IM David Vigorito is a three-time state champion, renowned opening theoretician and trainer, and the author of many highly regarded books and Chessable courses. His latest course, 1. e4: The Gold Standard, offers an ambitious, principled repertoire against all of Black’s major responses.
In our conversation, we discuss:
How David’s process for researching openings has changed as engines have grown increasingly powerful.
What adult improvers can learn from David’s own unusual chess journey and the huge rating gains he made in his late teens, 20s, and 30s.
Why players should sometimes deliberately play openings and positions that make them uncomfortable.
The challenges of finding opportunities to compete while balancing chess with work and family obligations.
David also shares a funny story about the unexpected chain of events that followed our first interview in 2019, explains some of the ambitious choices in his new 1. e4 repertoire, and shares his strong opinions on Chess960 and some recent trends in professional chess.
It’s always fun to catch up with David, and there is lots of practical chess advice in this one.
0:00 Intro
Thanks to our sponsor Claude.ai
Check them out at Claude.ai/chess
2:30 David’s new 1. e4 course and how engine-era opening research has changed
6:55 Why David recommends ambitious, principled opening lines
15:15 How much opening theory do amateur players actually need?
20:40 Adult improvement: what helped David make huge rating gains
26:00 The New England chess scene and David’s tournament schedule
31:55 A funny story stemming from David’s first Perpetual Chess interview
38:20 Improving by working on your weaknesses
44:00 Following professional chess and David’s dislike of alternative scoring formats
45:40 Why David has no interest in Chess960
Vigorito-Aagaard 2025
https://www.chesshere.com/master-games/1822045?fen=r1bqk2r%2Fpppp1ppp%2F2n2n2%2F1B2p3%2F1b2P3%2F2N2N2%2FPPPP1PPP%2FR1BQK2R+w+KQkq+-+6+5
50:30 What’s next for David
https://www.chessable.com/author/dvigorito/
52:00- Thanks to David for joining me! Be sure to check out his courses on Chessable:
https://www.chessable.com/author/dvigorito/
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