Chessbrahs,  FM LeFong Hua 16:30- A Patreon supporter of the podcast asks for advice in filtering YouTube videos for players in the 1300-1500 rating range. Mentioned in this segment: St. Louis Chess Club’s YouTube Channel, John Bartholomew’s Climbing the Rating Ladder Series 19:30- Another listener question leads to Ben and Eric discussing their favorite drinks to consume while playing chess. Mentioned in this segment: The Queen Side Cafe in Sydney, Australia 23:45- Since Eric is a popular Twitch streamer and I am a Twitch noob, he patiently answered some questions for me about how it works. Mentioned in this segment: Hikaru Nakamura 31:30- Eric reflects a bit on what has changed in his professional life since our first interview, which occured in August of 2017. Mentioned in this segment: Marc Maron interviewing David Letterman 37:00- We talk some chess improvement. Mentioned in this segment: Imagination in Chess , Recognizing Your Opponent’s Resources by Mark Dvoretsky 43:00- Eric answers a question from a Patreon supporter of the podcast regarding whether it is better to study at a fast or a slow pace. Mentioned in this segment: The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin , Searching for Bobby Fischer (the book) and the movie   48:00- One more listener question for Eric relates to how Eric balances all of his differing professional roles. Mentioned in this segment: Calendy.com 54:00- Eric tells the stories of the two different times he has managed to beat World Champion Magnus Carlsen in online chess tournaments. Mentioned in this segment: The Reddit Post about Eric beating ManWithAVan, Unknowingly Beating the World Champion , Playing the World Champion in Chess960, Game Show Network’s New Master Trivia Game (featuring former Perpetual Chess guest Jonathan Corbblah) 1:02- Eric asks me who my current dream guests for Perpetual Chess are. Mentioned in this segment: Timman’s Titans , Yasser Seirawan, Boris Spassky, Maurice Ashley, Perpetual Chess World Championship Report with IMs Eric Rosen and Kostya Kavutskiy 1:05- Goodbye! Follow Eric on YouTube, Twitch, Instagram  and Twitter   To help support the podcast, go here.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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This week’s guest is the highly productive and popular author and teacher, IM Cyrus Lakdawala. Cyrus has recently published his 40th (!) book, Opening Repertoire 1. d4 2. c4., and already has more books in the works. In addition to publishing multiple books per year, Cyrus also teaches chess for about 20 hours a week, plays in two tournaments per month,  and even manages to meditate, exercise and read very regularly. In our conversation, Cyrus reveals how he accomplishes so much, talks some chess improvement, and tells some fun stories. Read on for details, links and timestamps. 0:00- Intro. We being by discussing Cyrus latest book, Opening Repertoire 1. d4 2. c4. Cyrus  tells the story of how he decided it was time to try a spicier opening repertoire, after decades of playing "like a chicken.” The results he attained with this experiment pleasantly surprised him. Mentioned in this segment - IM Dionisio Aldama, IM Tony Saidy, IM Keaton Kiewra 12:00- Cyrus discusses the philosophy behind his unique, very personal writing style. We also discuss Cyrus’ writing routine, and how he reacts to critics. Mentioned in this segment - John Hartmann, ChessBase interview with Davide Nastasio 21:00- What is Cyrus’ opinion of the rise of engine use in chess study and chess spectacting? How does he use engines in his own game analysis and writing? 25:30- Cyrus answers a question from a Patreon supporter of the podcast asking him to compare his book Opening Repertoire… c6: Playing the Caro-Kann and Semi-Slav as Black to the book A Complete Repertoire for Black Using Solid Systems by Jovanka Houska and James Vigus. This leads  to a broader discussion about how one should choose repertoires and opening books. 34:00 - We discuss Cyrus’ award winning book,  Chess for Hawks. The premise of the book is that everyone is predisposed toward risky or safe chess, and should tailor her game accordingly. Cyrus also discusses what happens when he clashes against his most frequent opponent, IM Dionisio Aldama, who is a “hawk” to Cyrus’ “dove.” 45:00- Cyrus answers a question from another listener about how an under 2000 player should improve at endgames. Aside from his own endgame book, Cyrus recommends studying the games of Rubinstein, Capablanca and Magnus Carlsen. Also mentioned: Timman’s Titans, Kasparov’s Great Predecessors. 52:00- IM Lakdawala tells the story of how he met former World Champion, GM Boris Spassky a couple times, and shares his impressions of him. Also mentioned- GMs Tony Miles and Kasparov. 58:00- Cyrus shares some stories from his teenage years in Montreal, were he earned spending money by playing speed chess for money. 