Perpetual Chess Podcast

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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