Do You Like the Woodpecker Method?

GM Noel Studer is a top Swiss player and a winner of many Swiss national titles. He has a popular and insightful blog called Next Level Chess, where Noel shares great chess improvement advice, book recommendations, and relates anecdotes from his experiences as a chess professional. Noel recently surprised his readers by announcing that at the age of 24 he is retiring from professional chess. In our conversation, Noel shares the reasons for his decision, and dispenses all kinds of awesome chess improvement advice. It was both helpful and enjoyable to hear all of Noel’s recommendations and stories. Please read on for lots more details and any relevant links.  

0:00- What led to GM Noel Studer’s decision to retire from OTB chess at the age of 24? What is he planning next? 

Mentioned: Derek Sivers 

13:30- What will be the topic of Noel’s upcoming chess course? 

16:00-  Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Chessmood.com 

Chessmood offers a huge library of instructive videos. You can hear GM Avetik Grigoryan on Episode 192 of Perpetual Chess. Be sure to subscribe to their YouTube channel here. 

16:30- Perpetual Chess is also brought you in part by Chess.com! 

Among their many resources, you can check out their Drills here and their vision trainer here. 

17:30- Patreon mailbag question from Neal Bruce! “What are the most common mistakes Noel sees from amateurs?” 

Mentioned: Atomic Habits 

23:00- Patreon mailbag question: “What is the minimum amount of work to do to maintain a level while one is unable to train chess seriously due to life circumstances?” 

Mentioned: FIDE World Rapid and Blitz 2021 

29:00-  Patreon mailbag question “How much do openings matter for club players?” 

Mentioned: GM Ben Finegold, Noel’s posts Chess Improvement: Simple not Easy, What is The Best Chess Opening?, GM Surya Ganguly, GM Avetik Grigoryan’s Post: How to Memorize Chess Openings and Variation- Without Forgetting Them a Few Days Later   

36:00- Patreon mailbag question: “What would Noel recommend for breaking through a tactics training plateau?” 

Mentioned: The Woodpecker Method , Episode 241 with FM Peter Giannatos, GM Pentala Harikrishna  

48:00- 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!

48:30-  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%. 

49:00- What are the best sources of motivation for chess improvement? How did Noel get through a period where he was bullied as an adolescent? 

Mentioned: Simon Sinek’s Start With Why 

1:01:00- What approach does Noel recommend for analyzing games after you play them? 

Mentioned: How to Analyze Your Game Part 1, How to Analyze Your Game Part 2 

1:11:00- What lessons has Noel learned from working with GMs Artur Yusopov, Josif Dorfman, Markus Ragger?

Mentioned: My Favorite Chess Advice: Talk With Your Pieces, IM Mark Dvoretsky, IM Josh Waitzkin’s The Art of Learning 

1:22:00- What are Noel’s favorite books?

Mentioned: Atomic Habits, The Art of Learning, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, Learn from the Legends, GM Boris Gelfand’s Books ,GM Judit Polgar’s Books, GM Alireza Firouzja, Bortnyk-Studer 2014, Harikrishna-Studer 2019

1:31:00- What is Noel’s life like away from the board? 

Mentioned: Lucy the Golden Queen’s Instagram! 

1:32:00- Thanks so much to Noel for sharing his insights!

Be sure to subscribe to his blog/newsletter at https://nextlevelchess.blog/

You can follow him on Twitter here 

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