EP.149 - GM Robert Hungaski

GM Robert Hungaski is an Argentina-based, American chess player who has been making a name for himself as a trainer and presenter. In his work as a coach, he is a certified FIDE Senior trainer who often works with US Chess World Youth teams. Robert has been a resident GM at the Saint Louis Chess Club several times, and most importantly for our purposes, he is a down to earth and funny guy with lots of good chess advice and stories! Please read on for timestamps, details and relevant links. 0:00- Intro- We discuss what Robert’s day to day life is like. Robert also goes into some detail about he earned the FIDE Senior Trainer and FIDE arbiter titles. Mentioned: St. Louis Chess Club, FIDE Arbiter Title 9:00- What does Robert notice amongst the top World Youth players he works with? Mentioned: Aren Emrikian, GM Mesgen Amanov , Zurich 1953, My System, Small Steps to Giant Chess Improvement, The Woodpecker Method 18:00- We discuss the tendencies of the modern chess elite to violate what were once considered sturdy chess principles. This is illustrated in two recent Magnus Carlsen games. Mentioned: Carlsen-Caruana 2019, Carlsen-So 2019, Botvinnik’s 100 Selected Games 22:30- With limited time to compete these days, how does Robert choose his chess tournaments? Does he play for both the US and Argentina? Mentioned: American Continental Chess Championship, US Open Chess Tournament , FIDE World Cup 30:00- Why are a lot of primarily online American Chess Trainers relocating outside of the US? Mentioned: GM Gata Kamsky, IM Bill Paschall 31:45- Mar del Plata, Argentina is a famous chess location due to a historic tournament and epononymous chess opening. What can Robert tell us from having played there? Mentioned: King’s Indian Defense Mar del Plata Variation, Mar del Plata Chess Tournament 36:00 When and how did Robert meet legendary Danish GM Bent Larsen? Mentioned: GM Miguel Najdorf, GM Bent Larsen 37:30- Robert says he was a terrible scholastic player and many people urged him to quit. Is this true? What motivated him to work to become stronger? 41:30- When he lived in New York, Robert worked with legendary GM William Lombardy. What helpful advice did GM Lombardy give when Robert hit a lengthy rating plateau? In this segment Robert gives some great insight on how to take a big picture approach to analyzing one’s chess games. Mentioned: IM Mark Dvoretsky, GM Rafael Leitao, Chess Steps Method 51:30- Book recommendations!The Books of IM Jeremy Silman, Chess Middlegames by Laszlo Polgar, The Anthology of Chess Combinations, Chess Strategy for Club Players, Dvoretsky Books, Positional Play, Winning Pawn Structures, The Middlegame- Book 1,GM Jonathan Rowson’s Books 57:00- Was Robert a good student in High School? What did he learn from chess? Mentioned: The Moves that Matter by GM Jonathan Rowson 1:05- In the 2000’s Robert played some blitz matches with IM Greg Shahade, some of which can still be found on Youtube.. How did those go? Mentioned: Jenn Shahade , IM Lawrence Trent vs. IM Greg Shahade grudge match, GM Hikaru Nakamura 1:11- Robert tells some stories about meeting former World Champion, GM Anatoly Karpov and playing him in a simul. Here are a few of Robert’s favorite Karpov games:Karpov-Yusopov 1988, Karpov-Lautier 1992, Korchnoi-Karpov 1981 Game 9 1:15- One more hilarious GM Lombardy story that has nothing to with chess. :) 1:18- Goodbye! Contact Robert via his website. Follow him on Twitter. You can also purchase some lessons of his on ChessLecture.com. Here a couple of my favorite of his YouTube lectures: The Resurgence of Romantic Chess, My Greatest Losses If you would like to help support Perpetual Chess, you can do so here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices