Perpetual Chess Podcast

In addition to being an USCF expert, chess teacher, and blitz specialist, Jonathan Corbblah is a game show wizard! He has appeared on 12 game shows and is a Jeopardy champion. In our interview, Jon tells us how chess helped inform his knowledge of trivia and how chess players can improve their trivia games. Jonathan also has many funny stories to tell about his brushes with fame in New York City. Among other adventures, he has played basketball with Magnus Carlsen and slow chess with George Soros. Lastly, Jonathan leaves with an impassioned defense of his controversial "never resign" policy. You may not always agree with him, but you will definitely be entertained. Get in touch with Jonathan on Facebook or chess.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

GM Cristian Chirila is a chess player, journalist, coach and commentator. He talked with me about why he believes that's its necessary for a modern chess professional to wear many hats, and about what he likes about each of the roles that gen plays. Cristian also discusses his youth in Romania and tells what it was like to move to Texas to attend college. Cristian also pulls back the curtain on what it was like to attend the Chess Olympiad in 2016 in order to assist GM Eric Hansen. Lastly, we talk about Cristian's current goal for his own play, and discussed his training methods. Follow GM Chirila on twitter here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

IM John Watson has over 30 chess books under his belt, and several of them are widely considered classics. In addition, John is a renowned chess teacher and player. In our interview, we discussed numerous interesting topics, including John's recent trip to play in the Isle of Man Tournament, tales from his glory days on the chess circuit (including Mikhail Tal's drinking habits), and John reveals what it felt like to look at a chess board for the first time after suffering a stroke. You can email John here, and you can watch his Internet Chess Club/Youtube show, "Ask the Master" on Tuesday's at 6 here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

IM Sagar Shah is best known in the chess world as a reporter for and co-founder of Chessbase India. Sagar travels the world and covers many of the top tournaments. In this role, he watches the world elites up close, and in our talk, he shares some observations from this unique perspective. Additionally, Sagar has his ear to the ground in the Indian chess world, so he tells us which Indian talents to watch for, and tells us what factors have contributed to the many recent successes of Indian chess players. We also talk about assorted topics such as Sagar's own chess ambitions, and the highlights of the recent "teaching tour" of India conducted by renowned chess trainer, GM Jacob Aagard (and arranged by IM Shah). You can read IM Shah's excellent work on Chessbase India, or email him here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As GM Jesse Kraai tells us, he has completed 3 "major projects" in his life: earning a Ph.D. in Philosophy, writing a chess novel, Lisa, and of course, earning the Grandmaster title. These projects have taken him to many different places and given him perspective on lots of topics. These topics include: chess improvement (obviously), what its like to live in a "chess house," and which tv shows to watch, among many others.  Follow GM Kraai on twitter here, check out his blog here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Loek Van Wely is the 8 time Dutch National Champion, and he has played against and analyzed with many of this era's greatest chess players. Which one of them impressed him the most? He answers that question when he joins the podcast this week.  We also talk Dutch chess history, tales from his chess travels, and Loek discusses what it was like to work with GM Kramnik, as he reflects on his life, career, and the current chess landscape. You can contact Loek via Facebook here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

James Altucher is a best-selling author, successful entrepreneur, popular podcast host, and most recently, aspiring comedian. Of most importance to Perpetual Chess is his title USCF Chess Master. We asked him to join us because we wanted him to tell his own chess story and talk about the significance of chess in his own life. Of particular interest to James is the debate about whether talent or hard work is more determinant of success in chess and in other challenging pursuits. He shares his opinions on this matter, and he also talks podcasts, poker, Jim Cramer, the crafting of a comedy act and much more. You can follow James Altucher on twitter here and visit his website here.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

GM Judit Polgar needs no introduction to the Perpetual Chess audience, but here's one anyway. Chess legend Judit Polgar joins me this week to tell us what she has been up to since retiring from tournament chess three years ago. As Judit shares, she has been keeping busy with family, chess education initiatives, and with organizing the upcoming Global Chess Festival on October 14, 2017, in Budapest, Hungary. We also talked about today's top players, the FIDE World Cup, and why she thinks top level chess is a different game from when she was competing actively. Follow Judi Polgar on twitter, here, To buy Judit's excellent books- go here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

GM Robert Hess is this week's guest on Perpetual Chess. Young GM Hess already has loads of experience as a chess competitor, announcer, and coach. (He coached some of the most talented youth for the U.S. as well as the women's Olympiad team.) We talk about all of these things, as well as the FIDE World Cup, sports, and whether or not he was a "rival" of Fabiano Caruana when they were both top scholastic players from New York. Follow GM Hess on twitter here, and on chess.comhere. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

"Coach Jay" Stallings has taught over 35,000 students to play chess over the past 23 years. Jay takes us back to the beginning (1994) when you counted full-time chess coaches nationwide on your fingers. Jay shares with us many of the teaching tricks and recommendations for improvement that he has gleaned from years of experience as he has refined what ultimately became Coach Jay's Chess Academy. He also assesses the general state of the chess world; discusses some of his current projects, including a Kickstarter project aimed at sharing his educational materials and promoting chess; and the Sean Reader Fund, which, among other programs, provides financial assistance to those who love chess but can’t afford tournaments and classes. Thanks to Jay for sharing his enthusiasm for chess, contact Jay here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices