Podcasts about chess960

GM Mauricio Flores Rios' first book, Chess Structures, is a modern classic which is seemingly recommended on a weekly basis on Perpetual Chess. After nine years of work, Mauricio has recently released its follow-up, Chess Imbalances: A GM Guide. Like Chess Structures, it is a highly instructive book with a beautiful selection of games and useful guidelines to aid one's chess decision-making. We discussed the following:  His opinion on the value of the bishop pair, as well as bishop vs. knight  The surprising reason that his book often featured the games of Magnus Carlsen When to switch from “objective mode” to “survival mode” in a game  We also discussed freestyle chess, and the impact of machine learning on chess. Mauricio is a statistician by trade, who recently launched a chess instruction site called ChessMind A.I., so he was particularly insightful on this topic. There is always lots to learn from chatting with (and reading) GM Rios, and this conversation was quite informative. Timestamps of topics discussed are below. Prior interview with Mauricio- Episode 109: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/new-blog/2019/1/15/episode-109-gm-mauricio-flores Here is the video companion to this interview, be sure to sub to the Perpetual Chess YouTube Channel! https://youtu.be/rmjcbwv7BtQ 0:00- You can sign up for a free one-week membership to Chessmood using this link: Chessmood.com/Ben Check out the YouTube video with Mauricio showing me games from Chess Imbalances here: 4:30- Mauricio joins the show! We dive right into discussing the vision behind GM Flores Rios' much anticipated book, Chess Imbalances.   Mentioned :  Free preview of the book from Quality Chess here: https://qualitychess.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Chess-Imbalances-070x-Excerpt.pdf 13:00- Mauricio explains the guideline  “Quantity is more important than quality.”  16:00- Why did Mauricio select a lot of games from Magnus Carlsen?  17:00- Will Chess Imbalances be on Chessable?  21:00- What made the bishop vs. knight chapter especially challenging to write?  25:00- Mauricio's advice for evaluating trading bishop's vs. knights  28:00- Thanks to our sponsor, Chessable.com! If you sign up for Chessable Pro in order to unlock discounts and additional features, be sure to use the following link: https://www.chessable.com/pro/?utm_source=affiliate&utm_medium=benjohnson&utm_campaign=pro And you can check out their new offerings here: https://www.chessable.com/courses/all/new/ 31:00- What does it mean to switch from “from objective mode to survival mode” in a game? Mentioned: The Seven Deadly Chess Sins, Learn from the Legends  40:00- What is Maurice's next chess project?  Mentioned: Chessmind AI  44:00- How close are we to having an A.I. model that can clearly explain chess games? 45:00- Are humans near the peak of how good they can be at chess? What about engines? 48:00- Does Mauricio like Chess960? Mentioned: GM Kenneth Rogoff interview with NM Tyler Cowen: https://conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/kenneth-rogoff/ 52:00- Will Mauricio's kid(s) play chess?  Thanks to Mauricio for joining me! You can reach him via email at: Mauricio.a.flores.math at gmail dot com Here is the link for Chess Imbalances: A GM Guide, including a free sample: https://www.newinchess.com/chess-imbalances If you would like to join the Perpetual Chess Patreon community, you can do so here: https://www.patreon.com/c/perpetualchess Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

