The Adult Improver series returns to look at both the macro and the micro of adult chess improvement. My guest is NM Todd Bryant. Todd is a software engineer (for Chess.com) and an accomplished player, who has used his analytical skills to gather lots of data about the most accomplished adult improvers in recent US Chess History. Todd shares information about the standout improvement cases at different age ranges. What would be considered an exceptional rating gain for someone over the age of 30...
Sep 05, 2023•1 hr 17 min
This week our guest is WFM Maaike Keetman . Maaike is a 2016 Dutch Chess Olimpian and youth champion, who is also a Chessable author and member of its content creation team. Maaike joined me shortly after competing in a big open tournament in Europe, The Czech Open . Maaike reflected on her own performance and also highlighted what anyone considering playing in this tournament in future years could expect. Following that, we discuss the September 1 launch of Chessable’s ‘Create Your Own Course’ ...
Aug 29, 2023•58 min•Ep. 345
GM Melik Khachiyan is a top player and former chess Olympian. He is also a trainer who has taught many future GMs and has coached the US Women’s national team for many years. Despite his many successes, Melik had never won a US Championship of his own…until this year. In 2023, Melik beat out many higher-rated U.S. legends to comfortably win the U.S. Senior Championship! In our conversation, Melik takes us behind the scenes of the games and opening preparation, and his training regimen during the...
Aug 22, 2023•58 min•Ep. 344
We catch you up on the riveting 2023 FIDE World Cup . I am joined by Chessable author and blogger, CM Vjekoslav Nemec to discuss the tournament so far, then FIDE Press officer IM Michael Rahal joins me from the playing hall in Baku to describe the venue and what it has been like to do post-game interviews with the players, including one with Magnus Carlsen that went viral. Thanks to our presenting chess education sponsor, Chessable. Check out FM Nate Solon’s new course here: https://www.chessabl...
Aug 18, 2023•52 min
Jeff Sona s is a software engineer and database consultant who is also one of the world’s leading experts on chess ratings. As you may have read, FIDE recently proposed some changes to its rating system (partially due to Jeff’s advice). . In our conversation, Jeff explains the background of his work on ratings, and why he feels that changes to the system are necessary. Following a detailed and fascinating conversation about chess ratings, we discuss Jeff’s excellent historical chess site, Chessm...
Aug 15, 2023•1 hr 34 min•Ep. 343
This week we are joined by a legend of Norwegian Chess, GM Simen Agdestein . Simen was the first Norwegian Grandmaster, a childhood trainer of Magnus Carlsen, and is a nine-time champion of Norway, who holds the record of being both the country’s youngest and oldest national champion, after winning the title again this year at age 56. As if these feats weren’t impressive enough, at the time Simen was around his chess peak (#16 in the world) he was also a star football/soccer player, who played s...
Aug 08, 2023•1 hr 22 min
After a lengthy hiatus, the book review series Chess Books Recaptured , returns to discuss another classic chess book. This time we discuss Chess for Zebras . Originally published in 2003, Zebras is a followup to Rowson’s classic first book The Seven Deadly Chess Sins . While the book has some tonal similarities to its predecessor, it is a bit more narrow in focus. My guest co-host is Law Professor David Franklin. (David also co-hosted our discussion of Seven Deadly Chess Sins) Like me, David is...
Aug 04, 2023•1 hr 4 min
Perpetual Chess is back with a banger of a double episode. First up is chess superstar, GM Levon Aronian ! Levon joined me from Spain after returning from the first season of the Global Chess League in Dubai. Levon reflected on the success of his championship-winning team, and we discussed why he thinks initiatives like this league are vital to the future health of chess. We then broadened the scope of our conversation, and Levon shared memorable stories about his humble beginnings and Armenia, ...
Aug 01, 2023•1 hr 44 min
Fresh off of commentating the match for Chess.com, Award-Winning Podcaster, Author, and 2-time US Women's Champion Jen Shahade joined me to reflect on GM Ju Wenjun's dramatic comeback. Jen shares what it was like to cover the decisive Game 12, and describes the moment when she realized we might not be going to rapid tiebreaks after all. We also discuss the historical context of GM Ju Wenjun becoming just the 6th player to win the Women's World Championship 4 times or more. After discussing the m...
Jul 27, 2023•35 min
The FIDE World Cup is a unique, bi-annual tournament that is distinguished by its elimination format, its wide variety of time controls, and its significant prizes, both in terms of cash ($110,000 for first) and in the form of 3 spots that are awarded in the 2024 FIDE Candidates. This year’s edition starts Sunday, and I am joined by Chessable author, tournament organizer, chess superfan, and Twitter celebrity, Mr. Dodgy (Michael Duke) to preview the tournament. Mr. Dodgy and I share our “likes a...
