Perpetual Chess Podcast

Welcome to another “Adult improver” edition of Perpetual Chess. Our guest this time is Dr. Courtney Frey. Courtney is a 35 year old doctor (radiologist) and father of 2 kids. Like a lot of us he played in a chess club during his school years, but then didn’t play for many yearsuntil he finished medical school. He got more serious during the pandemic, started taking lessons with a coach, and he has seen his LiChess Rapid rating go from the 1500s to 1900 in about a year! As you will hear, Courtney has been successful with a very balanced approach to chess improvement that focuses on studying the aspects of chess that he enjoys most. Courtney had a lot of helpful tips to share- you can find relevant links and timestamps below!  0:00- Did you know that Chessable now sponsors an adult improvement weekly chess podcast called How to Chess? Did you know that you can subscribe to it on Spotify and all the other podcast apps? Be sure to subscribe, or go to Howtochess.com for more info.  https://open.spotify.com/show/5

This week, Perpetual Chess features a different kind of guest, Joe Posnanski was twice- named the best sportswriter in America by the Associated Press. He is also a popular podcaster and best selling author of 6 books. I have been a huge fan of Joe’s writing for many years, so when he recently wrote about his enthusiasm for chess I couldn’t resist the opportunity to invite him to talk to us on Perpetual Chess. In our interview, Joe discusses the beginnings of his interest in chess (his dad was a USCF expert.) Joe then dives into topics including: the current state of his own chess game, why he has a "love-hate" relationship with the game, who his favorite chess YouTubers are, and the lessons that he has learned from his coach, FM Mikhail Perelshteyn. Whether in written word or on his Poscast, Joe is always entertaining and insightful, so it was a real thrill for me to talk chess with him! Please read on for more details and relevant links.  0:00-    Joe tells us about the evolution of his interest in chess ov

GM Jonathan Levitt is a chess journalist, an author and a professional cricket bettor!  Jonathan is retired from competitive chess, but he has written a few great chess books, including co-authoring the classic Secrets of Spectacular Chess, and Jonathan has recently released his first non-chess book,  Contemplating Comedy, which, as you might guess, is a meditation on the topic of humor. In this wide-ranging interview, we discuss Jonathan’s varied chess career, his transition to cricket betting, the upcoming World Chess Championship, and the intersection of chess and humor. There is lots to learn from Jonathan, so I hope you all enjoy this conversation. Please read on for many more details and relevant links.  London Chess Festival Info here!-  https://www.englishchess.org.uk/chessfest-in-londons-trafalgar-square/ 0:00- We tackle the age old question, “What constitutes chess talent?” This is a question that Jonathan grapples with in his excellent 1997 book, Genius in Chess.  Mentioned: IM Malcolm Pein, Ep

It has been a while, but Perpetual Chess is back with a blockbuster bonus book recap podcast. For this episode of Chess Books Recaptured, I am joined by FIDE Master Nate Solon to compare two books about one of the most famous chess tournaments of all time, the 1953 Zurich-Neuhausen Candidates tournament.(More commonly known as just, Zurich 1953) GM David Bronstein’s book, Zurich International Chess Tournament, 1953 , is one of the most popular chess books of all time, and is often recommended on this podcast. GM Miguel Najdorf’s tournament book, Zurich 1953: 15 Contenders for the World Chess Championship, is also considered a classic by many, but may not be as well known due to having only been translated into English in the past decade. So how do we compare the books? Do they live up to their reputation as instructional chess book classics? What made the tournament so special? What are we to make of the “ghost writing” and “match fixing” allegations which have come to light in recent decades? So much to disc

IM Levy Rozman a/k/a “GothamChess” is a chess commentator, Twitch streamer, and, of course, creator of one of the most popular Chess YouTube channels in the World. His channel has seen explosive growth since his prior visit to Perpetual Chess, one year ago. It recently surpassed 1 million subscribers and is still growing quickly! In our conversation, Levy reflects on the success of his channel, and shares lots of advice for other aspiring content creators. We also discuss his recent return to competitive chess. Levy recently competed in the National Open in Las Vegas. He had pretty good results over the board, but perhaps more surprisingly, the videos analyzing his tournament games proved to be amongst his most popular ever! Why does he think that is? Will his comeback and pursuit of the Grandmaster title continue? Will he ever stop speaking out on political issues? We tackle all of these questions and many more in this fun, wide-ranging conversation. Please read on for more details, timestamps, and relevant