GM Jon Ludvig Hammer is 3-time Norwegian Champion, popular commentator and highly-reviewed Chessable author. Most recently, GM Hammer has been broadcasting the World Championship for the YouTube channel of Magnus Carlsen's TakeTakeTake app. In our conversation, Jon Ludvig discussed the origins of the Taketaketake company, and of his relationship with it. He also discussed the challenges of announcing without an engine, and shared his opinions on the best ways to present chess. Jon Ludvig has done a lot of coaching of amateurs around Chess.com's Pogchamps, and also shares some chess improvement advice based on that experience, and tells the story of how it helped him shape an opening repertoire which he currently shares in his new Chessable course, Hammer's My First Opening Repertoire for Black. We also touched on cheating in chess, Chess960, and GM Hammer's 2025 plans. I always enjoy hearing GM Hammer's takes, and I think that you will as well. Timestamps of topics discussed are below.  This episode was recorded on December 3, and does not discuss the current state of the FIDE World Championship. For updated coverage of the Ding-Gukesh match check out the bonus pods.  Thanks to our sponsors, Chessable.com.In addition to GM Hammer's course, be sure to check out the free course by IM Andras Toth on the World Championship match. If you sign up for Chessable Pro, please use the following link to help support Perpetual Chess: https://www.chessable.com/pro/?utm_source=affiliate&utm_medium=benjohnson&utm_campaign=pro 0:00- What is the origins of GM Hammer's collaboration with Magnus' new app, which is called TakeTakeTake Mentioned: Kaja Snare, WFM Dronning Maud, Sjakksnak Podcast with GM Hammer, the Magnus and Levy post-mortems we referenced are on the TakeTakeTake YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TakeTakeTakeApp 12:00- What are the chess broadcasts on TV like in Norway now that Magnus is semi-retired? 19:00- Why does Hammer think that chess is so much more popular as a spectator rather than participatory activity?  26:00- What frustrates GM Hammer about recent chess discourse? Mentioned: Chess in Slums, Brooklyn Castle, GM Ian Nepomniatchtchi cheated as an experiment against Hans Niemann:  https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/1gvwoc1/nepo_admits_to_using_stockfish_against_hans_in/   38:00- Does GM Hammer do any coaching?  44:00- Is classical chess too slow? How is it presented on Norway television broadcasts?  52:00- How did Hammer discover his own Black setup for his Chessable course, Hammer's My First Opening Repertoire for Black?  Mentioned: Mr. Savage, BenjyFishy  1:02:00- GM Hammer's upcoming plans and projects If you would like to help support Perpetual Chess via Patreon, you can do so here: https://www.patreon.com/perpetualchess Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With this episode, it goes over just a few variants of Western chess and how to go about playing them. This includes "Rapid Chess," "Blitz Chess," and "Chess960." Credits Writer - Bradley P. Thomas Producer - Bradley P. Thomas Voice Talent – ElevenLabs: Taylor Editor - Bradley P. Thomas Copyright Disclaimer: Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education, and research.  Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.  Non-profit, educational, or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. ⁠⁠https://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf

The FIDE Candidates Tournament begins on April 4 in Toronto, Canada, and I could not be more excited to see who gets to challenge for the FIDE World Championship. As is tradition on Perpetual Chess, we have a few great guests joining to help discuss the action. First up is 7-time Brazilian champion & Correspondence GM, Rafael Leitão. In addition to a vast resume as a player, Rafael regularly annotates top-level games for Chess.com news coverage. Reviewing these games in detail on a daily basis gives Rafael unique insights into the tendencies of the world's top players. Rafael and I discuss what to watch for in each player's performance, fun facts, and what opening choices we might see from each player.  Following Rafael, I am joined by Tai Pruce Zimmerman, a/k/a Chess by the Numbers. Tai shares and discusses the win probability of both the open and the women's candidates, and we also compare the output of Tai's probabilistic model to the betting markets. Last but not least, I am joined by “On the Queenside,” who has built a large following on Twitter and Lichess for covering Women's Chess in detail. We discuss whether it is a good idea to run the Women's Candidates concurrently with the open, and which players we are excited to watch. As always, the timestamps of the guests, as well as the topics and players discussed can be found below. 0:00- Thanks to our sponsor, Chessable.com. New courses include Introduction to Chess Calculation, and GM Ganguly's Lifetime Repertoires: Sidelines and Flank Openings for Black   If you use the link below to sign up for a Chessable pro membership, it helps to support the pod!  https://www.chessable.com/pro/?utm_source=affiliate&utm_medium=benjohnson&utm_campaign=pro 0:01- Format notes on the FIDE Candidates, including tournament schedule, tiebreak rules, and the Perpetual Chess' plan for covering the event.  Mentioned: More info on the Candidates here, including tiebreak info: More from Chess.com here 09:30- GM Rafael Rafael Leitão joins me for a detailed Candidates discussion! Mentioned: Rafael's prior interview was episode 147.  15:00- Can Ian Nepomniatchtchi “threepeat” at the Candidate?  21:50- GM Nijat Abasov. 25:30- GM Fabiano Caruana Mentioned: Leitao-Caruana 2010  30:00- GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshababu 32:30- Hikaru Nakamura Mentioned: GM Daniel King's YT Candidates Previews: Gelfand-Nakamura 2010  37:45- Alireza Firouzja 44:00- GM Vidit Gujirathi 47:00- GM Gukesh Dommaraju 51:30- Who does Rafael predict will win?  Mentioned: Bwin's betting market on the Candidates: 54:00- Rafael shares his thoughts on the Women's Candidates. More info here:  59:00- Rafael discusses his own chess career, and what is new from our prior interview. This includes a compelling argument for Chess960.  Mentioned:GM Luis Paolo Supi,  Supi-Carlsen 2020  1:09:00- Thanks to Rafael for joining me! Here is how to keep up with him: Youtube- https://www.youtube.com/@rafaelleitaogm X/Twitter- https://twitter.com/rafpig?lang=en Website- https://rafaelleitao.com/articles/ 1:10:00- Tai Pruce Zimmerman aka Chess by the Numbers rejoins me to talk Candidates statistiics!   Mentioned: Betting market here 1:31:00- What does Tai's model say on who is most likely to win the Woman's Candidates? 1:41:00- Thanks to Tai for joining me! Follow him on X here: 1:42;00- On the Queenside joins. Is it a good idea to have the Women's Candidates run concurrently with the Open Candidates for the first time?  Mentioned: On the Queenside's preview of the Reykjavik Open 1:50:00- Be sure to follow On the Queenside on Twitter/X and on Lichess! Twitter/X LiChess Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

