The Perpetual Chess Adult Improver Series returns to spotlight another amateur from the chess community. This week’s guest is Chris Duncan. Chris is a 24 year old Army logistician and Psychology Graduate Student who shares a powerful story of the power of chess to bridge cultural gaps.In our interview, we discuss Chris’ background and “on/off” relationship with chess, but we primarily focus on the way that chess became a welcome distraction from the stresses of being stationed abroad in 2022. As...
Apr 11, 2023•43 min
This week we are excited to catch up with the most popular chess content creator in the world, IM Levy Rozman aka Gotham Chess. With a Chessable course launching, and a book coming soon, Levy took a break from his busy schedule to reflect on another year of explosive growth in his content. His YouTube channel recently passed 3 million subs, and Levy’s TikTok account went from 0 to 1 million+ followers in about 3 months! In our interview, Levy takes us behind the scenes of the work that goes into...
Apr 04, 2023•1 hr 21 min
With the 2023 FIDE World Chess Championship less than 2 weeks away, we bring you a double episode dissecting the match between GM Ian Nepomniatchtchi and GM Ding Liren. Since we feature 2 knowledgeable guests, we also discuss topics ranging from chess improvement, to the Sicilian defense, to online rating deflation. First up is popular YouTuber , commentator, author and Chessable Author , GM Daniel King. Daniel has attended multiple World Championships and was able to provide helpful context on ...
Mar 28, 2023•1 hr 55 min
IM Willy Hendriks is a Netherlands based chess trainer, and an author of three books: Move First Think Later ( 2012 ECF Book of the Year), On the Origin of Good Moves, and his new book, Ink War: Romanticism vs. Modernity in Chess . Ink War is an entertaining and informative look at the first World Championship Match between Wilhelm Steinitz and Johannes Zukertort. As we discuss the two players had some common biographical traits, but were bitter rivals away from the board. Willy explains why the...
Mar 21, 2023•1 hr 14 min
This week on Perpetual Chess we catch up with GM Cristian Chirila. A former Romanian youth champion, GM Chirila is now based in Missouri and has many roles in the chess world including commentator for the Grand Chess Tour, coach of the St. Louis University Chess Team, and co-host, with GM Fabiano Caruana, of the C-Squared podcast. On C Squared, GM’s Chirila and Caruana are often joined by prominent guests to discuss top-level chess news. The podcast is highlighted by its excellent production and...
Mar 14, 2023•1 hr 13 min
This month, The Adult Improver Series welcomes Ben Hunt of the Chess Boot Camp YouTube Channel . Through his channel and a Chess.com forum , Ben has built a community around helping players rated 500-1200 improve. Ben started pursuing chess seriously in 2019 and shares tons of helpful reflections including his favorite content creators, the challenges of transitioning to OTB, and what he has learned from creating a YouTube channel geared towards fellow chess amateurs. Ben’s enthusiasm for chess ...
Mar 07, 2023•1 hr 13 min
Dr. Howard Burton is a documentary filmmaker and author. Howard holds a PhD in theoretical physics and an MA in Philosophy. He is also the founder of the award-winning multimedia initiative Ideas Roadshow. Their latest documentary, Through the Mirror of Chess: A Cultural Exploration , is a 4 part documentary that shows the cultural impact and history of chess from its origins to modern times. It is very informative and well produced, and features many familiar faces including GM Hou Yifan, IM Da...
Feb 28, 2023•1 hr 7 min
This week I am joined by IM Yaacov Norowitz . Yaacov is a trainer, a Chessable author, and a speed chess specialist who has won the World Open Blitz tournament 5 times. He has a Chess.com peak blitz rating of nearly 3000. Yaacov has a unique background, and he had some entertaining stories to tell about topics that include : His over 12000 blitz and bullet games against Hikaru Nakamura. Yaacov has known Hikaru since Hikaru was age 6, before he started playing competitive chess. His early interac...
Feb 21, 2023•1 hr 9 min
The Perpetual Chess Book Review Series Chess Books Recaptured returns to discuss the award winning book, San Luis 2005 by GM Alik Gershon and Igor Nor. San Luis 2005 chronicles a crucial tournament in modern chess history, a double round robin whose winner determined the FIDE World Champion. The tournament featured nearly all of the top players of the time including GM Viswanathan Anand, Judit Polgar, Peter Svidler, and the winner, GM Veselin Topalov. As we discuss, GM Vladimir Kramnik was consp...
Feb 17, 2023•1 hr 20 min
This week we are joined by a young star of the chess world, Dutch GM and Chessable Author GM Jorden van Foreest . Just 23 years of age, Jorden already has a wide range of chess experience. As a player, Jorden has a peak rating of 2715 and was the Dutch National Champion in 2016 and the Tata Steel Champion in 2021. He also has already had the opportunity to work extensively with his Dutch compatriot, GM Anish Giri, as well as on the preparation team of GM Magnus Carlsen. Jorden reflects on all of...
