Judit Sztaray, the Executive Director of Bay Area Chess, is my guest this week on Perpetual Chess. Bay Area Chess, based in San Jose, California, is the largest provider of chess classes on the west coast of the US, with programs in over 100 schools. Bay Area Chess frequently runs tournaments as well as its classes, and Judit has a great deal to share about the goals and the work of the organization. In my conversation we discuss: The recent simul they hosted, conducted by Former Women's World C...
Jul 03, 2018•52 min
This week’s guest on Perpetual Chess is the eminent chess author, GM Genna Sosonko. GM Sosonko has enjoyed a distinguished career as a chess player. He was once in the top 20 of the world's players and has helped train chess legends like Mikhail Tal and Viktor Korchnoi. But in recent years he has become best known for his beautiful chess writing. In our interview, we touch on GM Sosonko’s career and on the story behind his emigrating from the USSR to the Netherlands in the 1970’s, but the main f...
Jun 27, 2018•1 hr 33 min
Picking up on the theme of FIDE politics from the last episode, ChessBase Editor-in-Chief Macauley Peterson also spoke with IM Malcolm Pein while attending the first stop on the Grand Chess Tour in Leuven, Belgium. Macauley and Malcolm discuss the GCT 2018, which is continuing with more rapid and blitz in Paris, before turning to issues related to the FIDE election. Malcolm weighs in on the FIDE / Agon proposed "broadcast policy," the upcoming World Championship in London, why he joined the Makr...
Jun 25, 2018•43 min
Perpetual Chess makes a "zwischenzug" over to Europe where Macauley Peterson, Editor-in-Chief of ChessBase.com, is filling in for Ben this week. Macauley caught up with Grandmaster Nigel Short in Leuven, Belgium, at the close of the first tournament of the Grand Chess Tour 2018, the "Your Next Move Rapid and Blitz" tournament, where Short was a commentator. The former World Championship challenger is still an active player, but in May he launched a bid to succeed Kirsan Ilyumzhinov as President ...
Jun 19, 2018•1 hr 1 min
This week’s guest on Perpetual Chess is well-regarded American GM Josh Friedel. Josh is a frequent competitor on the American GM circuit, who also teaches, writes and lectures about chess. We talked about the following:- His most recent project, a YouTube series called “Autopsy,” in which he does an in-depth analysis of an educational chess game, with an emphasis on highlighting critical mistakes. - The matter of prearranged draws in GM games (an issue recently raised by Magnus Carlsen) is there...
Jun 12, 2018•1 hr 9 min
This week on Perpetual Chess, by popular demand, we begin an occasional series which will be called "Adult Improvers". For Adult Improvers we will feature a guest who is making significant strides in improving his or her chess performance, and focus extensively on how that improvement is being attained. The first such guest is Polish Candidate Master Andrzej Kryzdwa. Andrzej had been hovering around 2100 FIDE for over 20 years when he decided to devote a significant amount of his time to pursuin...
Jun 05, 2018•1 hr 17 min
On this week’s Perpetual Chess I talk to Super GM David Navarra. GM Navara is the eight time champion of the Czech Republic. He has been ranked as high as #14 in the world, but you wouldn’t know it by talking to him. GM Navara and I discussed the following- - His busy schedule of upcoming tournaments - His most memorable chess achievements, including being a part of the winning European Club Cup winning team in 2013, and playing with the likes of Kasparov and Karpov. - His advice for improving y...
May 29, 2018•1 hr 1 min
My final guest live from Nashville was none other than the seven-time winner of the US Women’s Championship, GM Irina Krush. Irina and I had a fun discussion, and covered the following topics: - Her reflections on the most recent US championships in St. Louis. (Irina finished in 3rd place)- How does she recover from tough losses? This is a crucial skill for all chess players to develop, and no, it doesn’t get much easier for grandmasters. - Why did she decide to devote herself full-time to chess...
May 25, 2018•57 min
Today's guest on Perpetual Chess is renowned chess teacher and author, FM Sunil Weerumantry. Sunil has been teaching chess in the New York area for more than 30 years and has coached more national scholastic champions than one can count. He is also the step dad of GM Hikaru Nakamura and his brother Asuka, who also broke many US Scholastic records as a child. Sunil and I discussed: The great new book he co-authored with Alan Abrams and Robert McClellan called Great Moves: Learning Chess Through H...
May 22, 2018•54 min
My second guest this weekend in Nashville, Tennessee marked the triumphant return to Perpetual Chess of popular chess teacher Jay Stallings. Jay gave an update on the status of the publication of the instructional chess books that he has been working on, which are an amazing resource for chess teachers, and for which he launched a successful Kickstarter campaign. You can order them here. Jay explained the difference between a "growth mindset" and a "fixed mindset", and shared what chess players ...