GM Josh Friedel is the 2013 US Open Champion and is a state champion of 3 different states! Josh has also been teaching chess for decades, and he always presents chess in a clear and instructive fashion. Here in 2024, Josh has released his first Chessable course, Beginner Mistakes and How to Avoid Them. In addition to sharing some key advice from this course, Josh also discusses common errors he sees at the intermediate level. It has been more than 5 years since my first interview with Josh, so we also catch up on his OTB career, goal-setting, and  on what he learns about chess improvement from working to improve at cooking, tennis, and his newest hobby, guitar.  0:00- Thanks to our presenting chess education sponsor, Chessable.com. In addition to GM Friedel's course, GM Jan Gustafsson is out with a brand new course on 1. E4!  If you use the link below to sign up for Perpetual Chess, it helps to support the pod!  https://www.chessable.com/pro/?utm_source=affiliate&utm_medium=benjohnson&utm_campaign=pro 0:01- What gave Josh the idea to cover the topic of Beginner Mistakes. What are some common beginner mistakes?  0:11- Josh covers some of the most common intermediate-level (1600-2100)  mistakes he sees.  Mentioned; GM Josh Friedel's YouTube channel  https://www.youtube.com/user/joshfriedel 0:22- Josh shares his thoughts on Chess960 aka Freestyle Chess  0:27- Patreon mailbag question: What is Josh's advice for how chess players should go about setting goals?  29- Josh's plans for an OTB comeback  36:00- Patreon mailbag question: What has Josh learned from working with coaches like GM Kaidanov, GM Goldin, NM Hal Terrie, and GM Larry Christiansen?  Mentioned; GM Daniel Naroditsky, Lev Psakhis, Viktor Mikhalevski, Vinay Bhat  45:00- Are Josh's abilities in his other interests, such as tennis and cooking, also  progressing?  Mentioned: GM Ray Robson, IM Eric Rosen, IM Marc Esserman  48:00- What is the topic of the chess book Josh is working on?  Thanks to Josh for joining the pod! You can reach him via the LiChess coaches page, and be sure to check out his Chessable course! https://www.chessable.com/beginner-mistakes-and-how-to-avoid-them-the-opening/course/204684/ You can contact him via his LiChess coaches page:  https://lichess.org/coach/JFriedel If you would like to help support Perpetual Chess, you can do so here: https://www.patreon.com/perpetualchess Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In Folge 29 ihres Podcasts sprechen IM Georgios Souleidis aka The Big Greek und IM Christof Sielecki aka Chessexplained über Chess960 bzw. Freestyle Chess.

