Perpetual Chess Podcast

Heading into the penultimate rest day, I provide a quick rundown of the standings and key stories of a closely contested and entertaining FIDE Candidates. Plus I briefly share my thoughts on the drama surrounding GM Alireza Firouzja's noisy shoes. Watch this feed for part 2, which will feature an interview about the Candidates with legendary former Dutch Champion, GM Jan Timman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We are back for with an in-depth breakdown of the first half of the FIDE Candidates. I am honored to be joined by commentator, author, Chessable author and Excellent YouTuber, GM Daniel King to discuss all that has transpired so far. What makes Nepo so good in these tournaments? Does Fabi have another gear? What has surprised Daniel the most? Tune in for this, plus player-by-player analysis. Timestamps of topics discussed below as always!  0:00- Brief big picture thoughts on the tournament 0:05- Nepo! What stands out about his performance? Mentioned: The Chess Mind’s Blog Post: https://thechessmind.substack.com/p/candidates-round-7 22:00- Fabiano  Mentioned: Anthony Levin’s Round 7 Recap: https://www.chess.com/news/view/2024-fide-candidates-tournament-round-7 30:00- Gukesh Final moments of Firouzja-Gukesh: https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/1c1sxzb/final_moments_of_gukesh_vs_firouzja/ 37:00- Firouzja  41:00- Pragganandha 48:00- Nakamura  53:00- Vidit 57:00- Abasov  59:00- Final thoughts on Open Section 

We are at the halfway point of a wildly entertaining 2024 FIDE Candidates! Ian Nepomniathchi continues to lead the Open Section, while Tan Zhongyi is in front in the Women’s Candidates This is the first part of what will be 2 podcasts discussing the tournament through 7 rounds. In this solo pod, I briefly run through the standings, upcoming pairings and share a few thoughts on the tournament. For part 2 (coming soon to this feed), I will be interviewing GM Daniel King of the Powerplay Chess YouTube Channel.  Links Mentioned: Live stream of my chat with GM Daniel King Friday at 9AM EDT/1PM GMT on the Powerplay Chess YouTube Chess  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiOR9OnXOEk (and later to this feed) Mentioned:  Final moments of Firouzja-Gukesh: https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/1c1sxzb/final_moments_of_gukesh_vs_firouzja/ Be sure to tune in for tomorrow Candidates interview with GM Daniel King, as well as our regular Tuesday weekly pod.  If you would like to help support Perpetual Chess via Patreon yo

For this week’s regular edition, (no FIDE Candidates talk) of Perpetual Chess, we are honored to be joined by two highly respected trainers and Chessable Authors. NM Dan Heisman is an engineer, turned author, YouTuber and trainer, who is particularly insightful regarding topics of adult chess improvement. I am a particular fan of his book, A Guide to Chess Improvement: The Best of Novice Nook. NM Laura Smith is a school teacher, chess trainer and former youth champion, who was the highest rated 13 year-old in the United States in 2002. Together, Laura and Dan have just collaborated on a new Chessable course, Can I Take It? A Beginner's Guide to Capturing Pieces. The course is geared toward beginner players and provides a comprehensive guide to an important tactical concept that Dan Heisman calls “counting.” In addition to discussing lessons from the course, we discuss some of the other original chess terms Dan has coined, Laura’s recent return to OTB chess, and upcoming projects for both authors. As always, t

The 2024 FIDE Candidates tournament is off and running with some entertaining chess and plenty of surprises. (Although perhaps the identities of the leaders in the Open and Women’s sections aren’t as surprising.) I have been riveted by this tournament and am hoping to provide audio analysis and perspective from different guests on each rest day. In today’s pod, I briefly share my early impressions, than welcome recent guest Denis Markov back to the podcast. Denis had just returned from attending Rounds 1 and 2 in Toronto and described what it was like to attend the event. We went into everything from FIDE’s cheat prevention methods, to what the viewing experience is like within the venue. Whether you are thinking of making a last minute trip to Toronto, or just want to live vicariously through Denis, I think you will enjoy his report of a trip that Denis says he definitely will not regret. We will be back with more coverage of this fantastic tournament on the next rest day, Friday April 12.  00:02 - Introduct

