#36. US Captain John Donaldson Previews The 2024 Chess Olympiad!

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with American IM John Donaldson. At this year’s Olympiad, John will be captaining team USA, the top seeds in Budapest. 

John has a long history of captaining the American Olympiad team, making his debut in Dubai in 1986 and leading the team to gold in Baku in 2016. This year will be his fifteenth time accompanying the American team to the event, which he describes as arguably the most exciting chess event in the world.

Interviewed by Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam, John looks ahead to this year’s event, analyses each teams’ chances, and shares some Olympiad stories from the past.

0:00 – Intro

1:49 – John explains the significance of the San Francisco Mechanics Institute

5:06 – Why John thinks the Olympiad is the most exciting chess event

7:59 – How did John get his job as the first captain of the US Olympiad team?

13:28 – Was John always the “player-coach”?

15:20 – How does John see his role as captain, and how does this compare to the captain’s role back in the day?

27:05 – AD BREAK

28:03 - This year’s American Olympiad team, the strength of the current playing field and the other frontrunners

32:39 – Netherlands being a remarkable 4th seed in this year’s Olympiad

33:25 – Uzbekistan and Kramnik’s captaincy

36:35 – Norway and Magnus

39:20 – The Olympiad often being a tournament for young stars to break out

40:20 – AD BREAK

40:53 – Last year’s Olympiad in Chennai

41:55 – The many format changes the Olympiad has undergone throughout the years

46:50 – John’s nail-biting experience winning Olympiad gold in 2016

52:18 – What was it like to manage a team of “stars” as John did in 2016?

56:48 – AD BREAK

59:38 – John carrying his passion for reading over to his players

1:02:32 – John’s upcoming book for Bobby Fischer

1:06:59 – Outro