Perpetual Chess Podcast EP 433- GM Kenneth Rogoff: From the World Juniors to the World Bank. Dr. Rogoff on His Remarkable Transition from Top Young Chess Talent to Renowned Economist.
Dr. Kenneth Rogoff has undoubtedly had one of the highest-profile and most interesting careers of any Grandmaster working outside of chess. He is an author and Harvard professor who was once singled-out by none other than Bobby Fischer, as a player who had shown remarkable chess improvement. As a young chess star, Dr. Rogoff actually dropped out of high school to move to Europe and pursue chess professionally, but by age 18 he had returned to the U.S. and enrolled at Yale. He would remain active in chess for many more years, but his top priority gradually switched from chess to academics, and he eventually quit chess entirely (save for an exhibition game against Magnus Carlsen in 2012)
Dr. Rogoff still loves chess and thinks about it all the time, but economics turned out to be the right decision for him, as he has become a distinguished professor who has worked as the Chief Economist at the World Bank, and has met 8 different U.S. Presidents in his life. His new book, Our Dollar, Your Problem,intersperses occasional lessons from his chess career while providing a modern history of the U.S. dollar as the reserve currency. This interview focuses primarily on Dr. Rogoff’s chess career, but those interested in his reflections on the global economy should stay tuned until the end of the interview, and should definitely check out his new book. Timestamps of topics discussed are below.
Recorded on April 3, 2025.
0:02- We dive into GM Rogoff’s chess upbringing, and his interactions with Bobby Fischer
Mentioned: NM Eric Marchand, IM Sal Matera , GM Rogoff’s chess biography:
https://rogoff.scholars.harvard.edu//pages/biography
Bobby Fischer article mentioning GM Rogoff:
https://rogoff.scholars.harvard.edu/sites/g/files/omnuum5901/files/rogoff/files/fischer69.pdf
Karpov-Ulf Andersson 1969 ADD IMAGE
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1019420
11:00- How did Dr. Rogoff gain hundreds of rating points in his early teens?
21:00- Was it hard to switch from the meritocratic chess world to academia?
25:00- What led to Dr. Rogoff dropping out of high school at age 16 to pursue chess? What was life like as an American teenager living alone in Europe in 1969?
Mentioned: Muppets in Moscow by Natasha Rogoff
26:00- Thanks to our sponsor, Chessable.com! If you sign up for Chessable Pro in order to unlock discounts and additional features, be sure to use the following link:
https://www.chessable.com/pro/?utm_source=affiliate&utm_medium=benjohnson&utm_campaign=pro
And you can check out their new offerings here:
https://www.chessable.com/courses/all/new/
32:30- Why did Dr. Rogoff make a U-turn and go to Yale University after dropping out of high school?
34:00- Patreon mailbag question: Does Dr. Rogoff ever daydream about what a professional chess life might have looked like?
37:00- Why did Dr. Rogoff quit chess “Cold turkey”?
Mentioned: Carlsen-Rogoff 2012
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1690691
40:00- Does Dr. Rogoff have a favorite chess memory? Who were his favorite players?
Mentioned: Kasparov, Peter Thiel, Arkady Dvorkovich ,Reshevsky-Rogoff 1978, IM Kim Commons, Lev Aronian
53:00- What is the origin of the phrase “Our Dollar, Your Problem”? (The title of Dr. Rogoff’s new book
58:00- What can regular people do to prepare for volatile markets?
1:00:00- Patreon mailbag question: Is the US debt load sustainable? What does Dr. Rogoff think of Ray Dalio’s writing?
1:05:00- Dr. Rogoff has met 8 presidents and many more world leaders- do any experiences stand out?
1:08:00- What does Dr. Rogoff think of the future of crypto-currencies?
Mentioned: Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
Thanks to Dr. Rogoff for joining me! You can get his new book here.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com).
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