Perpetual Chess Podcast

This week Perpetual Chess welcomes back IM Kostya Kavutskiy. Kostya is a respected trainer, a founder of the ChessDojo training platform, a YouTube creator, and a Chessable author. I caught up with Kostya shortly after he returned from the North American Open, so we got the rundown on his own strengths and weaknesses, as well as the U.S. tournament landscape. Since Kostya is a popular online presenter, he received a bunch of listener questions soliciting chess improvement tips.  Lastly we checked in on Kostya’s content- creation plans, and the “state of the Dojo,” as Kostya discussed visions for the teaching platform that he heads, along with GM Jesse Kraai and IM David Pruess. It is always insightful to talk chess with Kostya! Please read on for timestamps and show notes.  Prior Interviews: Perpetual Chess Episode 4 with IM Kostya Kavutskiy   Perpetual Chess Episode 89 with IM Kostya Kavutskiy  How to Chess #20 with IM Kostya Kavutskiy  0:00- Kostya shares lessons learned from his recent tournament in the

Perpetual Chess is back with another adult improver multi-guest “special edition.” This episode is called, “Master to IM” and continues the series started in Episode 217 (IM to GM). As the title suggests, we feature Master-level players who are training and competing with the hope of earning the FIDE International Master title (IM.) Our three guests are FM Doug Eckert, NM Evan Rosenberg, and FM Dalton Perrine. Each interview is entertaining and insightful in its own way. Our guests discuss questions like, “What chess skills differentiate a Master from an IM?” and “Why are our 3 guests willing to sacrifice so much time and money to play competitive chess in order to earn this title?” And, of course, they share many details about their regimens for training and competing.. Please read on for more details and timestamps! 0:00- Intro Mentioned: Check out the new dedicated Perpetual Chess Adult Improver page here, and the Spotify Adult Improver Playlist here  4:30- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by A

Perpetual Chess is back with an edition of Chess Books Recaptured, a recurring book review podcast. Today I am joined by Martin Justesen to discuss the underrated Soviet-era classic Questions of Modern Chess Theory, by Isaac Lipnitsky. Originally published in 1956 in the Soviet Union, it was not translated and published in English until Quality Chess did it in 2006. And the chess world is quite lucky that it was translated! As usual we share historical details, lessons learned from the book and a few favorite segments in our discussion. Of course we also get into some of the details of Isaac Lipnitsky’s life, as well as discussing what is new with our returning guest-co-host, Martin. Please read on for more details and timestamps.  Martin's prior Adult Improver Interview: Episode 209 0:00- Why did Martin choose this book? What makes it noteworthy?  Mentioned: Book Recap #18- Nimzowitsch’s My System, Endgame by Frank Brady  8:30- For what level chess player is this book most helpful?  Mentioned: Logical Che

This week’s guest on Perpetual Chess marks the return of award-winning author, Chessable writer, and noted opening theoretician, IM Christof Sielecki. Christof has recently released, Keep it Simple: Black, an ambitious course which provides solid opening lines against every possible White first move. We discuss how Christof’s process for creating Chessable courses, using engines and choosing opening lines, has evolved over the years. Of course, there was quite a bit of chess news in the form of the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz, so we also spent some time discussing this tournament, its standout performances, and its many attendant controversies. Lastly, Christof always has a few fun stories to share, and this interview was no exception.  He shared some details about the process behind helping to create The Magnus Touch with Magnus and his team. As always, you can read on for more details and show notes below.  Prior interviews with IM Christof Sielecki:  Episode 6 Episode 153 Book Recap 18- My System  0:00-

On this holiday week, with The Perpetual Chess Podcast having recently turned 5 years old, it seemed like an appropriate time to feature myself as “the guest” on Perpetual Chess. In order to help out, I brought in longtime listener of the pod, chess journalist and improver, Chris Wainscott, to perform hosting duties. Chris and I covered lots of ground, as he asked me about the origins of Perpetual Chess, its growth over the years, my approach to interviewing people, favorite interview types and “dream guests.” He asked probing questions about  my own chess origins and improvement efforts. Although I do prefer being the interviewer rather than the interviewed, it was fun to play the other role and to answer so many good listener questions. Details and show notes are below.  0:00-    My chess background, and when did chess initially captivate me? 15:00-  There are always great new courses from Chessable including FM Kamil Plichta’s Lifetime Repertoires: Accelerated Dragon. Check out what else is new here: htt