Oliver Roeder is an author, and a former senior writer for FiveThirtyEight.com who has often covered chess and other games. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Texas at Austin, with an emphasis on game theory, and  studied Artifical Intelligence at Harvard University as a Niemann fellow. Today he appears with a new book, Seven Games, a Human History. It covers the history and current competitive contexts of the games Checkers, Chess, Backgammon, Go. Poker, Scrabble, and Bridge. Oliver's book gave us an opportunity to talk about why people love games, why people love chess, and his own relationship with the game. Given Oliver's expertise in A.I., we also discussed how it is changing all of these games. It was lots of fun to get a “big picture” view of chess' enduring popularity from Oliver, and I highly recommend his book. Links, more details, and timestamps below!  0:00- Why do people love games, and especially chess?  5:00- We discuss Oliver's background with the other games in the book:  Go, Bridge, Checkers, Backgammon, Scrabble, and Poker 12:00- The ease of use and availability of chess learning tools have exploded.  Has this been the case for the other games Oliver wrote about as well?  18:00- Does the joy of a game diminish when you get good at it? Mentioned: Word Freak by Steven Fatsis  21:00- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Chessable.com. Check out their latest offerings here:  New Chess Courses Online - For All Levels - Chessable.com 23:00- What are the reasons that make Oliver think chess is booming? How has it sustained itself over the centuries?  30:00- What is Oliver's own experience with chess? What does he try to convey to a non-chess audience on FivethirtyEight.com ? Mentioned: Modern Chess Openings  36:00- Did Oliver have a preferred broadcast for the FIDE World Championship?  41:00- Aimchess has a brand new feature called Aimchess recap! It summarizes your year in chess a la Spotify wrapped. Check it out here:  https://www.aimchess.com/recap 43:00- How is AI affecting other games, like Go?  Mentioned: Lee Sedol, Episode 196 with GM Jan Timman  51:00- Does Oliver think chess should be changed to something like Chess960 or “No Castling Chess”?  55:00- Is Oliver actively studying or working on his chess?  57:00- Will Seven Games be available on Audiobook? Mentioned: Yes, it will, here!  59:00- Are Oliver's FivethirtyEight.com chess columns popular? Will he cover chess there in the future?  1:02:00- Patreon mailbag question: How does the question of whether or not there is “perfect information” available in a given game affect the appeal and enjoyment of the games?  1:07:00- Thanks to Oliver for joining the show!  You can follow him on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/ollie?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor And you can order Seven Games from Amazon or your local book seller.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, Eric continues his conversation with the Indian number two of Indian chess: Super Grandmaster Pentala Harikrishna (1986) from India. In this episode Eric and Hari talk about the first book Harikrishna wrote, "Beat the French with 3. Nc3". Hari explains that it is not only a book about the French Defence, but also a book about general opening principles, strategies and he explains that is is not always useful to pick the best computer move and to trust your instincts. There is a lot of text in the book, which makes it interesting for a wide range of players. The book was published by Thinkers Publishing. LTAC recommended! However, there is another amazing story Hari has in store for us: he tells about his meeting with the legend of all legends, Bobby Fischer. He met him in Reykjavik, Iceland in 2006. Don't miss it! Pentala Harikrishna became the youngest grandmaster from India on 12 September 2001, a record now held by Gukesh D. He was Commonwealth Champion in 2001, World Junior Champion in 2004 and Asian Individual Champion in 2011. Pentala won the Tata Steel Group B in 2012 and the Biel MTO Masters Tournament Open event in 2013. He represented India at seven Chess Olympiads from 2000 to 2012 and won team Bronze at the World Team Chess Championships in 2010. At the Asian Team Championships, Pentala won team gold once, team silver twice and individual bronze once. In July 2020, he won with 5.5 points out of 7 games the Chess960 event, that was part of the chess tournament in Biel. He also represented India in the Online Olympiad 2020 where India won the gold medal along with Russia. In February 2013, Pentala's FIDE rating passed 2700 for the first time. He broke into the top ten players in the world in November 2016 with a FIDE rating of 2768. His current rating (February 2021) is 2730.  Do you like LTAC? Consider to support the podcast:  https://steadyhq.com/de/letstalkaboutchess/about ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In this episode Eric talks to the Indian number two of Indian chess: Super Grandmaster Pentala Harikrishna (1986) from India about the TATA Steel Chess Tournament 2021. Hari, as he is often called, played for the 8th time in Wijk aan Zee. He tells us how it was to play the first super tournament of 2021 in COVID conditions. He tells us a bit how it was to be tested before every rest day, to be in quarantaine before the event and of course about his games. He scored 50% in the event, after a good start. Harikrishna also has something to say about the Firouzja case and the tie-breaks. Eric and Hari also talk about the first event he played in, back in 2001, in which he shared the stage with players like Kasparov, Anand, Kramnik and Ivanchuk. In the 2021 edition, Hari was the oldest player!  Pentala Harikrishna became the youngest grandmaster from India on 12 September 2001, a record now held by Gukesh D. He was Commonwealth Champion in 2001, World Junior Champion in 2004 and Asian Individual Champion in 2011. Pentala won the Tata Steel Group B in 2012 and the Biel MTO Masters Tournament Open event in 2013. He represented India at seven Chess Olympiads from 2000 to 2012 and won team Bronze at the World Team Chess Championships in 2010. At the Asian Team Championships, Pentala won team gold once, team silver twice and individual bronze once. In July 2020, he won with 5.5 points out of 7 games the Chess960 event, that was part of the chess tournament in Biel. He also represented India in the Online Olympiad 2020 where India won the gold medal along with Russia. In February 2013, Pentala's FIDE rating passed 2700 for the first time. He broke into the top ten players in the world in November 2016 with a FIDE rating of 2768. His current rating (February 2021) is 2730.   ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In this episode Eric talks to the Russian grandmaster Andrey Deviatkin. Andrey decided to quit his chess career a couple of years ago, because he wanted to try something else: Chess960. But why did Andrey stop playing "traditional chess"? He said: "I understood that chess has become an absolutely different game from the one I have played in my childhood and youth. The computer has changed it dramatically. I have been working hard to become a chess grandmaster, but now my interest is over". Enough to talk about in this episode! 