James Altucher is a best-selling author, popular business podcast host, entrepreneur, USCF Master and adult improver! I last interviewed James back in October of 2017. At the time, James had some fun stories to tell about his chess background, but he wasn’t actively working on his chess. As it has for many people, that has changed in the past year. In the wake of the Queen’s Gambit boom, James’ love for chess is back in full bloom. He has been training 3-4 hours a day and hopes to return to competitive chess soon. In addition to his chess expertise, James is a keen student of adult learning who has interviewed experts in the field, such as Anders Ericsson and Angela Duckworth, among others. James gives some great advice on how to approach chess improvement and shares what he has learned from working 1 on 1 with coaches like IM Eric Rosen, and GM Jesse Kraai. James also offers some actionable advice for aspiring content creators, and he asks me a few questions about how Perpetual Chess has been affected by the

Stejpan Tomic, bettter known on YouTube as "Hanging Pawns" discusses How to Choose an Opening. This will be the last time How to Chess is shared on the Perpetual Chess Feed, so please subscribe to How to Chess via the following links: Spotify- https://open.spotify.com/show/74A0JotybXUvnviTCzsSUp?si=qx4NioNpSGejntNjXIcxtA&dl_branch=1 Apple Podcasts- https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-chess/id1572917817 Chessable YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxVGiP4dl19wwGJlCy3_u8g Google Podcasts- https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5jYXB0aXZhdGUuZm0vaG93LXRvLWNoZXNzLw If you do not see "How to Chess" on your podcast platform, please email HowToChess at Chessable.com to let us know. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Here is a preview of my brand new chess improvement podcast, "How to Chess," brought to you by Chessable. In Episode 1, Author, GM and the founder of ChessOpeningsExplained.Com, Eugene Perelshteyn shares advice on how to limit blunders. Here is how to subscribe: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/74A0JotybXUvnviTCzsSUp?si=DZnY-yoRRl-Awcmn5OtPSg&dl_branch=1 Subscribe at Chessable's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Chessable/videos?view=0&sort=dd&flow=grid Apple Podcast- https://t.co/gBuwchfxRo?amp=1 Google Podcasts- https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5jYXB0aXZhdGUuZm0vaG93LXRvLWNoZXNzLw For comments, guess suggestions,  or a chess improvement question you'd like to hear answered on How To Chess you can email to HowToChess at Chessable.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  My guest on this week’s adult improver edition of Perpetual Chess is Braden Laughlin. Braden is a 22 year old Canadian chess enthusiast who has seen robust gains in the first few years of his chess development. Braden went from 0 to 1750 (Canadian rating) in his first 16 months of chess!  In the subsequent 2.5 years he has continued to get stronger, and now has an online blitz rating peak of over 2100!  Not bad for four years work! How did he do it? As you will hear, Braden has an approach that is wholly different from any other adult improver that has appeared on Perpetual Chess. Braden has taken full advantage of all of the great free chess content on YouTube, and is also a big proponent of playing tons of games, and trying to derive a lesson from each game. For many more tips, as well as some background about Braden as a video editor and recently hired Chessable employee please check out our interview. As always, lots more details, timestamps and relevant links can be found below.    0:00- How to Ches

WGM and IM Irene Sukander is one of the top players in Indonesia, the two-time Asian Women’s Chess Champion, and she earned a Grandmaster norm at the Asian Continental in 2012. Although her numerous chess accomplishments required an investment of time, Irene did not shirk her studies. She studied English literature in Indonesia, and Irene earned a Masters Degree in International Relations at chess powerhouse Webster University in St. Louis. Irene was already a well-known and accomplished chess player, but we saw her fame explode when due to an unusual  set of circumstances she participated in a live, high stakes chess match with 1.25 million online viewers!  Irene reflects on that match, and the ways it changed her life both for better and for worse. We also discuss Irene’s current chess goals, the unique chess culture in Indonesia, ways to popularize chess for women, and many more topics. There is much to learn from Irene, so I hope you enjoy this conversation as I did. Please read on for more details, times