Jul 25, 2023•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 340
This week’s guest is the four-time U.S. women's champion and perennial US National Team Member WGM Anna Zatonskih. Anna joined me the week after her inspiring victory at the 2023 Cairns Cup to reflect on her standout performance. As Anna recounts, as the second to lowest seed in the tournament, most people had modest expectations for her, but despite self-doubt and busy life, she nonetheless decided to prepare rigorously for the tournament and hoped to put her best foot forward. As it turned out...
Jul 18, 2023•58 min•Ep. 339
After 6 games, the 2023 FIDE Women’s World Championship is closely contested. The challenger, GM Lei Tingjie leads the Champion, GM Ju Wenjun 3.5-2.5 as the players take a 2-day break to switch host cities. One of the top female players in the United States, WGM Begim Tokhirjonova joins me to share her thoughts on the match. Begim was the 2018 Uzbek Women’s Champion and is now a member of the U.S. National team and a student at the University of Missouri. She has been annotating the games for Ch...
Jul 13, 2023•30 min
This week’s guests on Perpetual Chess are the award-winning co-authors and tournament chess players, Dr. Christopher Chabris and Dr. Daniel Simons . Dr. Chabris, of course, is a cognitive scientist, USCF Master, chess dad, and frequent guest on Perpetual Chess. Dr. Simons is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Illinois-Urbana and a tournament chess player in his own right. Their excellent new book, Nobody’s Fool: Why We Get Taken in and What We Can Do About It is not exclusively about...
Jul 11, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 338
Nate Shuman is a New York City-based high school student who founded an organization called Mindmates . Mindmates has already facilitated workshops for many of the top scholastic chess organizations in the New York City area. Nate has experienced the benefits of mindfulness first-hand, as it helped him get through a lengthy chess plateau that he felt threatened to sap the joy of chess from him. In our conversation, Nate shares a couple of basic mindfulness techniques that can help any tournament...
Jul 04, 2023•59 min
We are trying a new format here on Perpetual Chess and are featuring tournament trip reports from 3 different amateurs who recently competed in the National Open in Las Vegas, Nevada. I have long wanted to know more about what it is like to attend and compete in this venerable chess festival, and I lined up 3 guests to share their reflections on the tournament and the chess lessons that they learned. My 3 guests are: 1) NM Todd Bryant (aka StrongChess) joins the podcast to discuss his experience...
Jun 30, 2023•1 hr 12 min
David Franklin is a constitutional law professor and practicing appellate lawyer. David also is a USCF expert and chess enthusiast who follows the chess world closely. In 2022, David came on Perpetual Chess to help explain the Hans Niemann lawsuit after it was filed. At the time he felt it was an uphill battle for Hans, which has proven to be the case given the lawsuit's dismissal. David rejoins the podcast to review the dismissal and to discuss what further recourse GM Hans Niemann might have, ...
Jun 28, 2023•28 min
This week we are re-joined by a legend of the game, 9 time Dutch champion and award winning author, GM Jan Timman. GM Timman has just released his latest book, Max Euwe’s Best Games , which puts the games of his fellow Dutch legend under a modern microscope. We discuss Jan’s personal relationship with Euwe, and Jan answers some questions about the World Champion’s legacy. Is it fair to say that Euwe only beat Alekhine in 1935 due to Alekhine’s drinking problem? What were Euwe’s best games? How d...
Jun 27, 2023•1 hr 11 min
The Adult Improver Series returns with two insightful guests joining the podcast. WIM Natasha Regan is an author and actuary who among many other chess accomplishments recently became the British over 50 Women’s National Champion! Natasha recently collaborated on a Chessable course with Matthew Ball, who is a chess dad and dedicated improver who has made significant rating progress since returning to competitive chess in recent years. Natasha and Matthew shared lots of helpful chess study tips c...
Jun 20, 2023•1 hr 3 min
This week’s return guest is the always entertaining and informative, GM Ben Finegold. Ben is a popular Twitch Streamer and YouTuber who has just released his first Chessable course, Starting out with 1. D4. Ben is always among my favorites to interview because he offers a unique blend of entertaining stories, hot-takes on top level chess and improvement advice. This episode is no exception, as Ben discusses the status of his OTB retirement, whether Magnus Carlsen’s best OTB days are behind him, ...
Jun 13, 2023•1 hr 1 min
This week’s guest on Perpetual Chess is U.S. Chess Hall of Famer, IM James Sherwin . An 89-year-old New York City Native, Sherwin has played and met many chess legends. He knew Bobby Fischer from his teenage years. Jim did not pursue chess professionally and had a successful career as an attorney and a corporate executive, but he still managed to compete extensively and participated in 8 US Championships, often finishing near the top of the standings. Sherwin now lives in the London area, and as...