In this episode my guest is Tom Quilter, who is quite well known as a player on the tournament circuit and is also the creator of a great website for kids preparing for exams called Pinpoint Learning. He is also a great advocate for Chess960 (otherwise known as Fischer Random chess). We talk about how Chess960 might be the future of chess, whether the pandemic is actually a great opportunity for changing the way we think about what we are doing, playing ultimate frisbee in Hawaii, addictive personalities, losing weight by running, the Digital Nomad future, why car auctions have taken off online and much more! I particularly like the calming sound of wood pigeons in the background! ======================= If you're a premium subscriber to my Newsletter, imaginatively titled The Chess Circuit, you can suggest guests and topics for future episodes and enjoy many more yet-to-be-conceived perks. MENTIONED DURING THE CHAT - Pinpoint Learning - www.pinpointlearning.co.uk - excellent software for kids to prepare for their exams - Chess960, AKA Fischer Random Chess - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fischer_random_chess Let me know if I've missed anything and I will update this page! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/thechesscircuit/message

In this fifth episode of the podcast, Eric continues his conversation with three time Norwegian champion GM Jonathan Tisdall. In the previous episode, Jon told us some great insider stories from the eighties and in this episode, Eric and Jon talk about the current state of affairs in the world of chess, the popularity of online chess, Chess960 and other variants. Jon also reveals who will be his favourite to win the Candidate Tournament in 2020 and his plans to write a new book. 

In this third episode, Eric talks to another interesting guest about computer chess, Alpha Zero and chess variants. Deep Mind, the artificial intelligence company that shocked the world of chess  with Alpha Zero in December 2017, released a new scientific paper in September 2020, called: „Assessing game balance with Alpha Zero: exploring alternative rules sets in chess". Danish grandmaster Peter Heine Nielsen, who is the coach of chess world champion Magnus Carlsen, knows a lot about chess engines and chess variants, and gives us his opinion about the paper. But there is more to talk about: the Bongcloud opening, online chess, Chess960 and more. Enjoy! 

