Perpetual Chess Podcast

This week on Perpetual Chess, it's a privilege to be joined by a chess legend. GM Jan Timman! GM Timman is the 9 time champion of the Netherlands and spent decades as one of the top players in the world.  He has had numerous tournament triumphs, and played GM Anatoly Karpov for the FIDE World Championship in 1993. For all of his striking chess successes, GM Timman may be equally skilled as a writer. He is a founding editor of New in Chess Magazine, and penned the outstanding and award-winning book,  Timman’s Titans, among many other works. In 2020, GM Timman has released another great book, Timman’s Triumphs: My 100 Best Games. GM Timman has a treasure trove of amazing chess stories, and we are lucky that he touched on many of them in this interview. A few of the topics discussed include: what modern chess engines taught him about his classic games, what it was like to drink with Mikhail Tal, and go to a disco with Bobby Fischer, and what his most cherished and painful memories are from a lifetime’s worth of

GM Keith Arkell is a constant presence in chess tournaments ranging from smaller British weekend tournaments, to big-stage open tournaments like the Chess.com Isle of Man International. Over the years, he has amassed dozens of tournament victories, including winning the 2014 European Over 50 Championship, and tying for first in the 2008 British Championships. Of course, Keith is best known for his legendary endgame prowess, and he shows off and explains his approach to endgames in his enjoyable and instructive new book,  Arkell’s Endings. In our interview,Keith discusses the book, including his fascinating “hierarchy of pawns.” Keith shares some great chess tips as well as life reflections from a life spent wholly immersed in chess. As always, please read on for more details and timestamps.   0:00- We begin by discussing the genesis of Arkell’s Endings, as well as the origins  of Keith’s legendary endgame skills.  Mentioned: Chess for Life by GM Mathew Sadler and Natasha Regan, Ginger GM Publishing, GM

FM Yuriy Krykun is a young and accomplished chess player, graduate student, trainer and author. As a player, Yuriy was the 2018 Under 20 Champion,  is rated nearly 2500 USCF, and in 2019, he attained 2 IM norms.  Since Yuriy’s hopes to earn one more IM Norm have been delayed by coronavirus, he has been focusing on churning out quality opening courses and books.  I was particularly eager to discuss Yuriy’s new Chessable course, The Dynamic Italian Game, which focuses on the Evans Gambit. As we discuss, modern chess engines have made lots of new discoveries in the famed Evans, so it was a fun course for him to write, and it’s a fun opening to play if you are a club player looking for dynamic positions. Lastly, since Yuriy is norm chasing himself, and is also an active coach, he had lots of good chess improvement recommendations. As always, you can find lots more details, timestamps and relevant links below.    0:00- We begin by discussing how Yuriy has been impacted by coronavirus. He got stranded when visit

USCF expert Tom Murphy is undoubtedly one of the most renowned “park speed chess” players to live in the U.S. in the last few decades. He is a local legend in the cities in which he has lived:  Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and Chicago, and has often been featured in the local media in those cities. It’s hard to miss Tom in popular chess hotspots due to his strong play and his entertaining banter. In our conversation we cover topics ranging from blitz and trash-talking tips, to Tom’s unique improvement advice, to the most money he has made in a day while gambling on chess. Tom shares many great stories and has an evident love of chess, but his life has not always been easy. As we also discuss, Tom has battled addiction at times, and even had a short stint in jail as a result of these issues. As you can tell, Tom has quite a story to tell! More details can be found below, along with time stamps and relevant links.  0:00- Perpetual Chess Happy Hour info here: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/happyhour 2:45

Embrace the Process of Daily Chess Study This week on Perpetual Chess, the first two adult improver guests return to the podcast 2+ years after our first interviews. Both Andrzej Kryzdwa and Stacia Pugh exude the same passion for chess today that they did in our prior conversation. They update us on their recent results, share some new study tips, recent chess realizations, and book recommendations This week we have a special edition of Perpetual Chess, as the two first adult improver guests return to the show to update us on the state of their chess games, their lives, and their improvement regimens. The guests are Andrzej Krzydwa and Stacia Pugh, who both originally appeared on the show 2+ years ago (links to their interviews below.) Andrzej is a Polish small business owner, dad and programmer who manages to devote a ton of time to his chess improvement. At the time of our first interview he had just earned an IM norm by posting a dazzling 2579 performance rating in a tournament called the Katowice Spring

Avetik Grigoryan is an Armenian grandmaster and chess trainer, who is also the founder and lead instructor of Chessmood.com. Chessmood is a subscription based educational chess site that offers a large library of instructive videos, covering all phases of a chess game. Avetik has a team of grandmasters working with him on the site, who also answer member questions, stream shows, and write articles. In our conversation, Avetik shares his vision for chessmood, gives some  improvement tips and book recommendations, and tells some great stories of a few key moments in his life that changed his perspective about life and about chess. It was a fun and wide ranging conversation. Please read on for more details and timestamps.  0:00- We begin by discussing a bit about the background of Chessmood, and the day-to-day life of running Chessmood.com and generating tons of videos related to all phases of the chess game.    07:30- What issues does Avetik see in the students he works with through Chessmood.com?   13