May 18, 2018•49 min
This weekend at the biggest annual scholastic chess tournament in the United States, the Elementary School National Championships, I was honored to interview US Chess Federation (USCF) Executive Director Carol Meyer, and the President of the US Chess Board of Directors, Mike Hoffpauir. They both devote a big part of their lives to chess, and I think you will enjoy it as: Carol and Mike both talk about their backgrounds and share how they became involved with the USCF Carol discusses her vision f...
May 15, 2018•55 min
This week’s guest is talented 18 year old GM Akshat Chandra. The former US Junior Champion spent some of his formative scholastic years in both India and the U.S., so he was able to offer some perspective on the differences between the two chess cultures. He also shared some insight about things that contributed to his swift improvement In chess, and shared his thoughts about the upcoming World Championship match. Last but definitely not least (13:00), we discussed the recent controversy that su...
May 08, 2018•48 min
My guest this week is 24-year-old IM Kassa Korley. Kassa is a strong young chess player, a YouTube steamer, a Duke University graduate, and he also works for a tech education startup. During our conversation he answered the following questions: Why does Kassa hate draws, what does he do to avoid them? How is Kassa's chess game progressing? He was the youngest African-American National Master in US history in 2008. Is his long-stated dream to become the 2nd African-American GM still alive? What w...
May 01, 2018•1 hr 34 min
This week’s guest on Perpetual Chess is the Director of Publications for the US Chess Federation, Dan Lucas. Dan has just launched a great chess podcast of his own which Perpetual Chess listeners are very likely to enjoy, "Cover Stories with Chess Life."We discussed: - What inspired the USCF’s new podcast? - How did Dan become the editor of Chess Life magazine, the USCF’s flagship magazine?-What does he look for in quality chess journalism? - What book about chess that is not a “chess book” alte...
Apr 24, 2018•43 min
This week it is my honor to talk with India's 3rd highest rated player, twenty-three-year-old rising star, GM Vidit Gujrathi. Gujrathi is at the forefront of India's torrent of chess talent, and is coming off a year in which his rating increased significantly. His recent highlights include a comfortable victory in the prestigious Tata Steel Masters' section and a feisty draw with Black vs. Magnus Carlsen at the Isle of Man tournament. In our conversation, we discuss those events, as well as the ...
Apr 17, 2018•56 min
My guest this week is Adam Weissbarth, a USCF National Master and the founder of Washington, D.C.- based Silver Knights Enrichment program. With 14 full-time employees, and more than 5,000 students participating in Silver Knights classes per week, Silver Knights is one of the largest providers of afterschool chess instruction in the United States. In our conversation, we discuss Adam’s modest beginnings as an independent chess teacher. He talks about the planning and the detail that went into th...
Apr 10, 2018•1 hr 17 min
In the midst of a very busy month of high profile competitive chess, talented young GM Yaroslav (“Yaro”) Zherebukh joined me for a fascinating conversation. Yaroslav talked about his upcoming events: the collegiate chess final 4 (our interview was recorded before it took place), the Pro Chess Leage live finals, and last but definitely not least, the upcoming US Chess Championships. Yaro started strong in last year's U.S. Championship, highlighted by a round 7 win over Fabiano Caruana, so he shar...
Apr 03, 2018•57 min
This week's conversation is with renowned chess trainer, Grandmaster Melikset Khachiyan. Melikset has had many incredibly accomplished chess students, but his most accomplished of all is undoubtedly GM Levon Aronian. Because Melikset knows Aronian well, he talked about the special qualities of Levon's talent, and what has gone wrong for him at the 2018 FIDE Candidates tournament. After that we delved into GM Khachiyan's own approach to chess improvement. He told me how he managed to climb out of...
Mar 27, 2018•1 hr 12 min
My guest this week is 23 year old Israeli IM Asaf Givon. In addition to being a 2480 FIDE rated player, Asaf is a YouTube streamer and highly regarded chess instructor. In our conversation, Asaf gave a lot of advice on how listeners can improve their own chess games. We also touched on the ongoing FIDE Candidates tournament, talked about the storylines emerging from it, and the likely opponents of Magnus Carlsen in the next World Championship match. Asaf also gave some perspective on chess in Is...
Mar 22, 2018•1 hr 7 min
This week marked the triumphant return of the hilarious and informative GM Jan Gustaffson to Perpetual Chess. Jan was one of my first guests on this podcast, and it was fun to have him back. He and his buddy, GM Peter Svidler, are gearing up to cover the FIDE Candidates tournament for Chess24.com beginning March 10. Jan revealed his own favorite to win the tournament and gave detailed information about the playing style of every player in the field. We also talked about a variety of other topics...