Er ist eine Ikone des Fernschach und Experte für Schachcomputer: der dreifache Mannschafts-Olympiasieger Arno Nickel. Ende der 70er traf er Bobby Fischer, der inkognito in Berlin unterwegs war und seinen Schachcomputer testete. Heute betreibt Arno Nickel einen Schachladen mit dem Namen "Lasker´s" in Berlin und gibt den jährlichen Schachkalender heraus. Arno Nickel spricht u.a. über die Symbiose zwischen Schach und Schachcomputern, die im Fernschach zum Tragen kommt. Er äußert seine Einschätzung über AlphaZero sowie über Chess960. Ein echter Leckerbissen für Liebhaber von Schachcomputern und für alle, die sich gerne Hintergrundgeschichten erzählen lassen. Hallo liebe Schachfreunde, ich habe noch einen nachträglichen Hinweis von Arno Nickel bekommen: Die Verhandlungen von Fischer 1978 in Belgrad. von denen er im Podcast berichtet, drehten sich nicht um ein Re-Match mit Spasski, sondern um den nicht zustande gekommenen WM-Kampf mit Karpow. Damals bemühte jugoslawische GM Gligoric, der mit Fischer befreundet war und Ambitionen hegte, FIDE-Präsident zu werden, stark um ein solches Match.

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?

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. 

This week it is my great honor to talk with the five-time US Champion and 1996 FIDE World Championship Challenger, GM Gata Kamsky! Gata has just released Volume 1 of his highly anticipated games collection, Gata Kamsky - Chess Gamer, Volume 1: The Awakening 1989-1996. The recent release of this book gives us a rare opportunity to listen in as Gata Kamsky reflects on his illustrious chess career and discusses the past and future of chess. As usual, read on for timestamps of our discussion topics and relevant links. Enjoy! 0:00- Intro and discussion of GM Kamsky’s new book, Gata Kamsky - Chess Gamer. Gata discusses the following details: How the project came into existence and why he gives credit to the indispensable roles played by his wife, WGM Vera Nebolsina, and the team at Thinkers Publishing for helping him push forward with the book.   How he decided on the structure of the book, which begins with the games he played when he emigrated from Russia in 1989.12:00- Gata answers a listener's question regarding his intended audience for the book, and he reveals the classic chess book from which he drew inspiration.17:30- What lessons about the role of psychology in chess did Gata Kamsky learn from studying Emanuel Lasker ?20:45- What did it feel like to immigrate to the US and play former World Champion Mikhail Tal in his first tournament after arrival in the United States? Gata annotates the game in detail in his book, but you can take a look at the game here.25:45- Gata reflects on playing Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov as a teenager and in the ensuing years. This includes a discussion of his reflections on the FIDE and Professional Chess Association World Championship Cycles in the early to mid-1990’s.36:30- A Patreon supporter of Perpetual Chess asks about Gata’s future plans with regarding to writing books.41:00- The mysterious Moonmaster 9000 asks what chess improvement methods Gata has found to be most effective. His recommendations: 1. Study your games 2. Play frequent tournaments 3. Work on endgames. As a youth, Gata found it particularly helpful to solve the chess compositions of Sergey Kasparyan and Leonid Kubbel 54:00- Gata answers another question from a supporter of the podcast relating to why some players are able to reach their maximum potential while others are not. This segment touches on top chess players including Anish Giri, Garry Kasparov, Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, Wesley So and Boris Spassky. Gata also tells the story of some encounters with a young Magnus Carlsen.1:07- Are we likely to see Gata Kamsky in another US Chess Championship?1:11- Gata discusses his recent forays into streaming chess on Twitch, and the possibilities for chess as an e-sport. In this segment he also touches on the issues of cheating in chess and the promise of Chess960 aka Fischer Random Chess.1:18:00- Goodbye and thank you to GM Kamsky! You can keep up with Gata via Facebook and Twitter. You can buy Gata's book from Thinkers Publishing, (where a free excerpt of the book is available), Gata Kamsky-Chess Gamer is also available from US Chess Sales, and it is coming soon to Amazon. If you would like to help support the podcast, you can do so here. 

