This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features a narration from “The Essential Sosonko”, a collection of chess portraits based on personal stories authored by chess grandmaster Genna Sosonko. In this episode Sosonko draws up a portrait of the ninth World Champion Tigran Petrosian. Lauded by the Armenian populus as a national hero, Tigran often found himself accompanied by fans wherever he went. Petrosian turned prophylaxis into a trademark of his playing style, which gained him the nic...
Jun 28, 2024•25 min•0Ep. 26
Dear Chess Friend, This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with grandmaster Jan Timman. One of the world’s leading players during the 80’s and 90’s, Jan was at some point considered the best non-Soviet chess player in the world, acquiring the nickname “The Best of the West”. Jan is also an active chess author and composer, and still spends much of his time creating endgame studies. However, at 72 years of age, Jan is far from a spent force in competition: with a FID...
Jun 21, 2024•57 min•0Ep. 25
This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with American grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura. One of the few bona fide chess superstars of the current era, Hikaru is the world’s 3rd ranked player with a June 2024 FIDE rating of 2794, and was one of the frontrunners to win this year’s Candidates Tournament. Other over-the-board successes include five US titles and a victory in the 2022 Fischer Random World Championship. In addition to his achievements as a player, Hikaru has bu...
Jun 14, 2024•54 min•0Ep. 24
This week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast delves into the life and career of one of the greatest chess-players of all time: Garry Kasparov. The "Beast of Baku", whose matches with Anatoly Karpov meant a redefining of the format of the World Championship match, was feared by many for his deep preparation and knowledge in the opening. After announcing his retirement from chess in 2005, Kasparov pursued his political ideals. His fierce opposition of the practices of the Russian political elit...
Jun 07, 2024•30 min•0Ep. 23
This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with Norwegian grandmaster Simen Agdestein. Simen made history by becoming the first Norwegian chess grandmaster in 1985. A nine-time Norwegian chess champion, Simen also had a notable career in professional football, representing the Norwegian national team nine times. Additionally, he has been credited with discovering and fostering the talent of Magnus Carlsen, becoming the latter’s first chess coach. Two weeks ago, Atle Gr...
May 31, 2024•59 min•0Ep. 22
This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with British grandmaster Matthew Sadler. Often called “the strongest amateur in the world”, Matthew, a two-time British chess champion, has retired from playing full-time with a more-than-respectable FIDE rating of 2694. Despite his inactivity as a player, Matthew is far from done with chess. In addition to his own writings (the most notable of which is Game Changer, a game analysis of Google’s AI-powered AlphaZero engine), Ma...
May 24, 2024•1 hr 8 min•0Ep. 21
This week’s episode of the New In Chess podcast features an interview with Atle Grønn, the author of Games and Goals, The Fascinating Chess and Football Careers of Simen Agdestein. Atle Grønn is Professor of Slavic linguistics at the University of Oslo, but he is also a strong chess player - an International Master - and has written several books on chess. In Norway, he is a familiar face on television as chess expert in the live broadcasts of big chess events by NRK. Games and Goals is the biog...
May 17, 2024•1 hr 1 min•0Ep. 20
This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with Georgian-Dutch grandmaster Robby Kevlishvili. Born in 2001, Robby has represented the varsity chess team of St. Louis University since 2019, winning numerous national prizes with his teammates. Interviewed by Alex Polak, Robby talks about his life as a chess player on the American collegiate circuit, his strong performances in blitz play, and his impression of St. Louis, deemed by many to be the chess capital of the world...
May 10, 2024•29 min•0Ep. 19
This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features a narration from Genna Sosonko’s “The Essential Sosonko”. The subject of this week’s audiobook is one of the most beloved and inspiring chess players of all time: Mikhail Tal. With his fierce attacking style, “Misha” dethroned reigning World Champion Botvinnik to claim the World Chess Championship in 1960. Widely acclaimed as a genius, Misha’s tactical play would produce numerous brilliancies, as well as a 95-game unbeaten streak, a record...
