This week Perpetual Chess welcomes back IM Kostya Kavutskiy. Kostya is a respected trainer, a founder of the ChessDojo training platform, a YouTube creator, and a Chessable author. I caught up with Kostya shortly after he returned from the North American Open, so we got the rundown on his own strengths and weaknesses, as well as the U.S. tournament landscape. Since Kostya is a popular online presenter, he received a bunch of listener questions soliciting chess improvement tips.

Lastly we checked in on Kostya’s content- creation plans, and the “state of the Dojo,” as Kostya discussed visions for the teaching platform that he heads, along with GM Jesse Kraai and IM David Pruess. It is always insightful to talk chess with Kostya! Please read on for timestamps and show notes.

Prior Interviews:

Perpetual Chess Episode 4 with IM Kostya Kavutskiy

Perpetual Chess Episode 89 with IM Kostya Kavutskiy

How to Chess #20 with IM Kostya Kavutskiy

0:00- Kostya shares lessons learned from his recent tournament in the North American Open about improving game preparation and execution. You can watch video recaps of all of his rounds here.

Mentioned: Continental Chess, The Secret Ingredient by GM Jan Markos, GM Andrew Tang, IM Levy Rozman

19:45- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Chessable.com. Check out their latest offerings here:

New Chess Courses Online - For All Levels in all - Chessable.com

21:00- Patreon mailbag question: “What are the chances a Class A player over the age of 50 can earn the Master title?”

Mentioned: IM Levy Rozman’s Tweet

30:00- Patreon mailbag question: “Where can older players find a coach?”

Mentioned: Lichess coaches page, Chess.com coaches page

34:00- Patreon mailbag question: “What might the subject of Kostya’s next Chessable course be?”

Mentioned: How to Chess #20 with IM Kostya Kavutskiy

37:00- What is discord? What is Chess Dojo? What is new with Chessdojo?

Mentioned: IM David Pruess, GM Jesse Kraai,

41:00- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by AImchess.com. Aimchess analyzes your online games and provides actionable improvement insights. Check out their updated website, and if you decide to subscribe please use the code “Perpetual30” to save 30%.

42:00- Patreon mailbag question: “How does Kostya balance his time between ChessDojo and his own chess goals?”

46:00- Patreon mailbag question “With the growth of the Dojo, what content would you like to see it offer that is currently missing?”

Mentioned: Link for ChessDoJo Discord here

53:00- What chess advice does Kostya repeat the most often?

55:00- What chess books does Kostya recommend?

List of his recs here, Top 4 Most Overrated Chess Books Video, Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess, My System, How to Reassess Your Chess, Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual

1:05:00- Kostya’s has other interests outside of chess. We talk about them here.

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