1:01- After five decades immersed in it, does Cyrus ever feel burnt out on chess?   1:04- Cyrus discusses the benefits and drawbacks of being autistic. 1:14- Goodbye and contact info! You can keep up with Cyrus via Facebook. To help support the podcast, go here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Douglas Griffin is a chess author/blogger, translator, and an indispensable source of historical chess perspective  on “chess twitter”. He is particularly interested and knowledgeable about chess in the Soviet Union. Doug is also a strong player. As a teen, he was one of Scotland’s stronger junior players. His FIDE rating reached about 2270, before his family, his work and his strong interest in chess history overtook his interest in tournament participation. While Doug may not be as well-known as some of the Grandmasters and personalities that have been on the show, our talk was one I looked forward to, and sure enough, it was highly informative and inspiring.. For more information about Doug, you can check out his blog, and his twitter page. Please keep reading for timestamps and many fun links and resources.  0:00- Intro and discussion of Doug’s intro to the chess world. Mentioned in this segment, GMs Anatoly Karpov, Tony Miles, VIktor Korchnoi. The BBC show, The Master Game 6:00-How did Doug improve in chess and develop an interest in Soviet-era chess and the Russian language? He owes a debt of gratitude to his former teacher IM Danny Kopec, among others. 9:00- Doug transitions to telling some stories about some of the chess greats he encountered early in their careers. Players mentioned are those he saw at the Lloyds Bank London 1984- GM Vishy Anand, Ivanchuk, Spassky, Nigel Short. You can read a bit more about the Lloyds Bank tournament in this Chessbase article by Priyadarshan Banjan Read Doug’s blog post about the Troon 1984 tournament he mentions and about GM Lev Psakhis in his blog post here.   14:30- How did Doug learn Russian, and where does he get all of the original sources for his blog? Magazines mentioned:  Shakhmatny Bulletin , Chess in the U.S.S.R. and “64”  Doug bought a lot of his Soviet chess magazine’s from Kimmo Välkesalmi's website. Translator named in this segment: Ken Neat 25:00- Friend/supporter of the podcast, John Hartmann of Chess Life Online (and author of CLO’s Throwback Thursday)  writes in to ask whether Doug has any plans of turning his material into a book and/or launching a Patreon page.  Mentioned in this segment; Ilan Rubin of Elk and Ruby. . 31:45- We discuss an excerpt of  Doug’s most recent blog post, which unearthed a great and prescient quote from former World Champion GM Mikhail Botvinnik regarding an ascendant Bobby Fischer. Read Doug’s blog post here. 38:00- Are there any Soviet periodicals or books that Doug is especially excited to translate? Mentioned in this segment:, IM John Donaldson and  IM Nikolay Minev’s books about The Life and Games of Akiba Rubinstein, GM Razuvaev and Murahveri’s Russian language Rubinstein biography.   Nikolai Krylenko is also mentioned 43:00- Chris Wainscott writes in to ask if Doug has favorite lesser-known Soviet chess players. Doug mentions Andor Lilienthal, Isaac Boleslavsky, Semyon Furman, Ratmir Kholmov, Grigory Levenfish (about whom Doug is writing a book) Books mentioned by GM Genna Sosonko: Russian Silhoettes, The Reliable Past, Smart Chip from St. Petersburg and other tales of a bygone chess era Also mentioned GMs John Shaw and Jacob Aagard, co-founders of Quality Chess 53:00- Doug and I wax nostalgic about The Chess Informant and he discusses some exciting upcoming projects on which he will work with their publishers. 56:30- Doug names of a few of his favorite chess books amongst those that have been published in the English language. They are: Botvinnik’s Best Games, Smyslov’s Best Games, The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal , Anatoly Karpov: My 300 Best Games , Kasparov on Kasparov, Leonid Stein: Master of RIsk Strategy 1:00- Doug reflects a bit on what helped him become a strong chess player. He credits reading voraciously and being blessed with a good memory. 1:05- On the heels of GM Neil McDonald’s story of meeting legendary GM David Bronstein, Doug shares his own story . Also mentioned in this segment: Jon Speelman, Julian Hodgson, Paul Motwani, Colin McNab, Jonath Rowson, Bojan Kurajica 1:09-  Reluctantly, we discuss non-chess related stuff. Doug discusses his day job and his affinity for hiking and photography. Check out his landscape photography site here. The Dutch online photo archive Doug mentions is here. 1:13- Goodbye! A friendly reminder to read Doug’s blog here, follow him on twitter here, You can email him here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Neil McDonald is a Grandmaster, a trainer for the British Chess Federation and  a prolific and accomplished author of 37 chess books! As you will hear, he has gathered some great stories to share in his decades in the chess world. His most recent book, Coach Yourself: A Complete Guide to Improvement at Chess is now available from Amazon and many other sellers. Read on for more details, links and timestamps. 