  GM Davorin Kuljsevicis an  author, a trainer and, of course, an accomplished chess player. Davorin has won several international tournaments and competed with the Croatian National team. As a trainer, he has coached the Finland Men’s and Women’s National Chess teams,and he has taught many titled players. In recent years, Davorin is becoming best known for his books. His first book, Beyond Material, helps players learn to sacrifice for initiative and to play more dynamically. Davorin’s new book,How to Study Chess On Your Own: Creating a Plan that Works and Sticking to it, is an expansive and instructive book that provides both chess instruction and study plans for the ambitious improver. The book, and our interview, contain useful tips on how to properly use engines, improve tactics, structure study time, and lots more. Please read on for more details and relevant timestamps.    0:00- We dive right into Davorin’s new book,How to Study Chess On Your Own: Creating a Plan that Works and Sticking to it. What

This week we are rejoined by the always entertaining Twitch streamer,YouTube creator and accomplished Grandmaster,  Ben Finegold! Ben was an early guest of Perpetual Chess, back in 2017. In the subsequent years, Ben has seen his online following grow rapidly, and The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Atlanta (which he co-founded with his wife Karen Boyd)   continues to find its footing despite the pandemic. In this interview, Ben reflects on his recent success, and shares some great stories from his own journey to the GM title, his early encounters with the Polgar sisters, and some chess history wisdom regarding Magnus Carlsen, Garry Kasparov, Mikhail Tal and many others. It is always illuminating and amusing to get to chat with Ben, please read on for all of the details, relevant links and timestamps.    0:00- We begin by hearing the story of how Ben earned the GM title at the relatively late age of 40.  Mentioned: Episode 9 with GM Ben Finegold, Episode 52 with GM Ben Finegold, Episode 271 “IM to GM sp

WFM Maria Emelianova a/k/a “Photochess” is a popular Twitch streamer, photographer, translator, and chess journalist. Maria often spends more than half of her time travelling to cover and help organize chess tournaments.   She has accumulated many memorable images and great stories from her time on the chess beat. To give an idea of her schedule, Maria worked on staff at the 2020-2021 FIDE Candidates in her native Yekaterinaburg, Russia, and she joined the podcast en route home from working at the Russian Team Championship in Sochi.  In our conversation, Maria gave a first hand perspective on the Candidates Tournament, and we also  touched on Maria’s chess book recommendations.  We talked about  her career as a chess competitor, as well as stories from her life as a chess photographer and advice regarding chess photography, Twitch streaming, and much more. Please read on for timestamps, lots more details and links related to this fun conversation.  0:00- As an Yekaterinaburg native and resident, Maria w

  Tim Krabbé is a popular Dutch novelist who is probably best known for the cult cycling classic The Rider, and the book The Vanishing, which was adapted into film in both The Netherlands and the U.S.  In chess circles, Tim is a strong player who was once among the top 20 in the Netherlands, and he was a competitor in two Dutch National Championships. He has written for New in Chess Magazine, and wrote a classic (out of print)  book called Chess Curiosities. Around the late 1990s and 2000s, Tim maintained an  amazing blog which tracked chess news, shared stories  and contained many noteworthy chess studies and records. Tim no longer updates the blog, but fortunately he maintains the archive, so that chess fans still can immerse themselves in it. Tim has accumulated some great stories from his interactions with legends like GMs Jan Timman, Garry Kasparov, and Vishy Anand. In our interview, he shares a few of the stories, assesses the chess boom, and shares his wisdom on the topics of writing, cycling, longev

This week I am joined by one of my favorite modern authors, Grandmaster Axel Smith. Axel is a two-time Swedish Chess Olympiad member, who is probably best known for co-authoring the 2017 book, The Woodpecker Method with his fellow Grandmaster, Hans Tikkanen. Axel has written a few other books, which are excellent guides for more advanced players. They are Pump Up Your Rating, e3 Poison, and his latest offering from Quality Chess, Street Smart Chess. In our interview we discuss all of these books, and touch on topics like the origins of The Woodpecker Method, Axel’s own experience with using spaced repetition, and his improvement advice for ambitious club players. There are lots of useful nuggets in our conversation, so I hope you will enjoy it. Please read on for more details, timestamps, and relevant links.   0:00- We begin by discussing what is probably GM Axel Smith’s most popular book, the famed The Woodpecker Method, which he co-wrote with GM Hans Tikkanen. The book is available from Amazon and is very

