Perpetual Chess Podcast

On this month’s edition of Chess Books Recaptured, I am joined by FM Donny Ariel to discuss one of the most acclaimed chess books of all time, Bobby Fischer’s My 60 Memorable Games.  This book, of course needs little introduction. It is a game compilation that covers the period 1957-1967, a stretch that saw Fischer ascend from talented teen to the world’s elite. The book has been mentioned as a favorite countless times on Perpetual Chess, and was a formative one for both Donny and me. My co-host, like Fischer, is a New York native, who used to frequent the Manhattan Chess Club, and has heard stories passed down about Fischer throughout his chess-playing life. When Donny is not helping me recap chess books, he is a bankruptcy lawyer with 2 young kids at home, so I greatly appreciate his taking the time to help with this project. As always, you can find lots more details and timestamps below, and embedded hyperlinks are on the podcast website here:  https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/new-blog 0:00- We beg

35 year-old Grandmaster Erwin L’Ami has had quite a varied and interesting chess career thus far. He is one of the top players in the Netherlands, and has competed on every Dutch Olympiad team since 2006. He has had many impressive finishes in individal tournaments, including winning the 2015 Reykjavik Open. When not competing himself, Erwin is a highly respected opening theoretician, who has worked with former FIDE World Champion Veselin Topalov and currently works with perennial top 10 player, GM Anish Giri. All of this makes Erwin the perfect person to publish a Lifetime Repertoires course on the Caro-Kann defense for Chessable. In our conversation, we touch all aspects of his chess career. Topics included how he works with engines, the life of a traveling second, the 2020 FIDE Candidates, Anish Giri and Magnus’ Carlsen’s twitter banter, the latest in Caro-Kann theory, improvement advice,and the identity of his favorite player of all time. As you can imagine, there is lots to dig into! Show notes and time

In 1993 IM Stuart Rachels was one of the top young chess players in the United States. He was the winner of  the U.S. Junior Championship in 1988, was United States co-champion in 1989-1990, and had played casual and tournament games with the likes of GM Garry Kasparov, GM Viswanathan Anand, GM Boris Spassky, and many others. So why did he decide to hang up the chessboard when he pursued a doctorate in philosophy? Stu answers this question in our interview, as well as discussing a few of the highlights from his great new book The Best I Saw in Chess. In the book, he tells some amazing stories and provides high level analysis of his many memorable chess skirmishes. In our conversation, we talk about how this 8 year project came to be, as well as Stu's future plans related to the chess world.  Please keep reading for more details, links and timestamps.    IM Stuart Rachels    0:00- Stuart walks us through the eight- year process of writing this book   Mentioned: FM Dave Gertler, NM Kyle Therrell, GM Garry

GM Kevin Goh Wei Ming is the seven- time champion of Singapore, and is a renowned  opening theoretician who wrote Chess Developments, Sicilian 6. Bg5 Najdorf, and has published many articles for ChessPublishing.com.  This year, Kevin earned the GM title at the relatively late age of 36 while working full time as the CFO of an oncology company! As Kevin tells us, earning the title was the culmination of a 10 year quest, which  involved many setbacks, much travel and time off from work and an indispensable support network of friends, family and a few GM mentors. Kevin’s inspiring story is full of good chess improvement advice no matter what title or rating you may be chasing. You can find many more details of our conversation and the related links and timestamps below.  02:00- We begin by discussing the current state of Coronavirus and chess in Kevin’s native Singapore, and the Chess against Covid initiative that Kevin and some friends of his recently started.    Mentioned: Chess against Covid initiativ

Rochelle Ballantyne is best-known in the chess world as one of the star scholastic chess players featured in the excellent 2012 documentary, Brooklyn Castle, which chronicles the lives of the students and teachers  at the scholastic chess powerhouse school, IS 318 in Brooklyn, New York. In the years since that movie, Rochelle has continued to pile up impressive achievements. She earned a BA from Stanford University, a Masters of Education degree from Columbia University, and has been accepted into the New York University Law School for the fall. Rochelle also had many scholastic chess successes, she attained a peak US Chess rating of 2127, and she actively promotes chess as an educational tool. Last, but most importantly, Rochelle has long been a staunch advocate for criminal justice reform and the Black Lives Matter movement.   She shares her perspective on this movement, both as it pertains to the chess world, and to the world at large. Please enjoy our wide-ranging conversation. Timestamps and relevant lin