0:00- Intro. Neil kicks off with a few great stories relating to chess history. The first connects his mom with a radio interview of former World Champion Alexander Alekhine. You can hear the interview in question here on YouTube. The second story describes an opportunity Neil had to travel to the Soviet Union in 1986 and play legends of the game like former World Champion Mikhail Tal, Oleg Romanishin and many others. Others mentioned in this segment include: GMs Polugaevsky, Vaganian, Portisch, and Spassky, . Ovidiu-Doru Foisor and Sabina Foisor. 22:00- Neil shares a few more stories from his travels, including tales of chess trips to Serbia, Hungary and the Ukraine, interweaving chess and world history. 28:30- Neil tells the story of meeting legendary GM David Bronstein in the mid 1990s. Find out the chess improvement advice Neil got from one the strongest non World chess champions in history. Books mentioned  in this segment: GM Genna Sosonko’s  The Rise and Fall of David Bronstein, and Irving Chernev’s The Golden Dozen. 35:30- Neil fields some questions regarding chess improvement from some of the podcast's Patreon supporters. They touch on selecting opening repertoires, the importance of doing “post-mortems” after a game, . Player mentioned include: GMs Kasparov, Karpov, Korchnoi, Botvinnik, Baskaran Adhiban, Richard Rapport, Chris Ward, John Nunn, Boris Spassky. Books mentioned:The Giants of Chess Strategy by Neil McDonald   Perpetual Chess Episodes mentioned:  Stacia Pugh 1:07- Another listener asks about which of the older authors like Reinfeld and Horowitz are the most instructive to read these days. Authors mentioned: Irving Chernev, Fred Reinfeld, Al Horowitz, Lev Alburt, Raymond Keene. Books mentioned: From Morphy to FischerThe Chess Training Pocket Book 1:17- We plug Neil’s books! Coach Yourself has a wealth of material for players of many levels. Other books mentioned: Chess Fundamentals by Capablanca  Chess Secrets: The Giants of Chess Strategy by Neil McDonald 1:24- Goodbye! Keep up with Neil’s works by following his publisher, Everyman Chess’s webpage or twitter account. If you would like to help support and sustain the podcast, you can do so here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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This week the esteemed Grandmaster Evgeny Bareev joined me on the podcast. GM Bareev has been ranked as high as #4 in the world.  He has been the trainer of the Russian National Team, and was a vital member of the team that assisted former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik in the early 2000s. Evgeny is also an acclaimed chess author. His prior book, From London to Elista, (co-authored with Ilya Levitov), won the 2007 Book of the Year, from the British Chess Federation. This year, Thinker’s Publishing  has recently released his new work, Say No to Chess Principles . This fun and informative book contains some great stories and explores the topic of when one should “break the rules” in chess, as shown in Evgeny’s and some other top level games.  In our interview, Evgeny discussed both of his books, shared some stories, and offered some chess improvement advice. Read on for details, links and timestamps. 0:00- Intro and discussion of Say No to Chess Principles . GM Bareev tells the story of  the idea behind the book and of how the project came to fruition.   He also shares some memorable stories from growing up in the Soviet Chess School which are touched on in his book. People and books mentioned include Boris Postovsky, who headed the Vasily Smyslov School of chess, and the book Devoted to Chess: The Creative Heritage of Yuri Razuvaev . This includes a discussion of whether or not it's important to have a good memory (14:00)  to be a top chess player. According to GM Bareev, former World Champion Anatoly Karpov had a notoriously faulty memory in his prime. Evgeny gives some helpful tips for how to approach chess if you have a bad memory. 23:00- How do we know when to “say no to chess principles” anyway? 28:00- As a former member of his “Team Kramnik,” was  GM Bareev surprised by the retirement of former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik? Evgeny also reflects on some of the stories and perspectives from the classic book From London to Elista. His current take on the some of the stories shared in this book might surprise you. We also touch on Carsten Hensel’s recent book  about his time as the manager of GM Kramnik. You can hear my interview with Carsten Hensel here. 37:00- GM Bareev shares some stories dealing with getting sick at a chess tournament and about how to deal with tough losses. This includes some discussion of Peter Leko, who lost to GM Kramnik for the 2004 World Championship in a very close match. 