Jun 06, 2023•1 hr 19 min
This week’s guest is Author and Data Scientist, GM Vinay Bhat. Vinay was one of the top chess prodigies in modern US History. He amassed many scholastic titles and held the record of the youngest ever US National Master before Hikaru Nakamura broke his record. Despite Vinay’s extraordinary chess success, he always maintained many interests and put a particular emphasis on his school work, and then his career. Now 38 years of age, Vinay has written an excellent new book with Quality Chess, How I ...
May 30, 2023•1 hr 25 min
The Perpetual Chess Adult Improver Series returns to hear some more reflections from an accomplished chess amateur. This week we are joined by John Neely. John started competitive chess at the age of 36 in 2011 and has had a long road to the ECF equivalent of about 1800. John has put in plenty of hours, both as a student of the game, an OTB competitor, and as a Chessable community author who created the popular series Visualize . In our interview, John reflects on the lessons he has learned in h...
May 23, 2023•1 hr 4 min
GM Wojciech Moranda is an insightful author, trainer, and one of the top players in Poland. He rejoins Perpetual Chess this week to do a deep dive on all things related to chess improvement. Wojciech answers questions related to memorizing and annotating games, improving at positional chess, the value of playing compared to reading, plus many more questions that can help your game and study routine. In the second half of the interview we expand our conversation to discuss Wojciech’s excellent ne...
May 16, 2023•1 hr 48 min
This week’s guest on Perpetual Chess is one the United States’ top players, GM Sam Shankland. Sam is a two- time Olympic Gold Medalist, the 2018 US Champion, and an acclaimed author and Chessable creator . A dedicated teacher, Sam is also a lead trainer and the co-founder of Killer Chess Training . As a late starter by the standards of a chess professional, Sam is always especially insightful on the topic of chess improvement. In our conversation, we reflect on his own ups and downs in recent ye...
May 09, 2023•1 hr 22 min
On the heels of a thrilling rapid playoff, I am joined by GM Erwin L’ami to discuss the crowning of GM Ding Liren as the FIDE 17th World Chess Champion. Erwin is a return guest, and a popular Chessable author , who has worked on the team of former FIDE World Champion GM Veselin Topalov, and of GM Anish Giri. In our interview, Erwin shares his impressions of the dramatic playoff, the opening choices, and the psychological ups and downs that both players endured over the course of a long and close...
May 02, 2023•1 hr 8 min
0:00- Check out some of my favorite Chessable courses here: https://go.chessable.com/perpetual-chess-podcast/ Check out what’s new from Chessable here: https://www.chessable.com/courses/all/new/ 01:30- Ben goes over some programming notes and does a quick rundown of recent games 05:30- GM Alex Lenderman joins the pod! We begin by discussing how to recover from difficult losses, a recurring theme in this match. Mentioned: Video of Ding and Rapport walking to the hotel elevator: https://www.youtub...
Apr 27, 2023•1 hr 16 min
Recorded in Washington Square in New York City on April 8, 2023. This week’s guest on Perpetual Chess is the CEO of Chessable, Geert van der Velde. As longtime listeners know, Geert is a former rock star, devoted chess improver, dad, and avid runner. We recorded on location from the “chess tables” at Washington Square Park on April 8, 2023, in NYC, where Geert was visiting. In our interview, we discussed Geert’s “visitor’s perspective” on the iconic chess tournaments in Reykjavik and Wijk an Zee...
Apr 25, 2023•1 hr 1 min
We are back with another "bonus pod" discussing the unpredictable and riveting World Championship Match between GM Ian Nepomniatchtchi and Ding Liren. After Round 9, Nepo clings to a one game lead as they head into a rest day Saturday. To discuss this eventful match, I am joined by return guest, the popular YouTuber , Twitch Streamer and Chessable Author , IM Andras Toth. Andras is especially insightful when it comes to helping amateur chess players, so I thought he was the perfect person to dis...
Apr 21, 2023•1 hr 10 min
This week’s guest on Perpetual Chess is the ever popular Commentator, Streamer , YouTuber and traveling chess professional, WGM Dina Belenkaya . Dina is a 4 time Women's champion of St. Petersburg, which is no small feat given her native city's rich chess legacy. These days, Dina is based in France, represents Israel internationally, and competes frequently in various locations. Dina joined me shortly after returning home from the Reykjavik Open, an annual open tournament which is always popular...
Apr 18, 2023•1 hr 16 min
An ongoing World Championship match means more bonus coverage from Perpetual Chess! I am joined by FM Mike Klein from on-site in Astana, Kazakhstan. Mike and I chat about the surprising turns that have taken place in a match that has already seen 2 decisive results in 4 games, as GM Ding Liren looks to have overcome a rocky start. In addition to discussing the openings, Mike shares details about what the venue is like and how it compares to the other World Championships he has attended. You can ...
Apr 13, 2023•31 min