This week’s guest on Perpetual Chess is 2 time British champion, and award winning author, GM Matthew Sadler.  Matthew has been one of Great Britain’s top players for decades and is currently ranked #41 in the world. He has impressively managed to maintain his form well into his 40s while working outside of chess. Matthew has also made quite a mark as an author. His books,Gamechanger and the adult improver focused, Chess for Life, both co-authored with WIM Natasha Regan, are both favorites of this podcast. You can hear us discuss these books in Episode 112. In Matthew’s new book, The Silicon Road to Chess Improvement, Matthew goes beyond just Alphazero and extracts lessons for humans from many of the other modern chess super engines. He is also the regular book reviewer for NIC magazine, and did game recaps of the 2021 FIDE World Championship with none other than GM Garry Kasparov! I am happy to report that Matthew was very generous with his time, so we managed to cover all of these areas of chess interest in

Perpetual Chess is back for one more World Championship wrap-up (among other topics) with top Dutch player, trainer, and popular Chessable author, GM Erwin L’Ami. As the second to GM Anish Giri, and a former member of GM Veselin Topalov’s World Championship team, Erwin shares his general reflections on the Carlsen-Nepomniatchtchi match, as well as lots of insights about the opening choices of each player. We also talk about chess improvement. Erwin himself is gearing up to compete in the prestigious Tata Steel tournament in Wijk an Zee after a long layoff from OTB chess. He also answers some listener questions relating to how amateurs should approach openings. Lastly, I was quite interested to hear how chess engines and opening theory have changed, even in the time since Erwin last was a guest on Perpetual Chess, in 2020. There is always lots to learn from GM L’Ami, so please enjoy the conversation, and check out the relevant links and timestamps below if needed.  Prior interview: Episode 186 with GM Erwin L

GM Vasyl Ivanchuk is a modern chess legend who has won countless tournaments including the 2016 World Rapid Championship and the 2007 FIDE World Blitz Championship. He has been ranked #2 in the World on 3 separate occasions. Vasyl is known for his creative play and his wide opening repertoire. Vasyl joined me just after the World Championship concluded to share his thoughts on the match, and to discuss his recent foray into Twitch streaming, his passion for checkers, and to answer my many questions about his illustrious career. So much fun to talk chess with "Chucky!" You can follow/subscribe to Vasyl's Twitch channel here: https://www.twitch.tv/ivanchukchess 0:00- Intro, Match Wrapup 6:00- GM Vasyl Ivanchuk joins the podcast! If you would like to help support Perpetual Chess, you can do so here: Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We are back for another Book Review podcast, a series called Chess Books Recaptured. This month we tackle Frisco Del Rosario’s First Book of Morphy, which is a Paul Morphy game collection book geared towards novice to intermediate players. My guest co-host this episode is Danish chess enthusiast, dad and linguist Mads Jønsson. As we note, First Book of Morphy does have some flaws, but Morphy’s games are amazing, and the annotations are helpful enough to make this book well-suited to its target audience. Please read on for lots more details, show notes, and relevant links.  0:00- We introduce our guest go-host, Mads Jonson, and he shares for his suggestion that we recap the First Book of Morphy.  6:30- We talk a bit about the book's background.  Mentioned: Lichess Study games 1-60, and 61-69  11:30- There are always great new courses from Chessable including FM Kamil Plichta’s Lifetime Repertoires: Accelerated Dragon. Check out what else is new here: https://www.chessable.com/courses/all/new/ 12:00- Perpet

GM Jacob Aagaard is an award winning author, and a founder of Quality Chess and of Killer Chess Training.com. With Magnus Carlsen firmly ahead in the match (by a score of 6.5 to 3.5), I thought it would be fun to check back in with GM Jacob Aagaard, who had written a prescient prediction for the match which was shared with our listeners in Episode 254. In our conversation, Aagaard expounds a bit on his thoughts on the match, and also shares his concerns about future World Championships when it comes to potential match formats and venues. It is always illuminating to hear GM Aagaard's thoughts! Following the Aagaard interview Shaun McCoy of Chess.com joins the show to give an update from Dubai. Shaun shares his highlights so far and discusses what it was like to be on the premises for Magnus' historical win in Game 6. As always, you can find the timestamps for the interviews below. 0:00- Intro 10:00- GM Jacob Aagaard interview 43:45- Shaun McCoy joins the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastc

