26 year old Grandmaster Aman Hambleton is one of Canada’s top 10 players and, among other distinctions, he has represented his country in the Chess Olympiad multiple times. Of course, he is best known as one of the founding members (along with GM Eric Hansen) of the extremely popular chess streaming team known as the Chessbrahs. In our lengthy and entertaining conversation we discuss topics ranging from Chessbrah origins, to the business of being a chess streamer to the struggles Aman endured to...
Aug 20, 2019•1 hr 56 min
Sasha Chapin is a writer who has just published his first book, All the Wrong Moves, a Memoir about Chess, Love, and Ruining Everything. Sasha’s book tackles themes quite familiar to many chess enthusiasts: Chess love, chess addiction, chess improvement, the inevitable intersection of chess and real life, and how to grapple with one’s own chess limitations. Sasha’s book is a fun read which resonated with me, and features mentions of many prominent chess players and personalities. For another per...
Aug 13, 2019•1 hr 4 min
This week the popular Chess Author, Presenter, and USCF Master, Dan Heisman joins me. As someone who has been teaching adults (and kids) chess for decades, Dan has special insight into the way that amateurs should think about chess and also knows the ways that they actually do think about chess. It was a pleasure to pick Dan’s brain and to hear some of his stories! Please read on for many more details, relevant links, and timestamps. 0:00- Intro and we begin by discussing of why Dan recently dec...
Aug 06, 2019•1 hr 49 min
IM Erik Kislik is a popular American chess trainer and author who is now based in Hungary. We talk about Erik’s first book, Applying Logic in Chess, which lays out his a framework for how to think about chess, and his just-released new book,Chess Logic in Practice. Chess Logic in Practice expands on this framework and provides concrete examples to augment your chess understanding (more details about Erik's new book can be found at the bottom of this description). During our conversation, we disc...
Jul 30, 2019•1 hr 37 min
Dr. Kenneth Regan is an International Master, an associate professor of Computer Science at the University of Buffalo, and is one of the world’s foremost experts on using predictive analytics to help detect computer-assisted cheating in chess tournaments. With the chess world abuzz about the alleged cheating of GM Igors Rausis, I thought it would be the perfect time to invite Dr. Regan to join me to discuss all of the challenges faced by those who work to stop chess cheaters from undermining the...
Jul 23, 2019•1 hr 28 min
This week it was my honor to interview renowned player, author, and trainer, GM Vladimir Tukmakov. GM Tukmakov was once one of the world's top 20 players and was the 1970 Ukrainian national champion. More recently, he has switched his focus to coaching and writing about chess. He has had 4 chess books published in English, including the excellent new book Coaching the Chess Stars, which we discuss in great detail. This book shares his memories and annotates some key games from his time coaching ...
Jul 16, 2019•1 hr 11 min
This week the always popular Adult Improver Series returns with another rapidly rising adult guest. Megan Chen is a 24 year old software engineer and enthusiastic chess player. Since resuming tournament play in 2015 Megan’s USCF rating has ascended from 961 in 2015 to a peak rating of 1909! How did she do it? We discuss that in great detail, and as usual, you can find the links and timestamps below. The short answer, of course, is that she did lots of hard work on her chess and played in tons of...
Jul 11, 2019•1 hr 22 min
GM Pentala Harikrishna has been World Junior Champion, Asian Individual Champion, and he has been ranked as high as #10 in the world! In between tournaments, while home in Prague, GM Harikrishna joined me to assess his most recent tournaments, reflect on his career, and to talk about his recently released Chessable course, which provides a complete repertoire against the French Defense. Please read on for many more details, notes and timestamps. .. 0:00- GM Harikrishna has been quite busy of lat...
Jul 02, 2019•57 min
FM Alex Dunne is the author of over 12 books, including the recently released, Fred Reinfeld, The Man Who Taught America Chess. Alex is also an ICCF Correspondence Chess Master, and is well known for his popular column about correspondence chess in Chess Life magazine, called The Check is in the Mail. In our interview we discuss Fred Reinfeld, correspondence chess, chess improvement, Bobby Fischer and more. Please read on for more details. 0:00- We kick off by discussing Alex’s latest book, Fred...
Jun 25, 2019•57 min
17 year old GM Nicolas "Nico" Checa is one of the young stars of the American chess scene. He recently tied for first place in the 2019 National High School Chess Championship. With a 2617 USCF rating, he is #7 on the US Chess top 100 Under Age 21 List, and has beaten Fabiano Caruana in the Pro Chess League. On top of that, Nico is a regular 17 yr old, with other interests and activities competing for his time. In our interview Nico talks about how he finds time for everything, and shares a lot ...
