EP.02 - Grandmaster Jan Gustafsson

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 a way to avoid them? - Lots of other topics, including what openings we might expect in the upcoming World Championships, reflections on Sam Shankland’s torrid 2018, and a couple of fun stories about Kasparov and Karpov. Thanks to Josh for joining me. Check out his new YouTube series here, follow him on twitter here, and Facebook here. To support the podcast go here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

12 Juni 20181h 8min

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 pursuing the International Master title.  Andrzej is 38 years old, runs a small business, and is married with two children, so the time that he can devote to this pursuit is limited. Nonetheless, in the past couple of years, Andrzej has shown great success, culminating in a recent tournament with a 2579 Performance Rating, his first IM Norm (!), and a FIDE rating now well north of 2200. How did he do it? Tune in to find out. You can find more details and timestamps below: For full show notes, please go here: www.perpetualchesspod.com/new-blog/2018/6/4/episode-76-andrzej-krzywda-adult-improver-series Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

5 Juni 20181h 16min

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 your chess play and enhancing your chess intuition.Thanks to GM Navara for joining me for an insightful interview. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

29 Maj 20181h

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 while some of her peers have sought work in other fields? How does she manage to play so much while also teaching and writing about chess? Irina had many tales to tell, including stories of playing blitz with Magnus, playing future World Champ Hou Yifan when she was just 11 years old, the Olympiads and more. Thanks to Irina for a great chat. To see the puzzle from Shereshevsky's new book mentioned by Irina, go here. Black to move and win. To support the podcast go here. This is the last "Friday bonus" podcast, Perpetual returns to weekly Tuesday releases next week. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

25 Maj 201857min

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 History. I highly recommend this book for chess teachers and chess history buffs. Sunil's story of growing up in Sri Lanka, making his way to New York, and becoming a chess teacher. What does one need to be "talented at chess"? Did he notice it in Hikaru and Asuka? Stories from travels with Hikaru and meeting chess legends Thanks to Sunil for joining me. You can order his book here. To support the podcast, go here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

22 Maj 201854min

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 can learn from Beyonce and baseball player Trevor Bauer. He discussed upcoming travel plans, including plotting a potential trip to the upcoming World Championships Jay suggested a few future Perpetual Chess guests. Thanks much to Jay for joining me again, it is always fun to hear his ideas and absorb his enthusiasm for chess. To support the podcast go here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

18 Maj 201849min

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 for the USCF and discloses short-term and long-term plans that the organization is undertaking Carol and Mike discuss the role that the USCF plays with an American in the upcoming World Chess Championship Mike and Carol discuss some changes that they are implementing at future scholastic tournaments in light of a recent controversy. We also got some book recommendations and discussed the overall health of the USCF. Thanks to Carol and Mike for an insightful and fun interview. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

15 Maj 201854min

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 surrounds Akshat, as he finds himself defending against allegations of using engine assistance in online play. In a recent blog post, Akshat gave background information, about chess.com closing his account due to allegations of impropriety, and flatly denied these allegations. Subsequently he agreed to come on the podcast to discuss the issue with me.  There has been a lot of public discussion of this controversy, such as in this chess Reddit thread In our conversation, Akshat tells his side of the story. This was a tough conversation to have and to summarize, so I encourage you all to listen to it yourself. Thanks to Akshat for joining me . You can follow him on twitter here, and check out his twitch streams here. To support the podcast, go here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

8 Maj 201848min