This week it was my great honor to get to chat with the acclaimed author, trainer and co-founder of Quality Chess, GM Jacob Aagaard. GM Aagaard is chairing the FIDE trainer’s commission and has worked with elite chess players like GM Sam Shankland and GM Boris Gelfand. Jacob was very generous with his time and wisdom in our conversation.  You can keep up with Quality Chess on their blog, and you can email GM Aagaard here. You can find out more about the Quality Chess Academy here. For timestamps and details about all that we discussed, read on.   0:00- Intro and discussion of the vision behind Quality Chess Publishing, co-founded by GM Aagaard in 2004 (along with GM John Shaw and IM Ari Ziegler). 12:40- A brief digression into some Science Fiction shows Jacob has been watching in his scant free-time. He recommends Altered Carbon on Netflix and a German series called Dark.   15:30- We segue into a detailed discussion of Jacob’s most recent highly acclaimed book, Thinking Inside the Box. As GM Aagaard discusses in the book, each move in chess can roughly be categorized into one of 4 decision types: Automatic Decisions (This includes a discussion of this game between GM Sam Shankland and GM Richard Rapport. ) SImple Decisions (This is where Aagaard’s famed 3 questions come into play- 1. Where are the weaknesses?  2. What is the opponent’s idea? 3. Which is my worst placed piece?) Critical Moments (positions where there is a large difference between the best move and the next best move) Strategic Decisions (complicated positions with no clear-cut way to approach them) 34:00- Jacob answers a question from a supporter of the podcast relating to how to use diagrams in chess books.  While answering, Jacob rattles off a few of his favorite chess books. They include GM Romain Edouard’s calculation books,  Imagination in Chess (out of print), Perfect Your Chess, and the Arthur Yusopov series. As a scholastic player, Jacob was a big fan of legendary Danish player Bent Larsen’s books. 42:30- GM Aagaard tells the story of how he became a trainer of other high level players. For any listener looking for a coach, GM Aagaard recommends his former student, Italian GM Sabino Brunello. Jacob also tells the story of how he became one of the trainers of former World Championship Challenger, GM Boris Gelfand and of US Champion Sam Shankland. 52:00- What feat did GM Sam Shankland accomplish that has gone a but under the radar? What does he think of GM Shankland’s prospects for a continued ascent in the world rankings? 1:02- GM Aagaard answers another question from a Patreon supporter about how to work on your chess when you do not have a coach. Jacob stressed the importance of analyzing one’s own games. 1:08- Jacob discusses his upcoming chess camp, The Quality Chess Academy,  which will be co-taught along with renowned trainer R.B. Ramesh.  You guys should sign up for the camp, then after attending you should email me to tell me about the camp. :) 1:15- Jacob discusses another new project of his, chairing the FIDE trainer’s commission. 1:26- Jacob gives his opinion on how big a role rapid chess should play in the World Championship Cycle. 1:35- What will be the next phase of chess, following what Jacob calls, “the digital period"?  Jacob mentions a couple of alternatives to Chess960 that he finds interesting. 1:42- Jacob’s contact info and goodbyes

That is right! There is a new Star Wars movie and we absolutely have to talk about it. Solo: A Star Wars Story we are coming for you. We don't stop there as we break down big upcoming chess tournaments, drinking local coffee, and review our super bowl stories. That includes the upcoming Chess960 Nakamura vs Carlsen match, Chess.com's crazyhouse championship, and a quick discussion on DDoS attacks. Follow Us Danny: Twitter, Twitch, Chess.com Motz: Twitter, Blog, GitHub Music : Amethyst Seer - Ouija by Adventureface Proudly recorded on Zencastr

That is right! There is a new Star Wars movie and we absolutely have to talk about it. Solo: A Star Wars Story we are coming for you. We don't stop there as we break down big upcoming chess tournaments, drinking local coffee, and review our super bowl stories. That includes the upcoming Chess960 Nakamura vs Carlsen match, Chess.com's crazyhouse championship, and a quick discussion on DDoS attacks. Follow Us Danny: Twitter, Twitch, Chess.com Motz: Twitter, Blog, GitHub Music : Amethyst Seer - Ouija by Adventureface Proudly recorded on Zencastr