EP 423- FM Nate Solon on The Right Way to Learn Openings, the Fundamental Flaw of Chess Puzzles and What He Is Working on and Planning for 2025.

FM Nate Solon is a data scientist, Chessable author, New in Chess Magazine columnist and the creator of the popular and insightful newsletter, Zwischenzug. Nate joined me shortly after we played in a tournament together to share his latest chess-improvement related thoughts and to reflect on recent lessons he has absorbed. We focused on a few themes in particular: 

• Why Nate thinks the challenge of learning new openings is often overstated, and the way in which he thinks chess openings “resemble poems.”
• How to avoid the trap of overemphasizing solving tactics in one’s training plan 
• Nate and I both discuss our experiences in the recent World Amateur Team tournament, and the ways in which the weekend tournament experience might be improved. 

There is always a lot to learn from Nate, and I am confident your chess can benefit from this conversation. Timestamps of discussion are below. 

Sub to Nate’s newsletter here:

https://zwischenzug.substack.com/

Thanks to our sponsor, Chessable.com! Be sure to check out their new offerings here:

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

And 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

0:02- Nate’s comprehensive advice for learning openings, which focuses on learning by playing and utilizing spaced repetition 

17:00- Nate’s advice for using model games

22:00- Do people overemphasize tactical puzzles? How can we avoid this trap? 

Mentioned: New in Chess Magazine, My Chessable Course 

26:00- What is “gritty calculation”? 

The position Nate references can be seen here:

https://zwischenzug.substack.com/p/calculation-is-never-just-calculation

GM Josh Friedel’s calculation advice:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xvh7HsYMn-Q

36:00- Is the rating system finally reaching a stable state?

37:00- Nate and I discuss the World Amateur Team, a tournament in which we both recently played . 

45:00- Nate’s next tournaments and projects

55:00- Thanks to Nate for joining! Here are the links to keep up with him:

Newsletter:

https://zwischenzug.substack.com/

Chessable courses:

https://www.chessable.com/author/CheckRaiseMate/

His Book:

https://www.amazon.com/Evaluate-Like-Grandmaster-Eugene-Perelshteyn/dp/B0BHNF5CWB

Photo in thumbnail via the Charlotte Chess Center:

https://www.charlottechesscenter.org/photos

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