#76. Jon Speelman Recaps The FIDE Grand Swiss Chess Tournament!

This week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with British grandmaster Jonathan Speelman.

Jon, as he's commonly known, is a three-time British Champion and a two-time Candidate for the World Championship. In the Candidates, he has won matches against Nigel Short and Yasser Seirawan.

He was also successful with the English national team, as they twice finished second in the Olympiad, in Dubai in 1986 and in Thessaloniki in 1988, while finishing third in Novi Sad in 1990.

At the peak of his career Jon was a world top 10 player, his highest spot being number 5 in 1988. In 1987, he beat Garry Kasparov in a televised rapid game and then went on to win the event.

Jon has authored several acclaimed books and over the years he’s written literally hundreds and hundreds of chess columns. He was the chess columnist for The Independent and still is the chess columnist for the Observer. He also has a regular column on ChessBase. Besides writing about chess, Jon enjoys teaching students of all levels.

Interviewed by Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam, Jon Speelman takes a closer look at the main protagonists in the FIDE Grand Swiss and comments on their performances. In the process, he shares many memories from his own career at the highest level.

Enjoy this week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast!

0:00 – Intro

5:25 – Anish’s unbeaten performance at the FIDE Grand Swiss

6:35 – Keymer’s performance and final game against Bluebaum

8:56 – Bluebaum’s strength in open tournaments

9:40 – Jon’s own experience playing long tournaments

12:00 – Mishra’s performance and his future in chess

17:48 – Gukesh’s current reign as World Champion

20:38 – Jon’s expectations going into the Grand Swiss event

22:35 – The strong performances of Anish Giri and Matthias Bluebaum

24:47 – AD BREAK

25:26 – How does Jon feel about the way qualifications for the Candidates tournament are set up?

27:50 – Andy Woodward’s performance and his prowess at solving chess puzzles

32:25 – Did Jon practice tactics a lot during his playing career?

33:55 – Jon’s work as a trainer

36:30 – How did Jon go about writing chess books in the pre-engine era?

44:30 – Drunken Tal stories

48:37 – AD BREAK

49:47 – Previewing the Candidates Tournament

51:50 – Hikaru’s unorthodox approach to reaching the Candidates

58:06 – Jon’s wish list for the Candidates Tournament

59:41 – Hans Niemann’s performance

1:03:18 – How does Jon feel about freestyle?

1:09:00 – Music

1:11:54 - Outro