Jun 18, 2019•1 hr 4 min
Nearly two years after our first interview popular Chess YouTuber, Twitch streamer, Photographer, Author, and yes, chess player, IM Eric Rosen returns to Perpetual Chess. As we discuss, a lot has changed for Eric in the past two years, including his place of residence and many of his professional responsibilities, but he remains a great person with whom to talk all things chess. Read on for more details, timestamps and links. 0:00- Intro. Eric discusses why he has set up residence in St. Louis a...
Jun 11, 2019•1 hr 12 min
This week’s guest is the highly productive and popular author and teacher, IM Cyrus Lakdawala. Cyrus has recently published his 40th (!) book, Opening Repertoire 1. d4 2. c4., and already has more books in the works. In addition to publishing multiple books per year, Cyrus also teaches chess for about 20 hours a week, plays in two tournaments per month, and even manages to meditate, exercise and read very regularly. In our conversation, Cyrus reveals how he accomplishes so much, talks some chess...
Jun 04, 2019•1 hr 23 min
Douglas Griffin is a chess author/blogger, translator, and an indispensable source of historical chess perspective on “chess twitter”. He is particularly interested and knowledgeable about chess in the Soviet Union. Doug is also a strong player. As a teen, he was one of Scotland’s stronger junior players. His FIDE rating reached about 2270, before his family, his work and his strong interest in chess history overtook his interest in tournament participation. While Doug may not be as well-known a...
May 28, 2019•1 hr 20 min
Neil McDonald is a Grandmaster, a trainer for the British Chess Federation and a prolific and accomplished author of 37 chess books! As you will hear, he has gathered some great stories to share in his decades in the chess world. His most recent book, Coach Yourself: A Complete Guide to Improvement at Chess is now available from Amazon and many other sellers. Read on for more details, links and timestamps. 0:00- Intro. Neil kicks off with a few great stories relating to chess history. The first ...
May 21, 2019•1 hr 30 min
This week the esteemed Grandmaster Evgeny Bareev joined me on the podcast. GM Bareev has been ranked as high as #4 in the world. He has been the trainer of the Russian National Team, and was a vital member of the team that assisted former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik in the early 2000s. Evgeny is also an acclaimed chess author. His prior book, From London to Elista, (co-authored with Ilya Levitov), won the 2007 Book of the Year, from the British Chess Federation. This year, Thinker’s Publishi...
May 14, 2019•1 hr 12 min
Jason Cigan is a 29 year old US Chess Master who recently won the Oregon State Championship. As Jason tells us, he did not begin seriously playing chess until he was 18, but in the past 11 years, he has managed to slowly and steadily gain over 1,000 rating points while working full time as a software engineer . (You can see his US Chess rating graph here.) How has he done it? Listen to the show and you will find out. For relevant links, timestamps, and many book recommendations, please keep read...
May 07, 2019•1 hr 39 min
This week I am joined by 25 year old GM Alex Ipatov. Alex is quite an accomplished chess player who is well known for winning the 2012 World Junior Chess Championship, among many other distinctions. These days, Alex is graduate student at St. Louis University, and he has recently published an original chess book called Unconventional Approaches to Modern Chess Volume 1: Rare Ideas for Black. His book is available from Thinker’s Publishing, Amazon and Forward Chess. For timestamps and relevant hy...
Apr 30, 2019•59 min
This week on Perpetual Chess, I would like to spotlight some of the ways that people are using chess as a vehicle to make a difference in the world. I am happy to say that there are countless qualified guests to choose from in this regard, and it was hard to limit myself to only 2 segments. As you will hear, the guests in both segments have great stories to tell. My first interview this week is with Scott and Norma Mero, the founders of the Charity Chess Championship, while Part 2 (26:30) featur...
Apr 23, 2019•1 hr 10 min
This week it is my great honor to talk with the five-time US Champion and 1996 FIDE World Championship Challenger, GM Gata Kamsky! Gata has just released Volume 1 of his highly anticipated games collection, Gata Kamsky - Chess Gamer, Volume 1: The Awakening 1989-1996. The recent release of this book gives us a rare opportunity to listen in as Gata Kamsky reflects on his illustrious chess career and discusses the past and future of chess. As usual, read on for timestamps of our discussion topics ...
Apr 16, 2019•1 hr 24 min
WIM Alexey Root is a former US Women’s Chess Champion among many other distinctions. She has a Ph. D. from UCLA in Education,and is a lecturer at The University of Texas at Dallas. Alexey has written 7 books about chess and education, and is also a frequent writer for US Chess and other publications. In our interview we discussed collegiate chess in the U.S, how opportunities for female chess players have changed, plus the important topic of what chess parents can do to help safeguard their chil...