Feb 14, 2023•1 hr 1 min
GM Mihail Marin has spent his life surrounded by chess in varying professional capacities and has the wealth of wisdom and stories you might expect from such experiences. He is a polyglot, a prolific and award winning author , a top trainer, and a 3 time Romanian national Chess champion. GM Marin is also the friend and frequent collaborator of GM Judit Polgar, and eventually helped Judit write her landmark books after befriending her family in the early 1990s. In our interview, we discuss all of...
Feb 07, 2023•2 hr 16 min
This week’s guest on Perpetual Chess an author, an American Chess Magazine columnist, and the recently-crowned World Champion of correspondence chess , Dr. Jon Edwards. Correspondence chess historically was played by mail, without assistance. These days it is played by email, with engine assistance allowed. The current format makes for incredibly accurate games that often end in draws. So what enabled Jon to win the Championship? Did luck play a role? Jon is an expert on how modern engines work,...
Jan 31, 2023•1 hr 21 min
We are back with another Tata Steel focused bonus pod. As we recorded the venerable tournament has 3 rounds left and has been filled with beautiful games and fascinating storylines. We are re-joined by renowned author / Chessable author , FM Michiel Abeln to assess what we have seen so far. Timestamps of topics and players discussed are below. 0:00- What has struck Michiel about the first 10 rounds of the Masters tournament? 06:00- We briefly discuss the Challengers section. 09:00- We discuss th...
Jan 27, 2023•1 hr 11 min
The Adult Improver Series of Perpetual Chess returns today. It is a series devoted to sharing the stories of dedicated chess amateurs. This week’s guest is Kamryn Hellman. Kamryn is a 23 year-old who got swept up by chess in 2021 after seeing Queen’s Gambit . At that time she learned the game from scratch, and in the subsequent time she has become immersed in the culture and brought her Chess.com rapid rating to a peak of over 1900. Kamryn has also gotten involved in her local chess community an...
Jan 24, 2023•1 hr 12 min
We’ve got some bonus content for you guys, as renowned author / Chessable author FM Michiel Abeln joined me on the first rest day to discuss the ongoing Tata Steel Chess tournament. Tata Steel is an annual tournament in the Netherlands which routinely attracts many of the world’s top players as well as rising stars. It is run concurrently with tournaments open to all, and is celebrating its 85th anniversay this year! We recorded the podcast the day after Anish Giri beat Magnus Carlsen in impress...
Jan 18, 2023•57 min
This week’s guest on Perpetual Chess is the hardest-working man in chess. He is Twitch Streamer, Chess.com commentator, and ambitious improver, FM James Canty. I have been a fan of James for a long time, so I was glad to finally get to ask him some questions about what motivates him to work so hard on his game. Naturally we also discussed what James specifically is studying, his pursuit of the IM and GM titles, and some of his favorite chess improvement resources. I find it energizing and motiva...
Jan 17, 2023•1 hr 14 min
This week on Perpetual Chess, we are rejoined by 2019 Swiss National Champion, blogger and trainer, GM Noel Studer. Noel is always extremely insightful on matters related to chess improvement, and has recently released a video course sharing his own recommended approach. The course, Next Level Training : Conquer the Chess Information Chaos, tackles many of the questions commonly contemplated on the pod, such as which aspects of the game to prioritize, how to analyze games and how to approach ope...
Jan 10, 2023•1 hr 31 min
We are joined this week by a legend of British chess, GM Jonathan Speelman! Jonathan is a three- time British champion, a two-time World Championship Candidate an author, Chessbase.com columnist, and a trainer. He has been ranked as high as #4 in the world in 1989 and has worked as a second for GMs Viktor Korchnoi, Vishy Anand and Nigel Short. As you might imagine, such a wealth of chess experience gives Jonathan an endless array of stories and a great perspective on what differentiates top play...
Jan 03, 2023•1 hr 23 min
As 2022 draws to a close, I am (re)joined by Chess Life Magazine editor and Award Winning Journalist John Hartmann to reflect on a year of seismic change in the chess world. First and foremost, cheating in chess has been thrust to the forefront in the wake of the Carlsen/Niemann scandal. We review the latest legal developments in this particular story and also provide some details on a new chess cheating scandal from a tournament in Spain. John and I also discuss the big “chess business” news of...
Dec 27, 2022•1 hr 25 min
This week’s guest on Perpetual Chess is author, psychology professor and avid chess player, Dr. Joel Sneed. In the professional realm, Joel is a practicing clinical psychologist, and his research focuses on the topics of late life depression and cognitive impairment. A casual chess game with a patient led to Joel's discovery of competitive chess, and since then he has always found time for the game. In addition to co-authoring some excellent chess books, Joel has achieved very unusual gains for ...