Welcome back to another Adult Improver Edition of Perpetual Chess. In this episode, we feature another Queen’s Gambit convert to Perpetual Chess. 30-year-old tech executive and musician Alex Crompton recently became obsessed with the game and dove headlong into the best ways to improve at it. Alex is quick to note that his accomplishments are modest, but as he detailed on his blog, he has gone from total beginner to a respectable 1500 FIDE rating in less than a year. As our conversation reveals, lots of research and work went into this improvement. In our conversation, Alex shares tons of good study tips and reflections about the science of learning, including the ways that the study of languages has helped him improve his chess. It was a lot of fun hearing about Alex’s chess progress, and any listener of any rating can learn from this conversation. Please read on for lots of details, timestamps and relevant links. 0:00- For more information about the Harvard Chess Cognition Study go here.  3:00- Alex join

After 8 rounds, things have changed! As you may have heard, Magnus Carlsen has taken a 5-3 lead in the 2021 World Championship, highlighted by a record breaking, unforgettable win in Game 6. Please listen in as a do a quick rundown of the highlights of the match, then bring in two great guests: Grandmaster Jan Timman is the 9 time champion of the Netherlands, an award winning author, and was one of the highest rated players in the world for decades. Among other topics, Jan shares his thoughts on the match so far and discusses the ascendance of young Super GM Alireza Firouzja, who we could potentially see in the next World Championship.  My second guest, John MacArthur is an accomplished scholastic coach and Twitch streamer who joined me just after returning from Dubai on Monday. Dubai was the 6th World Championship match he has attended. John shares some great stories and contrasts this event with the many other memorable matches he has attended.  Timestamps and the links you need are below. 10:00- GM Jan Tim

After 8 rounds, things have changed! As you may have heard, Magnus Carlsen has taken a 5-3 lead in the 2021 World Championship, highlighted by a record breaking, unforgettable win in Game 6. Please listen in as a do a quick rundown of the highlights of the match, then bring in two great guests: Grandmaster Jan Timman is the 9 time champion of the Netherlands, an award winning author, and was one of the highest rated players in the world for over a decade. Jan shares his thoughts on the match so far and discusses the ascendance of young Super GM Alireza Firouzja. John MacArthur is an accomplished scholastic coach and Twitch streamer who joined me just after returning from Dubai on Monday. Dubai was the 6th World Championship match he has attended. John shares some great stories and contrasts this event with the many other memorable matches he has attended. Timestamps and the links you need are below. 9:00- GM Jan Timman joins New in Chess Magazine  His latest book, The Unstoppable American: Bobby Fischer's R

This week’s guest on Perpetual Chess marks the return visit of one of the top female players in the US, WGM Tatev Abrahamyan. I caught up with Tatev after a hectic few months in which she competed in the FIDE Women’s World Cup and also competed in and placed 4th in the US Women’s Championship. For good measure, she moved from Southern California to Kansas City to begin her work as the Director of Chess Content at chess startup Bryght Labs. Tatev’s busy schedule gave us plenty to talk about, as Tatev gave some insightful tournament reports, discussed her new job, and, of course, dispensed some chess improvement advice and some reflections on dealing with setbacks in chess. It is always fun to talk chess with Tatev, so we hope you make time for this interview in between World Championship rounds. Please read on for more details and show notes.  0:00- GM Johan Sebastian Christiansen recently expressed his extreme frustration with a slump in his competitive chess. Tatev talks about how common such feelings of f

With the Carlsen-Nepomniatchtchi World Championship match tied after 3 hard-fought draws, I do a quick rundown of the main story lines emerging from what has been a tense and entertaining battle so far. Then, we get reports from Dubai from Chessable C.E.O. Geert van der Velde, followed by Chess.com reporter/Trivia Whiz Jonathan Corbblah. Timestamps and the links you need are below. 0:00- Ben on the 3 key story lines from the match so far. 14:00- Chessable C.E.O. Geert van der Velde on what its like to watch the match from the Play Magnus lounge in Dubai. 30:30- Trivia Whiz turned Chess.com reporter Jonathan Corbblah on how he wound up in Dubai, and his favorite foods and memories from his trip so far. Links: Geert’s Twitter Jonathan’s Twitter Chessable Classroom (as Geert mentioned) Jonathan's Chess: A Reflection of Us is being premiered each day on Chess.com’s World Championship Broadcasts. Perpetual Chess Episode 161 with Geert van der Velde Perpetual Chess Episode 48 with Jonathan Corbblah Learn more ab