Welcome back to another monthly edition of Perpetual Chess, Chess Books Recaptured! This month, I am joined by electrical engineer, Chessable author, and chess blogger, Vjekoslav “Vjeko” Nemec. Like me, Vjekoslav is a big fan of GM Genna Sosonko’s writing, so we were eager to discuss one of his books. Vjeko and I agree that The World Champion’s I Knew may not be Sosonko’s best book, but due to its prominent subjects,  it might be the most accessible. Like his other books, The World Champions I Knew is marked by vivid first hand accounts and beautiful prose, and its high points make the book well worth reading. In his book, GM Sosonko writes about 7 different world chess champions, so Vjeko and I spent time sharing quotes and reflections about each essay, and ranked our favorite chapters. 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/2020/6/23/bonus-pod-recapping-the-world-ch

IM Willy Hendriks is a Netherlands based chess trainer, and an award winning author of two books:  Move First Think Later (2012) and his excellent new book, On the Origin of Good Moves. IM Hendriks is quite an impressive chess player and adult improver. He has two GM norms, and he attained his peak rating at the age of 43.  Eleven years later his 2438 FIDE rating is still not far from his personal  best. IM Hendriks and I had a fascinating conversation about both of his books ,and about the subject of chess improvement generally. Please read on for more details and time stamps.    2:30- After a brief intro we dig into how IM Hendriks came up with the original presentation style that distinguishes both of his books, as well as the unifying vision of chess that ties his books together.  Mentioned: Richard Dawkins, Steven Pinker    12:00- Willy’s first book, Move First Think Later was critical of some well-known chess authors. Did the controversy that this book caused in the chess world surprise him?  Ment

 Tennessee-based teenage improver (19 years old)  and prolific Chessable author and superuser NM Elijah Logozar has taken his rating from the 1700s to the USCF Master title (2200) in about 3 years!  He has probably improved even more in online blitz and puzzle rush, which he utilizes as serious training tools. As Elijah tells us, his “secret” is that he often spends 10 hours per day on chess, an approach that admittedly is not replicable for most of us. But Elijah also takes the science of chess improvement very seriously, and despite his young age, he is well-versed on the topic of chess improvement and aging. Elijah is also a big advocate of and exemplar of using spaced repetition and The Woodpecker Method, and he answers questions and shares insight on how he thinks to best use these training tools.  So all in all, there is a lot to learn about chess improvement in this densely packed conversation. Please sit back and enjoy.   As always you can find more information, timestamps and hyperlinks below.  04:0

IM Levy Rozman is a 24 year-old, New York-based chess streamer, Chess.com announcer and instructor. Levy has quickly found an audience online due to his ability to explain chess in a humorous and accessible way. In our conversation, we talk about the origins of Levy’s announcing career, his chess ambitions, and about the fast-changing world of Twitch chess streaming in 2020.  Please read on for lots more details, and timestamps. Embedded hyperlinks can be found on the podcast website here: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/new-blog/2020/6/2/episode-180-im-levy-rozman 0:00- We dive right into a discussion of the ways that chess coverage on Twitch has been making news recently. This includes the continued ascension of GM Hikaru Nakamura’s popular Twitch channel Mentioned: GM Ben Finegold, Chessbae94, Alexandra Botez, GM Daniel Naroditsky    6:45- Levy traces the origins of his popular Twitch channel, Gotham Chess.  Mentioned: IM Eric Rosen, IM Alex Ostrovskiy, Alexis Parades, Brooklyn Castle, Baruch Coll

US Chess’s John Hartmann is always a popular guest on Perpetual Chess due to his relatability and his encyclopedic knowledge of chess books. As of June 2020, John will no longer be writing the book reviewer for Chess Life, because he has been promoted to editor of the magazine!  Nonetheless, John’s passion for chess books remains strong, and in this visit he gives us a comprehensive rundown on some of the best recent books. John also gives an update on his chess improvement ambitions,  and we spend a lot of time talking about how coronavirus is affecting the finances and plans of US Chess, and how it might change tournament chess generally.  (If you aren't seeing embedded hyperlinks in your podcast feed you can find them on the podcast webpage: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/new-blog/2020/5/26/episode-179-john-hartmann-returns-again ) 0:00- We begin by discussing how coronavirus is affecting tournament chess and especially the US Chess Federation. They are launching many exciting initiatives, but  are al

