EP 330- Chess Improvement Q and A with Top Trainer and Author, GM Wojciech Moranda Topics Include: Annotating Games, Improving Positional Chess, and Learning from Playing vs. Learning from Studying

GM Wojciech Moranda is an insightful author, trainer, and one of the top players in Poland. He rejoins Perpetual Chess this week to do a deep dive on all things related to chess improvement. Wojciech answers questions related to memorizing and annotating games, improving at positional chess, the value of playing compared to reading, plus many more questions that can help your game and study routine. In the second half of the interview we expand our conversation to discuss Wojciech’s excellent new book Supreme Chess Understanding, Wojciech discusses his experience coaching IM Levy Rozman, he shares advice for becoming a chess trainer, and of course, shares his thoughts on Nepo-Ding. I always learn a great deal when speaking with Wojciech, and this week’s pod is no exception. You can find timestamps for the many topics discussed below. 

Wojciech’s Prior Appearance, Episode 203 

Universal Chess Training 

Supreme Chess Understanding 

0:00- Check out some of my favorite Chessable courses here:

https://go.chessable.com/perpetual-chess-podcast/

Stomp the Stafford Gambit

Shankland’s Neo-Catalan 2 

03:00- Chess Improvement Q and A begins- Is it worthwhile to memorize complete games as a chess improvement method? 

Mentioned: Rapid Chess Improvement, Book Recap #6- Woodpecker Method/Rapid Chess Improvement with Neal Bruce 

08:00- Is it worthwhile for amateurs to annotate GM games as an improvement method? 

Mentioned: Zurich 1953, San Luis 2005, The Power of Defence and the Art of Counterattack in 64 Pictures, The Road to Chess Improvement 

18:00- Wojciech shares his thoughts on the AI revolution 

22:00- How should a 1600 level player with little opening knowledge approach learning them? 

Mentioned: Everyman Move by Move Series 

27:00- Should a lower-rated player study imbalances? (The topic of Wojciech’s new book) 

33:00- What method is the most effective for getting better at positional chess? Mentioned: GM Johan Hellsten’s Mastering Chess Strategy (on Amazon) (and on Chessable) 

38:00- What are the traits of Wojciech’s most successful students? 

45:00- What are the most common mistakes that Wojciech sees students making in different phases of the game? (Openings/Tactics/Endgames)

Mentioned: 100 Endgames You Must Know (on Amazon) (and on Chessable)

51:00- Should Dr. Kevin Scull of Chess Journeys stop reading chess books and play more in order to improve? 

1:00:00- We discuss Supreme Chess Understanding. How does Wojciech find so many original and creative puzzle positions?

Mentioned: Available on Forward Chess, Free Preview of the Book via Thinker’s Publishing 

1:08:00- What are the “three types of chess players” when it comes to sacrificing material? 

Mentioned: Beyond Material (on Amazon) (and on Chessable)

1:12:00- What was it like to coach Gotham Chess? 

1:20:00- Patreon mailbag question: “What resources would Wojciech recommend for someone thinking of becoming a chess trainer?” 

Mentioned: WFM Michalina Rudzińska, Episode 201 with FM Peter Giannatos, Episode 66 with Adam Weissbarth, The Chess Instructor 2009, Chess Training for Budding Champions by IM Jesper Hall, How to Study Chess on Your Own, For Friends and Colleagues by IM Mark Dvoretsky, Thinking Inside the Box by GM Jacob Aagaard , Chess for Educators by Karel van Delft

1:42:00- Wojciech’s World Championship Thoughts

 Mentioned: Sean Ingle’s story on Nepo’s Missing Sleeping Pill, written for The Guardian 

1:47:00- Thanks to Wojciech for joining the pod! 

You can contact him via his Lichess and his Chess.com Coaches Pages:

https://lichess.org/coach/gmmoranda

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

If you would like to help support Perpetual Chess via Patreon, you can do so here. 

https://www.patreon.com/perpetualchess

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