My guest for Part 2 of the World Chess Championship preview is chess blogger Tai Pruce Zimmerman. Tai is an accountant by training, who created the excellent Chess by the Numbers blog to write about elite chess from a statistical perspective. With the World Championship just days away, I was excited to have the opportunity to ask Tai to walk us through various scenarios in the upcoming showdown between GMs Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniatchtchi. We tackled questions such as the following:  Based on rating, how likely is Magnus to win? How likely are we to see tiebreaks? Would Magnus be as big a favorite if the match were to go to rapid tiebreaks? How likely would it be that one player “adopt” another? We take on all of these questions and more, as Tai describes how his model is made and tells all of the numbers we need to know for the match. As always, please read on for more details, timestamps, and relevant links!  0:00- Info from the Intro:  Be sure to go to MagnusNepo.com to join Aimchess’ Prediction Cha

Grandmaster Daniel King is a popular Commentator, Author, YouTube Creator and Chessable Author. As a player, he has represented England internationally, won many tournaments, and has beaten the likes of Anand and Korchnoi! On his excellent YouTube channel, Powerplay Chess, Daniel has recently been sharing his analysis of key games between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniatchtchi. With such a resume, he is the perfect person to join me for a preview of the World Championship match, which is less than a week away. Of course, when Daniel visits the podcast there is always more to be discussed. Other highlights include his unforgettable interactions with GM Viktor Korchnoi, and his long relationship with the Kalashnikov Sicilian, which is the subject of his excellent new Chessable course. Please read on for all of the details and relevant links.  0:00-  Info from the Intro:  Be sure go to MagnusNepo.com to join Aimchess’ Prediction Challenge!  Check out Chess.com’s easy-to-read World Championship schedule breakdow

GM Andy Soltis is an award winning journalist,World Chess Hall of Fame member, a Chess Life Magazine columnist , and a  prolific author who has written over 50 books. In this interview, we discuss Andy’s most recents works,  Smyslov, Bronstein, Geller, Taimanov and Averbakh: A Chess Multibiography with 220 Games, and 500 Chess Questions Answered: for all new chess players.  We also discuss Andy’s own chess improvement journey, as well as the upcoming World Chess Championship. Andy is always fun to chat with due to his encyclopedic knowledge of all things chess. For lots more details, relevant links, and timestamps, please read on.  Previous appearances by GM Andy Soltis: Episode 91 with GM Andy Soltis  Episode 172 with GM Andy Soltis  Book Recap #17 - Discussing Zurich 1953 with FM Nate Solon and GM Andy Soltis   0:00- We begin by getting Andy’s chess improvement advice, including a Patreon question about whether Andy thinks chess books are superior to online learning tools as means for improving your game.

John Hartmann is the Editor of US Chess’ Chess Life and Chess Life Online, and the host of the podcast, Cover Stories with Chess Life. He was recently named the 2021 Chess Journalist of the Year by the Chess Journalists of America, the second consecutive year he received this honor. When John last visited the podcast, US Chess was just coming to grips with the financial impact the pandemic would have on the organization. 18 months later, I am happy to report that John is back to give a more upbeat assessment of the state of the US Chess Federation. John is also an expert in chess computers - he built his current chess computer from scratch! John shares some fascinating tidbits about how top players use engines these days. Lastly, although it is not his top priority, John tries to work on his own game when time permits. While he prefers to think of himself as a #chessamateur instead of a #chessimprover, his online blitz rating is at an all-time high, and he always has useful book recommendations for improvers

This week FM Asa Hoffman joins us for an interesting talk. Asa is an author, speed chess specialist, and New York City chess legend. Like Bobby Fischer, Asa was born in 1943, and both spent their formative years in NYC. With such shared history, Bobby Fischer is one of the many chess legends with whom Asa had personal encounters and blitz battles. In fact, Asa has met every chess World Champion who came after Max Euwe! He also has beaten Fischer in a famous blitz game, and once defeated Gata Kamsky in a rapid game. In our interview, Asa sheds light on the personality of Bobby Fischer and tells a few of his favorite stories from his encounters with countless chess legends who have passed through New York. Please read on for more details, timestamps and relevant links.  0:00- What are Asa’s memories of Bobby Fischer? How does the current chess moment compare to the Fischer boom? Mentioned: Hans Kmoch, Al Horowitz, Sylvia Miles, GM Yasser Seirawan, Bernard Zuckerman, Asa Hoffman vs. Bobby Fischer (blitz, 1963)