This month for Chess Books Recaptured, my good friend Jennifer Shahade joins me to  talk about a book that we both absolutely love,  How I Beat Fischer’s Record by legendary GM Judit Polgar.     Of course, Jennifer is a great person to discuss this book, as she herself is quite an ambassador for female chess players, and among other distinctions, Jen is the two-time US Women’s Champion, and the host of 2 award winning podcasts, Ladies Knight, and The Poker Grid.  In this podcast, Jen and I share our favorite quotes, stories and games from this 2012 Quality Chess publication, and we also contextualize the life and legacy of GM Judit Polgar. Please read on for lots more details, hyperlinks and timestamps.  For embedded hyperlinks, go to the podcast website here: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/new-blog/2020/5/22/bonus-pod-recapping-judit-polgars-how-i-beat-fischers-record-with-jen-shahade   0:00- We kick off by discussing how we decided to discuss Judit’s book, and to talk generally a bit about how Jen p

What is the likelihood that a fully employed dad in his mid 40s could bring his rating from 2200 FIDE up to  2400 and earn the title of International Master at the age of 54? I didn’t know the answer to this question, but this week’s guest, IM Kåre Kristensen actually did it!  Kåre was at such a low point in his chess in 2008 that he considered quitting.   But instead he stuck with it and became one of the relatively rare folks to earn the IM title past the age of 50!  How did he do it? What did he study? How hard did he work on chess? What does he do away from the chessboard? You can hear Kåre’s inspiring story in  this week’s Perpetual Chess. Please read on for more details and timestamps.    0:00- We discuss the impact of the coronavirus in Denmark, as well as a bit about Kåre’s professional and family background.    8:00- Chess talk time! IM Kristensen shares his “chess origin story,” and traces some of the ups and downs of his career, culminating in his earning the IM title at the age of 54!    24:

This week on Perpetual Chess, we break from format a bit, as 5 time Danish Champion and world-class chess trainer, GM Peter Heine Nielsen, takes us behind the scenes of the night before a decisive game in a World Championship Match. The Match in question, was the 2010 World Championship between GM Viswanathan Anand and GM Veselin Topalov in Sofia, Bulgaria. The game was game 12, the final game of the “classical portion” of the match, with Peter Heine Nielsen and his fellow “ Team Anand” members, preparing Vishy to take the Black pieces against GM Topalov in a tied match with the World Championship and a $1.2 million Euro prize for the winner. How is it decided which opening will be played? How is work delegated among the team members? Why did 2 former World Champions and other chess heavyweights also pitch in to help with preparation this night? How did it feel when GM Anand won the game? GM Peter Heine Nielsen answers all of these questions and many more in a very fun and detailed conversation about a landm

GM David Howell is the three-time champion of the United Kingdom and holds the record as the youngest player to earn the GM title in UK history. He has been a top 50 player in the world rankings and has a peak rating of 2712. He has been well-known in British chess circles since the age of 8, when he impressively beat GM John Nunn in a blitz game! As David tells, such accomplishments,have come with amazing opportunities, such as playing against and alongside GM Magnus Carlsen and training with GM Garry Kasparov, but he has also had to reckon with significant external expectations placed on him from a young age.  In the past year, David has also been getting more involved in chess media. He is now the chess columnist for The Times of London, was one of the broadcasters of 2019 Gibraltar Chess, and has begun doing entertaining “banter blitz” shows for Chess24.com. David also recently released a great instructional DVD, called “Winning Grandmaster Methods: How I Got to 2700.” We discuss all aspects of David’s ch

This week author, teacher, YouTube presenter and philosophy Ph. D, Grandmaster Jesse Kraai is with me again to share more of his wisdom. Given his academic background, it is always fun to hear Jesse philosophize about chess and life, and this was a good time to catch up with him as we talked about the ways that tournament chess is changing and speculated about how it might continue to change due to shifts in perspective brought on by the coronavirus. Naturally we also talked about lots of chess improvement ideas, as Jesse shared his current chess goals, his approach to chess, and outlined the vision of ChessDojo.  ChessDojo is a new online chess learning community that Jesse has launched together with IMs David Pruess and Kostya Kavutskiy. As always, please read on for more details and timestamps.  0:00- Jesse discusses his personal experiences with the coronavirus, something which fans of his Youtube videos saw him endure.   Jesse also discusses the ways that the coronavirus affects his chess teaching, Ches

