The Best Chess Player in the World, Ali Rezaa

This week’s guest on Perpetual Chess marks the return visit of one of the top female players in the US, WGM Tatev Abrahamyan. I caught up with Tatev after a hectic few months in which she competed in the FIDE Women’s World Cup and also competed in and placed 4th in the US Women’s Championship. For good measure, she moved from Southern California to Kansas City to begin her work as the Director of Chess Content at chess startup Bryght Labs. Tatev’s busy schedule gave us plenty to talk about, as Tatev gave some insightful tournament reports, discussed her new job, and, of course, dispensed some chess improvement advice and some reflections on dealing with setbacks in chess. It is always fun to talk chess with Tatev, so we hope you make time for this interview in between World Championship rounds. Please read on for more details and show notes. 

0:00- GM Johan Sebastian Christiansen recently expressed his extreme frustration with a slump in his competitive chess. Tatev talks about how common such feelings of frustration can be for be top players, and ways to work through it. 

Mentioned: Episode 49 with WGM Tatev Abrahamyan , Chess.com Article with GM Alireza Firouzja’s quote regarding chess and mental health

11:00- How does Tatev reflect on her 4th place finish in the 2021 US Women’s Chess Championship? 

Mentioned: GM Alejandro Ramirez, You can review Tatev’s games here, How to Chess Episode 17 with IM Lawrence Trent, 

26:00- Now that she has a 9-5 job, Tatev reflects on how she will manage her chess career as well as a new job in a new town (Kansas City, MO). 

29:00- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Chessmood.com. They offer a huge video library with instruction on every phase of the game. 

31:00- Tatev gives the trip report from the FIDE Women’s Chess World Cup in Sochi, Russia, and we discuss the Women’s World Championship Cycle. 

Mentioned: Episode 243 with GM Anna Muzychuk, Information on the 2022 FIDE Woman’s Candidate Tournament is here, Goryachkina-Motylev 2021 

39:00- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Chessable.com. Check out what's new from them here: New Chess Courses Online - For All Levels- Chessable.com Don’t forget to subscribe to the How to Chess podcast as well!

39:30- Perpetual Chess is also brought to you in part by AImchess.com. Check out the site, and if you decide to subscribe use the code Perpetual30 to save 30%. 

40:00- Does Tatev think that US Women's Champion IM Carissa Yip will be competing for a World Championship someday? 

Mentioned: FM Jennifer Yu, IM Annie Wang 

43:00- What sort of products is Tatev working on at her chess startup, Bryght Labs? 

Mentioned: ChessUp, GM Levon Aronian 

1:01:00- Patreon mailbag question: “What tips can we share for how to evaluate a position?”

1:05:00- We discuss GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov’s recent interview about chess engines and his work with GM Fabiano Caruana. 

Mentioned: More information about Kasimdzhanov’s interview with Ilya Levitov here

1:14:00- Patreon mailbag question: What is the secret to Tatev’s success in her OTB games against Latvian/American legend GM Alex Shabalov? 

Mentioned: Krush-Abrahamyan 2021, 

1:17:00- 

Thanks so much to Tatev for joining us! 

If you decide to order ChessUp from BryghtLabs.com, use the promo code “Perpetual” or the promo code should be inputted directly with this link. 

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