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As the dust settles on the FIDE Candidates tournament and its attendant news, three- time British Champion and popular Chess24 commentator GM David Howell joins me to assess the news. As you might expect, we discuss the World Championship plans of David’s friend GM Magnus Carlsen, and we discuss both of the potential World Championship matchups, based on Magnus’ decision about whether to retain his title. David also assesses the performances of other notable players including GM Hikaru Nakamura and GM Ding Liren, and GM Alireza Firouzja. In the second half of the interview we focus on David’s own career. David will be heading to India soon to represent Great Britain in the Olympiad, and he discusses his recent and upcoming tournaments. Lastly, David discusses his plans for commentating in the coming months and how he balances it with his playing career. I always appreciate David’s insights and modesty, and there is lots to learn from this conversation. Please read on for timestamps, for referenced links go to the podcast webpage here:

Listen to Episodes! — The Perpetual Chess Podcast 

Prior appearance: Episode 176 with GM David Howell 

02:00- What are David’s thoughts about Magnus Carlsen and the World Championship cycle and any potential format changes ? 

12:30- Patreon mailbag question: Is Magnus’ memory for chess positions on a par or better than other top players?

17:00- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Aimchess.com. Aimchess’ algorithm reviews your games and gives you actionable advice on how to improve your game. Check it out for free, and if you choose to subscribe you can use the code Perpetual30 to save 30%.

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18:00- David shares his thoughts on Nepo’s dominant performance in the FIDE Candidates, as well as his other observations. 

25:00- What did David think of the quality of the games in the Candidates? Could Nepo give Carlsen a better match in a rematch? 

31:00- What chess improvement lessons can we learn from the Candidates? 

35:00- We briefly discuss Firouzja’s disappointing showing in the Candidates. 

38:00-  Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Chessable.com. You can find IM Andras Toth’s new course, IM Irina Bulmaga’s, as well as so many others, here:

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40:00- How is David’s OTB game as he prepares to represent Great Britain in the upcoming Chess Olimpiad? 

45:00- David discusses his upcoming course with Magnus Carlsen, “Grind like a Grandmaster” 

Mentioned: Chessable Tweet regarding the Course

46:00- British Olimpiad Team 

49:00- David discusses playing the 2021 FIDE Grand Swiss, where he was close to qualifying for the 2022 Candidates, but lost a crucial game to GM Alireza Firouzja.

55:00- How is David enjoying work as a Chess24 commentator with WGM Jovanka Houska and Kaja Snare? 

1:06:00- What does David think about the current trajectory of chess?  

1:08:00- How is David enjoying doing the podcast The Late Knight Show? 

1:13:00- David reviews his performance in the most recent World Rapid and Blitz tournament

1:16:00- How would David assess a Ding-Nepomniatchtchi match?

1:20:00- Thanks so much to David for sharing his insights! Here is how you can keep up with him:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DavidHowellGM

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidhowellchess/?hl=en

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