This week it’s my great honor to host former World Champion of chess, GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov. In addition to winning the 2004 FIDE World Chess Championship title, Kasimdzhanov was the 1998 Asian Champion of Chess and finished 2nd overall at the 1999 World Junior Championship and the 2002 FIDE World Chess Cup.  These days, of course, he is best known as a world-class chess trainer, as for many years he assisted former World Champion Viswanathan Anand, and today he works with the world’s 2nd highest ranked player, GM Fabiano Caruana. GM Kasimdzhanov is a renowned opening theoretician, and he has produced many video courses for Chessbase, including the recently released The Benoni is Back in Business. Given such a varied and accomplished career, obviously there was a lot to discuss, including the controversial 2020 FIDE Candidates Tournament, which he recently attended with GM Caruana. Please read on for more details and timestamps.  (If you aren't seeing embedded hyperlinks in your podcast feed, you can find

This month on Chess Books Recaptured, I am joined by Neal Bruce. Neal is the head of product management for a software startup, a dad, and a dedicated adult improver who has built a following on Twitter by sharing a lot of the chess puzzles on which he is always working.    For this month’s book review podcast, Neal suggested that we discuss two groundbreaking chess tactics books, Rapid Chess Improvement (2002)  by Michael de la Maza  and The Woodpecker Method (2018) by GM Axel Smith and GM Hans Tikkanen. As we explain, these chess books have significant differences between them, but they share a common thread in that they both strongly emphasize the efficacy of using spaced repetition to better assimilate tactical patterns and to improve chess visualization skills. Whether you are a chess player, chess teacher or both, it is important to be aware of the benefits of spaced repetition and to give some thought to how best to incorporate it into a chess training routine. In our conversation, we summarize and

Philemon Thomas is an Albany, NY native who has been playing competitive chess for 14 years. During this period, Philemon has endured ups and downs, but his evident passion for the game has always kept him coming back to the board. In March of 2020, all of his hard work culminated with Philemon earning the title of USCF Master! This places him in the 98.8 percentile of US Chess’ tournament players, and he also is the first African-American chess master who is based in the Albany area. To hear the study tips and advice that Philemon has picked along this journey, please tune in to the interview. More details and timestamps can be found below.  2:30- We begin by learning a bit more about how Philemon got hooked on chess and what he has done to improve over the years.  Mentioned: Townsend Park in Albany NY, Franklin-Mercantile Chess Club in Philadelphia, Washington Square Park in New York City, Union Square in NYC 7:50- What books helped Philemon along the way?  Mentioned: My System by Nimzowitch, The Art of

Despite having retired from his day job at the NY Post, noted chess author and historian GM Andy Soltis remains quite busy writing chess books. This week he returns to Perpetual Chess to tell some great stories and discuss the books that he has been working on since our last conversation, in September of 2018. In particular, we discussed GM Soltis’ new book, How to Swindle in Chess, and his recently updated classic, Bobby Fischer Rediscovered. Andy was able to also provide some great historical perspective on topics ranging from chess in New York City in past decades, to the 2020 FIDE Candidates, to the coronavirus. Please read on for further details and timestamps.    0:00- We begin by catching up a bit on the impact that the coronavirus had on GM Soltis’ travel plans, and Andy shares some great historical perspective on some New York City chess characters.    Mentioned: Marshall Chess Club, GM Robert Byrne and IM Donald Byrne, GM Arthur Bisguier, IM James Sherwin, GM William Lombardy, Caroline Marshall,

In the 16 months since she got into chess, 23 year old Chess Streamer GoldDustTori has seen both her online following and her Chess.com rating grow quickly. As her chess.com rating graph shows, she has gone from not knowing what en passant is, to a blitz rating which recently topped 1600. In our conversation, Tori retells how she got into chess and chess streaming, and shares how her consistent focus on a few key aspects of chess improvement have helped her boost her rating.  Please read on for more details and timestamps.  0:00- FIDE Candidates Coverage Resources: Chess.com Youtube, Chess24YouTube, US Chess YouTube, Powerplaychess  3:00- Tori introduces herself and explains how she got into chess and chess streaming.  Mentioned: TwitchCon, GM Eric Hansen of the Chessbrahs, WIM Alexandra Botez, IM Danny Rensch, John Urschel, World of Warcraft, GM Aman Hambleton, IM Eric Rosen  11:30- As Tori explains, when she started streaming chess, she barely knew the rules of the game. How has she gone from 0 to 1600