This week’s guest is none other than former FIDE World Champion, 2 time Olympiad Gold Medalist, and 2011 Ukrainian National Champion, GM Ruslan Ponomariov!  With the FIDE Candidates having concluded it was a great time to hear the thoughts of this genial super grandmaster. In our conversation, Ruslan puts the 2020-2021 FIDE Candidates into historical context, shares his perspective on GM Ian Nepomniachtchi’s  victory, and then assesses the 2021 World Championship matchup between Nepomniachtchi and GM Magnus Carlsen. We then delve into GM Ponomariov’s storied career. How does he reflect on having been the youngest FIDE World Champion ever? What is he up to these days? We discuss this and much more in this fascinating, wide-ranging interview. Please read on for lots more details and timestamps.   0:00-  Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Chessable.com. You can check out their latest offerings, inclluding IM Christof Sielecki's course on the Pirc defense here:  New Chess Courses Online - For All Leve

Welcome to another bonus book recap podcast, also known as Chess Books Recaptured! This month’s book of choice is one of the most popular beginner-oriented chess books of all time, Irving Chernev’s Logical Chess Move by Move. My guest co-host this month is Barry Katz. Barry is a Brooklyn based father of 4, and college writing instructor who discovered chess in recent years through the interest of his son.  Irving Chernev has left quite a legacy as an accomplished and popular writer of 20 chess books. Logical Chess Move by Move was first published in 1957, so some have suggested it is outdated, but both Barry and I find it to be very readable and instructive, and an excellent book for those looking to understand the timeless principles of master level chess play. Please read on for lots more details, timestamps and relevant links.  0:00- Barry shares a bit about his background, and we discuss why we chose to discuss Logical Chess Move by Move by Irving Chernev  Mentioned: Facebook Chess Books Collectors

My guest on the podcast is adult improver Dr. Luka Popov. Luka is a 39 year-old Croatian dad, theoretical physics Ph.D., software engineer and content creator. Luka started serious chess in 2017, and was primarily emphasizing over-the-board chess before the pandemic. Then he  switched to online chess, and  his Lichess rapid rating has gained about 250 points in the last 1.5 years.  Luka shares a lot of his wisdom and experiences on his YouTube channel called “The Adult Chess Improver.”  As the channel and our interview make clear, Luka has quickly gained expertise in the topic of adult chess improvement, and our interview is filled with quality recommendations for like-minded players. Please read on for lots more details.  My guest on the podcast is adult improver Dr. Luka Popov. Luka is a 39 year-old Croatian dad, theoretical physics Ph.D., software engineer and content creator. Luka started serious chess in 2017, and was primarily emphasizing over-the-board chess before the pandemic. Then he  switched to on

This week on Perpetual Chess, we are fortunate to get a return visit from the legendary commentator, Super GM, and now Chessable author, GM Peter Svidler! Peter talked with me a few days before he was set to depart for Yekaterinaburg, Russia. Yekaterinburg, of course, is where the FIDE Candidates Tournament will resume after being postponed amidst the Covid pandemic in March 2020. The tournament resumes on April 19, and the winner of the tournament will face GM Magnus Carlsen for the World Championship in November of 2021. As a competitor in prior Candidates Tournaments, and someone who is now assisting GM Kirill Alekseenko, one of the participants, it was amazing to hear GM Svidler’s perspective on the tournament.  Of course, GM Svidler has also just released his much anticipated Chessable course, Lifetime Repertoires: Peter Svidler’s Grunfeld. We talked about how he researched this huge project, as well as what surprised him about the process of writing his first Chessable course.  Lastly, we got lots of

This week we are joined by Chris Callahan, who is the Community Organizer of LiChess.org. Lichess is a community supported, free, open-source, ad- and tracker-free chess site which plays host to over 5 million chess games per day. Back in 2017, I interviewed its founder, Thibault Duplessis, so it was past time to catch up on all that is new with this great site. It has been especially important during the past year as online chess has surged in popularity. We discussed everything from how they dealt with a huge traffic surge, to their capabilities in the area of cheating detection. We talked about the viability of their current business plan as well as  their future plans. Chris also delved a bit into his own chess background, and shared his unique perspective on scholastic chess teaching and chess improvement. It was fun to catch up with him and to learn more about this website on which so many of us enjoy playing on a daily basis.  0:00- Chris shares a bit about his chess background, what is new with L