Perpetual Chess Podcast

Book Recap #27 - GM Yasser Seirawan's Play Winning Chess

Jul 8, 2022

Chess Books Recaptured podcast discusses GM Yasser Seirawan's book Play Winning Chess with guest Sam Robinson. They explore the book's impact on demystifying chess for beginners. They discuss the formats available, Yasser's bio, and the book's usefulness for different rating ranges. They praise the book for its explanations, examples, and memorable moments like the smothered checkmate. They also mention helpful chess videos and emphasize enjoying the game and studying what you're passionate about.

58:46

Episode guests

Yasser Seirawan

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Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Focus on studying aspects of chess that you enjoy, even if they're not the most efficient for improvement.

Make moves that help your position and deploy your pieces effectively, rather than solely focusing on traps.

Master basic tactics and endgames to improve calculation skills and gain confidence in navigating different scenarios.

Deep dives

The Importance of Finding Your Passion in Chess

One of the main takeaways from the podcast is the importance of finding what you enjoy in chess and studying that. It's okay to focus on specific aspects of the game that you find interesting, even if they're not considered the most efficient or practical for improvement.

Introduction

3min

Book Review: GM Yasser Seirawan's Play Winning Chess

10min

Reviewing a Chess Book for Beginner Players

3min

Understanding Abstract Concepts in Chess

9min

The Experience of Reading 'GM Yasser Seirawan's Play Winning Chess'

13min

Videos that Helped Improve Chess Skills and a Sponsor Mention

2min

Enjoying Chess and Studying Passion

15min

Expressing gratitude and promoting the benefits of joining the perpetual chess Patreon community

2min

Chess Books Recaptured returns to discuss the beginner-oriented chess book, Play Winning Chess, by legendary GM, Yasser Seirawan. I am joined by Sam Robinson, who is a 28 year old, Chicago-based chess enthusiast. Sam got into chess in recent years, and this was one of the first chess books that he read. For him, it was the book that really started to demystify the subtler parts of the game. It was also my first time reading Play Winning Chess, and I found it to be a solid choice for newer chess players or for chess trainers looking to sprinkle some good anecdotes and instructive games into their lessons with newer players. Tune in to hear our conversation about the pros and cons of GM Seirawan’s landmark book. Timestamps and links can be found below.

0:00- Sam delves into his background and what got him into chess.

05:00- What resonated with Sam about Play Winning Chess to the extent that he wanted to discuss it?

Mentioned:

Book Recap #11- Yasser Seirawan’s Winning Chess Strategies with Neal Bruce

08:00- Which Formats are Available -

Book- Play Winning Chess (Everyman Chess)

Ebook- ttps://everymanchess.com/products/winning-chess-strategies-revised-edtion?variant=17966519943230

Chessable- https://www.chessable.com/play-winning-chess/course/89222/

09:00- Yasser’s bio and chess origins

11:00- What rating range would find this book most useful?

13:00- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Chessable.com. You can check out what’s new from them here:

https://www.chessable.com/courses/all/new/

15:00- How useful is Yasser’s construct of the four principles of chess: Force, Time, Space and Pawn Structure

19:00- Likes, dislikes and memorable quotes from Play Winning Chess

26:00- Does the difficulty of the material escalate too quickly?

32:00- How useful is Yasser’s concept of a “space count”?

36:00- We briefly discuss some YouTube videos that are great for beginners.

Mentioned: IM John Bartholomew’s Chess Fundamentals, Naroditsky’s Speed Run, Hanging Pawns

39:00- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Aimchess.com

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%.

Or use this link for the same discount:

https://aimchess.com/try?ref=benjohnson12

40:00- Improvement takeaways from this book

49:00- What grade would we give this book? What similar books might I recommend?

Mentioned: Learn to Play Chess Like a Boss, Winning Chess Strategy for Kids, First Book of Morphy, Chess Steps, Chess by Laszlo Polgar, My First Chess Opening Repertoire

51:00- Thanks so Sam for helping out!

Follow him on Twitter here:

https://twitter.com/sam_robs

Or on Chess.com here:

https://www.chess.com/member/samrobs

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