Apr 09, 2019•1 hr 15 min
This week features another return guest, as John Hartmann joins me from the US Chess Championships in St. Louis. As listeners who heard our popular first interview will recall, John is the book reviewer for Chess Life Magazine, but they may not know that he was also recently named digital editor for Chess Life Online. Some of the highlights of this conversation include: a discussion of the 2019 US Championship, a rundown of some recent standout chess books, details on John’s new job, and his ref...
Apr 02, 2019•1 hr 34 min
This week GM Alex Colovic joins me from his native Skopje, Macedonia, speaking to me on the "rest day" of the European Chess Championship, in which he is competing. Alex Colovic is a Grandmaster, blogger, author and newly elected President of the Association of Chess Professionals. Alex catches us up on the status of the tournament at the midway point, and from there we have a wide-ranging conversation which covers topics which range from his latest Chessable course, The Najdorf Sicilian Simplif...
Mar 26, 2019•1 hr 5 min
This week it my pleasure to talk with the well known Dutch trainer, and award-winning author, IM Herman Grooten. Herman has been active as a chess trainer for more than 45 years and has worked with countless players, including well known players such as GM Loek Van Wely, GM Jan Werle and GM Benjamin Bok. Read on for more details and timestamps. 0:00- Intro and discussion of Herman’s life as a football/soccer coach and “chess dad.” Herman’s son, Tommy is a scholastic chess champion. What are the ...
Mar 19, 2019•1 hr 2 min
This week the Adult Improver Series continues with another inspiring guest. Twenty eight year-old Stjepan Tomić (creator of the Hanging Pawns Channel on Youtube) learned the rules of and fell in love with chess only a few years ago. Since that time he has not let a full-time job or a girlfriend (his life currently includes both) interfere with his drive to improve at the royal game. Stjepan details for us how he created a nine-year plan to become a Grandmaster, and three years into the plan, he ...
Mar 12, 2019•1 hr 3 min
GM Michal Krasenkow has battled many legends of the chessboard during the course of his life, and he has been one of the top 10 chess players in the world. He is also a respected chess trainer and author. His recently released and excellent new book, Learn from Michal Krasenkow shares many of his memories and favorite games. In our conversation, we discuss GM Krasenkow’s book in great detail, along with the usual assortment of improvement advice, recommendations, and favorite stories. Please rea...
Mar 05, 2019•1 hr 20 min
This week, the always popular and entertaining GM Jan Gustafsson makes his third appearance on Perpetual Chess. In addition to the broadcasting, streaming and video creation that Jan does for Chess24.com, he also was a part of "Team Magnus" for the 2016 and 2018 World Chess Championships. Naturally we discussed the most recent World Championships in great detail, as well as catching up on what else Jan has been up to since his Perpetual Chess interviews #1 and #2. As always you can keep up with ...
Feb 26, 2019•1 hr 1 min
28 year old Grandmaster Romain Edouard has been a top 50 chess player in the world, with a peak rating over 2700, but in recent years, he has been quite busy with other chess related work. He is the author of the highly regarded, Chess Calculation series, and this year, has published, My Magical Years with Topalov.a book about his time working as the second to one of the strongest players in the world. GM Edouard is also the Editor-in-Chief at Thinker’s Publishing, the publisher of his acclaimed...
Feb 19, 2019•50 min
My guest this week is 21 year old GM-elect Michael Brown. Michael just earned his final GM norm in January 2019, but the path to earning the highest chess title has come with many challenges. In our conversation, Michael walks us through how he overcame those challenges, and gives advice for how others can do the same in their own chess journeys. For many more details about our conversation, check out the timestamps below. Michael can be reached via email here. 0:00- Intro and recap of the tourn...
Feb 12, 2019•1 hr 14 min
This week I am joined by the authors by one of the most anticipated chess books in recent memory, Gamechanger: AlphaZero's Groundbreaking Chess Strategies and the Promise of AI.GM Matthew Sadler and WIM Natasha Regan have written a fascinating and revelatory book, so I was very excited to chat with them about the background to the book and discuss some highlights from it. In our conversation, we also touch on other aspects of Matthew and Natasha’s accomplished careers, particularly, how adults c...
Feb 05, 2019•1 hr 4 min
This week it was my great honor to get to chat with the acclaimed author, trainer and co-founder of Quality Chess, GM Jacob Aagaard. GM Aagaard is chairing the FIDE trainer’s commission and has worked with elite chess players like GM Sam Shankland and GM Boris Gelfand. Jacob was very generous with his time and wisdom in our conversation. You can keep up with Quality Chess on their blog, and you can email GM Aagaard here. You can find out more about the Quality Chess Academy here. For timestamps ...
Jan 29, 2019•1 hr 48 min