The Adult Improver Series returns this week, with a guest who has improved his chess rapidly. Jordan Groff is a 24 year old Connecticut-based chess instructor who was recommended as a guest to me by GM Eugene Perelshteyn. Jordan resumed chess in 2018 after some years away, and has gone from 1864 to more than 2260 in about the last few years. During  our interview, Jordan shares several ‘secrets” to his success. Aside from a lot of hard work and frequent competition, Jordan particularly credits a focus on the psychological aspects of OTB chess, and on opening preparation and tactics work. You can find out many more details in my interview with Jordan.  it is inspiring to see such fast progress! Timestamps of topics discussed can be found below.   0:00- Thanks to our sponsor, Chessable.com. New courses include Introduction to Chess Calculation, and GM Ganguly’s Lifetime Repertoires: Sidelines and Flank Openings for Black   If you use the link below to sign up for a Chessable pro membership, it helps to support

The FIDE Candidates Tournament begins on April 4 in Toronto, Canada, and I could not be more excited to see who gets to challenge for the FIDE World Championship. As is tradition on Perpetual Chess, we have a few great guests joining to help discuss the action. First up is 7-time Brazilian champion & Correspondence GM, Rafael Leitão. In addition to a vast resume as a player, Rafael regularly annotates top-level games for Chess.com news coverage. Reviewing these games in detail on a daily basis gives Rafael unique insights into the tendencies of the world’s top players. Rafael and I discuss what to watch for in each player’s performance, fun facts, and what opening choices we might see from each player.  Following Rafael, I am joined by Tai Pruce Zimmerman, a/k/a Chess by the Numbers. Tai shares and discusses the win probability of both the open and the women’s candidates, and we also compare the output of Tai’s probabilistic model to the betting markets. Last but not least, I am joined by “On the Queenside,”

This week we return with another “Chess Improvement Q & A” episode, with another top trainer. Our returning guest is 2-time Swiss National Champion, turned trainer and blogger, GM Noel Studer. Noel is always insightful on everything related to chess improvement. He answers a wide range of questions from the online chess community. Topics discussed include: how to diagnose weaknesses, what to look for in a chess trainer, limiting blunders,and improving tactics, as well as Noel’s helpful advice for dealing with various common psychological pitfalls that chess players face. After 75 minutes of chess improvement talk, we turn our attention to Noel’s new course, Beginner Chess Mastery. It is a comprehensive guide for newer chess players, designed to take you up to about the 1200 level. If this describes you or someone you know, you will want to stay tuned until the end of the pod. Timestamps of all the topics discussed can be found below. If you or someone you know is below 1200 and looking to improve their games,

This week on the podcast we delve into the topic of how to teach chess to kids who are new to the game. My guest, Carol Ann Caronia has been teaching curriculum and afterschool chess classes in Brooklyn, New York for decades. Her new book, Strategic Moves: Mind-Building Chess Exercises for Kids, shares all that she has learned from these experiences. The topics we cover include, differences she has noticed between teaching girls and teaching boys, managing after-school classes, and whether or not we should let new students/our kids win when we play them. Carol Ann has accumulated some amusing stories during  her time teaching, including a tale of two parents getting into a fight over their kids chess game. As we discuss, Carol Ann has worked closely with legendary teacher Bruce Pandolfini, and taught a 5 year-old Fabiano Caruana! If you are a chess parent, a teacher, or simply someone who would like to be able to teach a new player the game effectively, this is the episode for you. Timestamps of topics discus

This week we get to catch up with one of the original and most popular Perpetual Chess guests, GM Jan Gustafsson. Jan, of course, is a renowned opening theoretician, commentator and trainer, who has worked on GM Magnus Carlson’s World Championship team, and is currently the coach of the German National Team. Jan has recently released a highly anticipated Chessable course, Gustafsson’s  Aggressive 1. E4 (co-authored with CM Vjekoslav Nemec).   We discuss the lines Jan selected for this course, but also catch up on a wide variety of topics including life after Team Magnus, life after Chess24, life after the Chicken Chess Club podcast, chess cheating, the Bundesliga and the FIDE Candidates. It is always amusing and informative to chat with Jan, and this time is no exception! Timestamps of topics discussed can be found below.  0:00- Thanks to our sponsor, Chessable.com. Chessable has tons of new offerings in addition to GM Jan Gustafsson brand new course on 1. E4!  If you use the link below to sign up for Perpet