May 03, 2024•33 min•0Ep. 18
This week’s episode of the New In Chess podcast features an interview with grandmaster Peter Heine Nielsen. A five-time Danish champion, Peter Heine Nielsen is primarily known for his highly successful coaching career. From 2007 till 2023, he continuously coached World Champions Vishy Anand and Magnus Carlsen. In that capacity he was a winning coach in a World Championship match a record eight times. Interviewed by Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam, Peter Heine Nielsen looks back on the Candidates tourname...
Apr 26, 2024•1 hr 12 min•0Ep. 17
This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features not one, but to esteemed guests. Women International Master Natasha Regan and Matt Ball are longtime collaborators, having recently co-authored “Zwischenzug!”, a book about a concept that will be familiar to many but, according to its authors, is missed exceedingly often in modern (online) chess. The zwischenzug, also known as the in-between move, intermediary move, or intermezzo, occurs regularly in chess at all levels, from amateur games...
Apr 19, 2024•39 min•0Ep. 16
In this week’s episode of the New In Chess podcast, Anish Giri returns to give his take on the first half of the Candidates. Interviewed by Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam, he candidly shares his assessment of the players so far. 0:00 – Intro 1:35 – Anish’s experience following the Candidates so far 2:57 – Alireza-Gukesh (round 7) 6:25 – Nepo’s performance so far, games against Pragg and Hikaru 14:13 – How many points does Anish think the winner will need? 16:18 – Fabiano’s performance so far 20:52 – Guk...
Apr 12, 2024•1 hr 14 min•0Ep. 15
This week’s episode of the New In Chess podcast features an interview with grandmaster Jacob Aagaard. Jacob Aagaard is a GM - he was the British Champion in 2007 – but is best known as a prolific and award-winning chess writer, the founder of Quality Chess publishers, and a top coach who has worked with many big names we know and no doubt various that have remained a secret. Interviewed by Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam, Jacob Aagaard shares memories of Mark Dvoretsky (1947-2016), the legendary coach an...
Apr 05, 2024•58 min•0Ep. 14
This week’s episode of the New In Chess podcast features an interview with Dutch grandmaster Anish Giri, one of the strongest and most popular chess players in the world. A prodigy, Anish achieved the grandmaster title at the age of 14 and steadily grew into one the world’s leading players, eventually joining the select group of grandmasters to have breached the 2800-barrier. Among his finest victories is last year’s Tata Steel tournament in Wijk aan Zee. Anish is also one of the most many-sided...
Mar 29, 2024•1 hr 7 min•0Ep. 13
This weeks episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with International Master Thomas Willemze. Thomas is one of New In Chess’s most prolific authors, with a varied body of work that includes opening books, puzzle books, endgame books, and strategy books. His two latest works, “What Would You Play” and “World Chess Champion Strategy for Club Players”, have received positive reviews for their high-quality analysis and educational approach, which aims to simulate over-the-board sit...
Mar 22, 2024•28 min•0Ep. 12
This weeks episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with grandmaster Loek van Wely. “King Loek” is an 8-time Dutch champion, and, at 51, has remained active as a player while expanding his activities as a trainer and organiser. He reached his peak in 2001, making it into the world top 10 with a rating of 2714. As a coach, Van Wely has worked with stars like Gata Kamsky, Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov, and more recently with the Italian national team and Dutch GM Max Warmer...
Mar 15, 2024•55 min•0Ep. 11
This week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast features a narration of a chapter from The Essential Sosonko, a collection of chess portraits written by legendary grandmaster and chess author Genna Sosonko. In today's reading, Sosonko takes us along the path of his own personal history against the background of the geopolitical situation in Europe and Russia in the second half of the 20th century, and provides insight into the reasons why he took up the pen to write his chronicles. "The Essentia...
Mar 08, 2024•41 min•0Ep. 10
This week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with Dutch grandmaster Sergey Tiviakov. A talented player in his youth, Sergey studied under former World Champion Vasily Smyslov along the likes of Vladimir Kramnik. After the fall of the Soviet Union, he won the U-18 world title and later emigrated to the Netherlands, where he would win multiple national championships as well as a European Championship in 2008. Sergey's dominance in tournament play culminated in a baffling 1...