This month on Chess Books Recaptured, guest co-host Jerry Wells and I do a deep dive on the topic of Blindfold Chess. Jerry is an Arkansas-based school teacher, chess coach, and dedicated adult improver who has emphasized blindfold chess in his study regimen. The first half of the show is devoted to discussing the definitive work on blindfold chess, called Blindfold Chess, History, Psychology, Techniques, Champions, World Records, and Important Games. The book is by NM Eliot Hearst and John Knott, and it was clearly a labor of love from two passionate chess enthusiasts. Following our conversation about this detailed historical tome, Jerry and I summarize and share many other resources you all can check out if you are interested in improving your own blindfold and visualization skills. We’ve got lots of detailed links and show notes for this one, so please read on to find them along with timestamps.  0:00- We begin by learning a bit about the background of our guest co-host, Jerry Wells, and about why he was

24 year old GM Daniel “Danya” Naroditsky is one of the top players in the US, and won many scholastic titles in his career, including the 2007 World Under 12 Championship. He also has written two chess books, and graduated last year from Stanford University with a degree in history. Since graduating, Danya has relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina and turned his attention to chess full time. Aside from his classical chess accomplishments, Danya is making a name for himself as an entertaining and insightful Chess.com announcer, Twitch Streamer and Youtube presenter. GM Naroditsky is especially talented at fast chess, and has had many blitz and bullet battles with the likes of GM Magnus Carlsen, GM Alireza Firouzja and GM Andrew Tang. Danya sometimes wins and sometimes loses these matches, but the results are always entertaining. In our interview,  we discuss Danya’s many roles in the chess world, and Danya also provides the usual helping of chess improvement talk and entertaining stories. Please read on for m

Andrew Zinn is a 29 year old Mathematics graduate student who also works in the finance industry . Despite his busy career, Andrew managed to take his USCF rating from 1567 to 2027 in the two years leading up to the coronavirus shutdown. How did he do it? As Andrew tells us, he has an approach based on playing lots of tournament chess, reading classic chess books, and really focusing on improving his visualization skills. Of course, there is more to Andrew’s approach than that, as you will hear in the interview.  Andrew has much to say about what contributed to his remarkable rating leap. Please read on for more details and timestamps.  0:00- Andrew tells the story of his discovery of chess as a kid, and his rediscovery of the game in recent years. As Andrew explains it, his approach has changed a lot as an adult.  Mentioned: GM Alex Shabalov, NM Jerry Meyers, Richard James, GM Magnus Carlsen   09:45- Andrew is also an adult improver as a piano player. How did learning piano as an adult inform his che

Two-time US Chess Champion GM Patrick Wolff retired from competitive chess in 1998 and has led a busy life away from the board. He is married with two kids, and has had a successful career in the hedge fund industry. Nonetheless, Patrick shares, he still thinks about chess “all the time,” and he follows top level chess whenever he can. On the topic of top level chess, in the 1990’s Patrick had a ringside seat to World Championship Level chess, as he was a member of young Viswanthan Anand’s inner circle. Patrick wrote a great book about these experiences, Kasparov vs. Anand, The Inside Story, and shares some vivid recollections from observing the historic 1995 World Championship up close. Patrick is also the author of the popular series, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Chess (newly updated with the title, Learn to Play Chess Like a Boss.) As his unique background might suggest, Patrick is full of insights and ideas about the past and future of chess, artificial intelligence in chess, and the ways that chess coul

S.P. Sethuraman is a Grandmaster and Author based in Chennai, India. GM Sethuraman is known as a dynamic and well-prepared player, and he has earned lofty titles such as the 2016 Asian Chess Champion and the 2014 National Champion of India among many others. He has now put his formidable opening knowledge to use by publishing a new book with Thinker’s Publishing. Beat the Najdorf and Taimanov Sicilians. It offers sharp lines against two of the more popular Sicilian variations. We discuss this book, as well as topics ranging from the life of a traveling chess pro during quarantine, to the highs and lows of his career, to why chess players should practice yoga and meditation.   I also enjoyed our usual discussion of chess books, chess engines, chess improvement and more. As always, please read on for more details and timestamps.   0:00- We begin by discussing how coronavirus is impacting India and GM Sethuraman, and he discusses his new book, Beat the Najdorf and Taimanov Siclians   Mentioned: GM Viswanatha

Christopher Chabris is a renowned cognitive scientist, and co-author (with Daniel Simons) of the best selling book, The Invisible Gorilla.  Long-time Perpetual Chess listeners will know that he is also a USCF Master, an adult-improver, and a chess dad, thus making him a great recurring guest.  Since we have been discussing the science of learning a lot in recent conversations, I thought it would be a great time to check back in with someone with specific domain knowledge. Christopher walks us through the latest in scientific research, as it pertains to learning. This includes explanations of spaced repetition and how aging effects chess skill. Christopher also shares some thoughts about ways that chess learning could be properly studied scientifically.   Of course, there was a lot more to discuss than just the science of learning, so Christopher and I also talked about the latest, greatest chess books, what he learned from an online camp with GM Jacob Aagaard. He also told a few more  fun stories from his man

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