GM Josh Friedel is the 2013 US Open Champion and is a state champion of 3 different states! Josh has also been teaching chess for decades, and he always presents chess in a clear and instructive fashion. Here in 2024, Josh has released his first Chessable course, Beginner Mistakes and How to Avoid Them. In addition to sharing some key advice from this course, Josh also discusses common errors he sees at the intermediate level. It has been more than 5 years since my first interview with Josh, so we also catch up on his OTB career, goal-setting, and  on what he learns about chess improvement from working to improve at cooking, tennis, and his newest hobby, guitar.  0:00- Thanks to our presenting chess education sponsor, Chessable.com. In addition to GM Friedel’s course, GM Jan Gustafsson is out with a brand new course on 1. E4!  If you use the link below to sign up for Perpetual Chess, it helps to support the pod!  https://www.chessable.com/pro/?utm_source=affiliate&utm_medium=benjohnson&utm_campaign=pro 0:01-

This week’s guest is two- time Dutch Champion, eleven-time Olympian, author and former candidate for the World Championship Title, GM Paul Van der Sterren. Paul had an unusual career trajectory, in that after 15+years as a chess professional, his “breakout” year occurred at the age of 37. What happened that year (1993)? That is one of the many questions tackled in his fantastic, newly-translated game collection/memoir In Black and White: The Chess Autobiography of a World Championship Candidate. In New in Chess Magazine, GM Matthew Sadler calls this book “simply the finest chess book I’ve ever read.” After retiring from professional chess, Paul became a meditation teacher. His new book, Mindful Chess, traces the development of his mindfulness practice and offers reflections and tips for chess players interested in the topic. In addition to reflecting on the lessons from these books, Paul shares wonderful stories about his clashes with the Polgar sisters, Korchnoi, Tal and many others. I cannot recommend Paul’

This week I am excited to be joined by chess YouTube star and popular Chessable author, NM Robert Ramirez. Robert has a unique story amongst master-level players, as he spent his early years in Cuba and began tournament chess at the relatively late age of 12. As one of the older kids in his chess class in Cuba, Robert felt like he had to “play catch up” from the beginning, and this perspective steered him toward less popular openings like the Pirc defense and the King’s Indian Defense. Robert continued his pursuit of chess when his family emigrated to the U.S. in 2016, and ultimately became a successful chess teacher. With less work and extra free time during the pandemic, Robert launched his YouTube channel. Robert’s channel took a while to catch on, but he now has over 120,000 YouTube subscribers. His Chessable course, which is based on his battle-tested repertoire, has drawn rave reviews. Robert showcases an ability to relate to people and a lucid teaching style that likely contributes to the success of ev

Recorded on January 31, 2024  Featuring guest co-host FM Nate Solon  With talk of online cheating recently dominating chess conversations, Chess.com CEO and co-founder Erik Allebest joined me (and guest co-host FM Nate Solon) to discuss the issue at length. While Erik acknowledges that chess cheating is an existential threat to the game, the research of his Chess.com team suggests that people overestimate the frequency of online cheating occurrences. Erik also discussed Chess.com’s current and forthcoming anti-cheat measures, their policy regarding not naming suspected cheaters, and Erik’s thoughts on some recent headline-grabbing comments by GM Fabiano Caruana. We also covered a lot of topics unrelated to online cheating, including The Magnus-Hikaru match that fell through last year, the closures of Chess24 and the Pro Chess League, Chess.com’s relationship with FIDE, and Erik’s reflections on the Niemann-Carlsen story. As Erik discussed, there will still be a lot more information coming out about that story

Our book review series, Chess Books Recaptured, is back to discuss a “non-chess” book for the first time. However, the information in this book is vital for any student of the game. Make it Stick: The Science of Successful Learning is an extremely insightful encapsulation of best practices for learning and retaining information. The book is written by Peter C. Brown, Henry Roediger and Mark McDaniel, and was the culmination of 10+ years of research. Joining me to discuss the book is emergency room physician and dedicated chess amateur Dr. Nick Vasquez. Nick has been blogging about how Make it Stick changed his thinking about learning and chess study, and we thought it was worth expanding the blog posts into a conversation. Key precepts of the book include the importance of mixing study themes, spacing out your study, testing your knowledge frequently, and emphasizing understanding and contextualization of the study material. Timestamps of the topics discussed are below.  Thanks to our presenting chess educa