Dec 20, 2022•1 hr 28 min
This episode was recorded at Suite Recording Studios in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey and is also available with video on the Perpetual Chess YouTube channel . Chess Books Recaptured returns, this time to discuss 10 books for the price of one! My guest co-host is FM Carsten Hansen, who returns to the pod to join me in selecting and discussing different chess books for different chess experience levels. Carsten is a prolific author, the book reviewer for American Chess Magazine, and a Chess Life magazin...
Dec 16, 2022•1 hr 32 min
This week’s guest on Perpetual Chess is GM Srinath Narayanan. Srinath is a 3 time Asian Junior Champion, a popular Chessable Author and a high-level trainer. GM Srinath has worked with many of India’s brightest young talents including, GM Arjun Erigaisi and GM Nihail Sarin. I caught Arjun at an interesting time, as both Arjun and Nihail had just won events in the star-studded Tata Steel India tournaments. What does it feel like when your longtime students are suddenly outperforming world elites ...
Dec 13, 2022•1 hr 22 min
This week we are joined by trainer, author and 6 time New Jersey state chess champion, IM Dean Ippolito . Dean has been an accomplished active player for decades, and a major theme of our conversation is the increasingly unforgiving nature of modern competitive chess. As Dean explains, players at all ages and levels are better prepared and more skilled than ever before. Competing with them is a challenge, but Dean relishes the opportunity to put his best foot forward and shares helpful advice fo...
Dec 06, 2022•1 hr 34 min
Vishnu is a 31 year old tech consultant, chess author and dad who has been waking up at 4 AM to study chess for hours before his family and work life begins. Vishnu shares his study routine and chess resource recommendations from studying chess intensively in recent years. Vishnu also candidly discusses his long term goal of becoming a GM, a goal that many would say is impossible for someone with so many other responsibilities to achieve. Lastly, Vishnu’s shares some of his best advice from his ...
Nov 29, 2022•1 hr 9 min
As suspense builds in the FIDE Women’s World Championship Cycle, I am joined by one of France’s top female players to discuss what has transpired so far, and what is coming. My guest is WIM Andreaa Navrotescu. Andreaa is a Romanian-born, French-based chess player, Twitch streamer and commentator. Andreaa joined me shortly after returning from Monaco, where GM Lei Tingjie defeated Anna Muzychuk in a tense match, to advance to the next stage of the cycle. Andreea was there working as FIDE Press Of...
Nov 22, 2022•1 hr 17 min
This week I am joined by longtime friend of the podcast Neal Bruce. Neal learned chess from scratch at the age of 40, and is immersed in a multi-year chess study plan that currently focuses on studying the game collections of some of some of chess’ greatest players. As bibliophiles, Neal and I are particularly interested in books featuring legendary games, but one can also study classics through online databases or YouTube serieses. In this podcast, Neal updates us on his study routine, and we r...
Nov 08, 2022•1 hr 17 min
The Adult Improver Series of Perpetual Chess returns with an insightful guest with a passion for openings and tournament chess. Kyle Boddy is the founder of an influential and successful baseball performance training company, Driveline Baseball. , which started as a one-man operation, and now boasts 50+ employees and many professional athletes as clients. Having been introduced to chess as a kid, Kyle actually regained his interest in the game in recent years while working in a Major League Base...
Nov 01, 2022•1 hr 19 min
This week we are joined by one of the best chess online chess teachers in the world, IM Andras Toth. Andras is an Australia-based Chessable author, YouTube presenter and Twitch streamer. Andras’ background as a teacher enables him to explain chess strategy very clearly, in a no-nonsense style. It had been a while since Andras and I had talked, so it was doubly fun to catch up with him. In our interview, Andras answers tons of listeners' questions related to chess improvement, discusses some favo...
Oct 25, 2022•1 hr 11 min
With the bombshell news that GM Hans Niemann is suing Magnus Carlsen , Chess.com, and Hikaru Nakamura, we brought in a legal expert to help us make sense of the case. I am joined by Professor David Franklin . David is a Constitutional Law Professor and an appellate lawyer, who is also a chess enthusiast who had already been following the Carlsen/Niemann story closely. In our conversation, David answered important questions about the legitimacy of the lawsuit, and which potential scenarios are li...
Oct 22, 2022•54 min
This week we are rejoined by Dr. Kenneth Regan. Dr. Regan is, as many of you will are already aware, is one of the world’s leading experts at engine cheat detection. He is an IM at chess, and is the rare individual with domain expertise in chess, statistics and computer science. Dr. Regan has degrees in mathematics from Princeton and Oxford and is a Professor in Computational Complexity Theory at the University of Buffalo. As a chess player, Ken was the 1977 US Junior co-champion and once held t...
Oct 18, 2022•1 hr 34 min