Mar 06, 2018•59 min
My guest this week is St. Louis based, Hungarian born GM Denes Boros.Denes is a strong and active chess player, a chess reporter, and his frequent lectures at the St. Louis Chess Club are popular events. Denes is also a student of psychology, so we talked a lot about the intersection of psychology and chess. He offered suggestions for some common issues that plague tournament players, such as time-management and nervousness/anxiety issues. We also talked about the history of chess in Denes's nat...
Feb 27, 2018•1 hr 4 min
Chess writer, teacher and book reviewer John Hartmann is not a titled chess player, but man, does he know his chess books! In our conversation, John reveals his list of "desert island" chess books and gives chess book recommendations of all shapes and sizes. We talk of chess memoirs/game collections, books about chess tactics, endgame books, and even about chess software. John also tells the unique story of how he got into chess as a somewhat troubled teen and how he became a book reviewer for t...
Feb 20, 2018•1 hr 17 min
Mark Crowther is the founder, editor, and writer behind the indispensable online periodical The Week In Chess (TWIC). In our conversation, we talked about Mark’s origins, TWIC’s humble beginnings, and how he manages the workflow of writing about and publishing a relentless torrent of chess games played by top players. Mark and I also talked about the chess world more broadly. He shared a rumor he recently heard about the next FIDE election and discussed his own chess playing, plus shared book re...
Feb 13, 2018•1 hr 5 min
This week GM Elshan Moradiabadi joined me. In addition to being a former champion in Iran, Elshan is a chess trainer and author. During our interview, Elshan explained why he and his fiance, WGM Sabina Foisor, have relocated to North Carolina and how they are enjoying life there. We also discussed Iran's unique chess history- chess was banned there from 1980 to 1999. Elshan shared the prevailing theories on the reasons for Iran's chess ban. He also explained how he was able to ascend to the GM l...
Feb 06, 2018•1 hr 7 min
This week’s guest on Perpetual Chess is two- time Canadian Chess Champion turned hedge fund analyst, GM Pascal Charbonneau. In our conversation, Pascal tells us how chess helped him break into the finance industry, and he gives advice for anyone contemplating such a transition. He also looked back fondly to a time when he was more active in chess, and talked about what he misses most. Pascal has so many chess stories and accomplishments to share. He has beaten Vishy Anand in a classical game and...
Jan 30, 2018•1 hr 9 min
My guest this week is Spanish Grandmaster/chess24 streamer/civil engineer Pepe Cuenca. As a chess streamer, Pepe has an inimitable and energetic style. Pepe talked about how he cultivated that style and what his not-so-secret ingredient is (Red Bull). He also recapped a recent tournament he competed in in Argentina and gave the rundown on the Spanish chess scene. Lastly, Pepe gave us some helpful recommendations. He told us which International tournaments we should attend, which chess books to r...
Jan 23, 2018•50 min
This week marks the return of the very first Perpetual Chess guest, IM Greg Shahade. With the Pro Chess League set to resume Thursday, January 18, Greg told us about the changes that he and the Chess.com team have cooked up with the goal of improving the viewer experience. He also reeled off the names of some of the top players slated to play this year (Carlsen, Anand, MVL, Caruana, among others). Greg talked about the rules that are in place to incentivize teams to recruit top players, includin...
Jan 15, 2018•1 hr 18 min
My guest this week is renowned chess author, International Master John Donaldson. Along with his co-author, IM Eric Tangborn, IM Donaldson recently completed and released a 5 volume biography of Bobby Fischer. So naturally, John and I did a deep dive on the life and legacy of chess legend Bobby Fischer. John tackled several unanswered questions about Fischer's life that drove him to undertake this project. He also shared some memories about the recently deceased grandmaster Bill Lombardy, with w...
Jan 09, 2018•1 hr 53 min
This week I enjoyed talking with Sweden's highest rated chess player, the impressive young Grandmaster Nils Grandelius. Despite his being only 24 years old, Nils has had a wealth of experience in the chess world, including having played and held his own against such titans as Carlsen, Caruana, Kramnik, and Anand. Nils discussed those experiences with us and talked about what he thinks he needs to improve to ascend toward that level. He also shared some behind-the-scenes details about what it was...
Dec 26, 2017•1 hr 1 min
To mark the one year anniversary of Perpetual Chess, Ben Finegold returned as our first repeat guest. When Ben first talked with us in January 2017, he talked about plans for The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Atlanta, and in the past year GM Finegold and his wife, Karen Boyd, have seen the club go from dream to reality. Ben shared the surprises and successes that they have encountered during the club's first year. We also talked about the chess world more broadly, as Ben discussed the FIDE...
Dec 19, 2017•1 hr 10 min