The Adult Improver Series is back, and we have a very entertaining guest for you. Julio Calcina is a 32-year-old, Nottingham, England-based chess and Mixed Martial Arts enthusiast. Julio has found chess to be a transformative force for him and views chess as a microcosm of life. As Julio tells it, he used to be impetuous and aggressive in both chess and life, and made choices that sabotaged relationships and even contributed to his enduring a stint in prison. Throughout the years, Julio has stuck with the game, and it has helped teach him to be more contemplative and patient both over the board and away from it. Julio loves to play daily chess on Chess.com, and also reports on the British O.T.B. scene, shares chess improvement recommendations, and discusses his near-term goals and plans in chess and beyond. It was a lot of fun chatting with Julio and I think you will enjoy the conversation.  Thanks to Perpetual Chess Patreon subs! If you would like to join the community you can do so here:  https://www.patr

This week’s guest is Grandmaster and Chessable Author, Raven Sturt. Raven was a National High-School champion, but considers himself a late bloomer in chess because he had to work very hard to earn the Grandmaster title in his 20s. During this period, GM Sturt intensively trained his board visualization and pattern recognition skills, and he shares the fruits of his labor in his excellent Chessable Course, Developing Chess Intuition: Domination & Other Lesser Known Positional Concepts. During our conversation, we discuss the course, his book recommendations, and his unique approach to studying openings. Raven is working on a course on the Bird Opening (1. f4) , and has come to believe it is an underrated weapon for White. We also discuss Raven’s unique life trajectory. Raven grew up in New York City, went to McGill University in Canada, and has recently settled in Paraguay after traveling extensively. I really enjoyed chatting with Raven, and if you are interested in improving your chess game, you will defin

This week we are honored to be joined by the 14-year-old record-breaking prodigy, GM Abhimanyu Mishra. Abhimanyu made worldwide headlines when he became the youngest Grandmaster in history in 2021. Since breaking that record, GM Mishra has continued his rapid ascension and is now rated 2635. As the number #10 junior in the world, Abhimanyu is the only junior in the top 20 under the age of 16! In our conversation, we discuss Abhimanyu’s training regimen, both now, and as he quickly climbed up the ranks. His chess growth was well-chronicled in the enjoyable book, The Youngest Chess Grandmaster in the World, as well as his Chessable course, Youngest Grandmaster: Abhimanyu Mishra   Abhi also discusses how he balances chess and school work, his 2024 tournament plans, and the difficulties he has encountered in receiving invitations and sponsorship opportunities. Lastly, Abhimanyu reflects on unforgettable experiences, like training with Kasparov, and recently beating the legendary players such as GMs Vasyl Ivanchuk

GM Patrick Wolff is quite accomplished on and off the chess board. In the 1990’s he was a  2 time US Chess Champion and a member of GM Viswanathan Anand's prep team.  Patrick is also the author of Learn to Play Chess Like a Boss, a book that is always one of my first recommendations for newer players.  In more recent years, he has worked as a hedge fund analyst.  This varied background gives Patrick unique insights into the intersections of the chess and the business worlds. In our conversation, Patrick shared his opinions on all of the recent controversies which have plagued the chess world. As Patrick explains, the recent flare-ups involving dress codes, prearranged draws and a chaotic qualification process for the FIDE Candidates are all connected. Patrick thinks that the chess world needs a new governing body, and that the game is poised for more explosive growth if this can occur. In addition to all of the news, we caught up on lessons Patrick learned from playing in the US Senior Championship,  and his

This week’s return guest is 2 time US Women’s Champion and award-winning author, podcaster and commentator Jennifer Shahade. Jennifer has recently released the excellent and inspiring new tactics book, Play Like a Champion. Play Like a Champion is a collection of biographical sketches of top woman players, featuring memorable tactics for a wide range of experience- levels. In our conversation, we discuss Jen’s writing and puzzle selection process, new chess vocabulary, Jen’s advice for starting chess clubs, and her decision to leave US Chess. We also discuss Jen’s next projects and her plans for 2024. As always, timestamps of topics discussed are below.  0:00- Thanks to our presenting chess education sponsors, Chessable.com! Be sure to check out their new courses, and if you use this link to sign up for Chessable Pro, and and/or make a Chessable purchase, and it will help support Perpetual Chess.  https://www.chessable.com/pro/?utm_source=affiliate&utm_medium=benjohnson&utm_campaign=pro 03:00- We discuss J