Mar 01, 2024•36 min•0Ep. 9
Today’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features a narration of a chapter from The Essential Sosonko, written by grandmaster Genna Sosonko. Sosonko is a prolific author of chess books. His works are non-technical, instead chronicling his personal experiences and the lives of famous players of the past and present. Today's reading centres around Alexander Alekhine. In the first half of the 20th century, Alekhine twice became World Chess Champion, but these were hardly the only interesting eve...
Feb 23, 2024•32 min•0Ep. 8
Today's episode of the New In Chess Podcast features in an interview with Grandmaster Nigel Short. Nigel Short is one of the greatest British chess players of all time and was became the first British player ever to challenge for a world championship title in 1993. He is also an avid traveller who has played many tournaments abroad, especially in India. Together with Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam, Nigel talks about his appreciation for Indian chess, Vishy Anand, and India's current status as an emergin...
Feb 16, 2024•1 hr 1 min•0Ep. 7
Today’s episode of the New In Chess podcast features an interview with Grandmaster Ivan Sokolov. Ivan is a former Dutch and Yugoslav chess champion who holds victories over several former World Champions, including Kasparov, Kramnik and Anand. He has also been highly successful as a chess trainer, currently coaching the Romanian national team and having previously worked with the Iranian, United Arab Emirates, and Uzbek teams, the latter winning the 2022 Chennai Olympiad under his guidance. He i...
Feb 09, 2024•33 min•0Ep. 6
Today’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features a narration of a chapter from The Essential Sosonko, written by grandmaster Genna Sosonko. Sosonko is a prolific author of chess books. His works are non-technical, instead chronicling his personal experiences and the lives of famous players he competed with. The Essential Sosonko is a collection of these player portraits. Today's reading centres around Tony Miles. Miles, the first Englishman to achieve the grandmaster title, came close to rea...
Feb 02, 2024•40 min•0Ep. 5
Today’s episode of the New In Chess podcast features an interview with Grandmaster Ramachandran Ramesh, also known as Ramesh RB or simply Ramesh. Ramesh is an award-winning chess coach, with pupils all around the world. He is also a popular chess author. His most recent title, Improve Your Chess Calculation, was published by New In Chess in 2022. Ramesh is best known as the trainer of Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, popularly known as Pragg, and his sister Vaishali. Under Ramesh’s guidance, Pragg wou...
Jan 26, 2024•52 min•0Ep. 4
Davorin Kuljasevic is a Croation chess grandmaster and FIDE trainer with over 15 years of experience as a coach. In addition to training numerous grandmasters and coaching the Finland national team, he has collaborated with New In Chess to publish several instructive chess works, including the bestselling books "Beyond Material" and "How to Study Chess on Your Own". He discusses his latest book, "Ding Liren's Best Games: A Chess Biography of the World Champion", with New In Chess editor-in-chief...
Jan 19, 2024•23 min•0Ep. 3
Today's podcast features an interview with Grandmaster Peter Svidler. Peter is an eight-time Russian Chess Champion and three-time Candidate for the World Championship. In addition to his accomplishments on the board, he is renowned in the chess world as a prolific commentator, having provided real-time chess commentary for close to 25 years. Together with Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam, Peter will preview the upcoming Tata Steel Chess Tournament, while also giving his opinion on recent developments in ...
Jan 12, 2024•1 hr 6 min•0Ep. 2
Dit is de eerste aflevering van de New In Chess Podcast. Gast van vandaag is grootmeester Paul van der Sterren. Paul heeft een indrukwekkende carrière als profschaker achter de rug. Zo won hij tweemaal het Nederlands kampioenschap, plaatste zich voor het kandidatentoernooi van 1994, en vocht schaakgevechten uit met de grootste namen van zijn tijd, onder wie Karpov, Timman, Korchnoi en Najdorf. Het schaken is Paul altijd blijven boeien. Na zijn actieve carrière als speler bracht Paul meerdere boe...
Jan 05, 2024•1 hr 2 min•0Ep. 1