45:00- Who were GM Bareev’s toughest opponents? Players mentioned include Garry Kasparov, Veselin Topalov, Viswanathan Anand, Vassily Ivanchuk, Alexey Dreev and Alexei Shirov. 49:00- Chess books! Since GMs Magnus Carlsen and Anish Giri have been tradingbarbs about Vladimir Tukmakov’s new book, I asked Evgeny if he had read it. Evgeny does not read all of the chess literature, but has enjoyed the books of Boris Gelfand, Matthew Sadler and Yasser Seirawan. 54:00- A Patreon supporter of Perpetual Chess asks if GM Bareev uses a particular method as a trainer. 58:00- We talk a bit about how GM Bareev ended up emigrating to Toronto, Canada, and he answers a question from a Patreon supporter comparing chess and literature. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Jason Cigan is a 29 year old US Chess Master who recently won the Oregon State Championship. As Jason tells us, he did not begin seriously playing chess until he was 18, but in the past 11 years, he has managed to slowly and steadily gain over 1,000 rating points while working full time as a software engineer . (You can see his US Chess rating graph here.) How has he done it? Listen to the show and you will find out. For relevant links, timestamps, and many book recommendations, please keep reading. :) 0:00-  Intro and Jason tells his chess story, including how he got into chess, and why it took a while for his passion for the game to fully manifest. 10:25-  So how did Jason improve so much, anyway?  In his opinion, having master level mentors played a big role in his improvement. Jason credits FM Charles Schulien, NM Corbin Yu and NM Jeremy Kane with helping him immeasurably along the way. The video from GM Vidit Gujrath regarding chess improvement can be seen here. Jason is a fan of the books of GMs Mikhail Marin and Boris Gelfand, and also Seven Deadly Chess Sins by GM Jonathan Rowson 18:00-  A listener, new to chess, who is 62 year old and recently retired, is eager to devote 20 hours a week to chess books and chess improvement. How should he spend his time, what resources should he utilize? How good can he become? In Jason's response, he mentions that he is a strong proponent of John Nunn’s chess books. I chimed in and mentioned that the listener might want to pursue something more systematic to improve, like the acclaimed series from GM Arthur Yusopov , The Steps Series, or the Susan Polgar series for those brand new to chess. 29:00- As is a regular feature on the Adult Improver Series, we launch into a discussion of how useful various attempts at improving one’s chess games are. Jason gives his opinion on the importance of having a coach, as well as the relative merits of analyzing one’s games, solving tactics, studying endgames, playing speed chess, learning openings,  exercising, and more. Jason benefited from taking lessons with GMs Melik Khachiyan and Sabino Brunello and from playing training games with IM Craig Hilby. One can always look for coaches on the LiChess coaches page 39:00-  Jason answers a question from a Patreon supporter of the podcast,  about whether its important to set up a board when solving tactics. The US Championship summary by Jennifer Yu that I mentioned can be read here. 46:00- How should one approach openings when you live in a community where you play the same players repeatedly? 51:00- Jason tells a fun story related to opening preparation, of a game between GM  James Tarjan and recent Perpetual Chess guest GM Alex Ipatov. Check out the game here. Mr. Moonmaster 9000 asks for some clarification about something Jason wrote: Does Jason believe it's impossible for him to become a super GM? 1:02- A 3 minute digression into the intersection of  the NBA and professional chess. Sorry NBA haters! 1:06- Back on track, Jason talks about the importance of endgame studies in helping your chess game. Jason is a big fan of the book 100 Endgames You Must Know He also mentions enjoying the Yusupov and Dvoretsky features on chess24.com 1:10- Jason discusses his coaching philosophy, and shares some methods that he has used to help his student, Gavin Zhang. He emphasizes the importance of studying the classics, and identifying and working on one’s strongest point and one’s weakest points in chess. 1:19- We discuss books on endgames and endgame studies. Jason mentions: Capablanca’s Best Chess Endings by Irving Chernev Endgame Training by Bernd Rosen Endgame challenge by John Nunn Studies for the Practical Player by Mark Dvoretsky One Pawn Saves the Day by Sergei Tkachenko Under the Surface by Jan Markos Chess Structures by Mauricio Flores Rios Grandmaster Repetoire: 1. E4 by Parimarjan Negi                                                                    1:30- Keep up with Jason’s progress via his chess.com account here. If you would like to help support the podcast you can do here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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