Perpetual Chess Podcast

This week it is my great honor to talk with the five-time US Champion and 1996 FIDE World Championship Challenger, GM Gata Kamsky! Gata has just released Volume 1 of his highly anticipated games collection, Gata Kamsky - Chess Gamer, Volume 1: The Awakening 1989-1996. The recent release of this book gives us a rare opportunity to listen in as Gata Kamsky reflects on his illustrious chess career and discusses the past and future of chess. As usual, read on for timestamps of our discussion topics and relevant links. Enjoy!For timestamps and relevant hyperlinks, please go to the episode webpage here:www.perpetualchesspod.com/new-blog/2019/4/16/episode-122-gm-gata-kamskyIf you would like to help support Perpetual Chess via Patreon, please go here:Ben Johnson is creating Perpetual Chess Podcast | Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

WIM Alexey Root is a former US Women’s Chess Champion among many other distinctions. She has a Ph. D. from UCLA in Education,and is a lecturer at The University of Texas at Dallas. Alexey has written 7 books about chess and education, and is also a frequent writer for US Chess and other publications. In our interview we discussed collegiate chess in the U.S, how opportunities for female chess players have changed, plus the important topic of what chess parents can do to help safeguard their children. For timestamps and relevant hyperlinks, please go to the episode webpage here:www.perpetualchesspod.com/new-blog/2019/4/9/episode-121-wim-alexey-rootIf you would like to help support Perpetual Chess via Patreon, please go here:Ben Johnson is creating Perpetual Chess Podcast | Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week features another return guest, as John Hartmann joins me from the US Chess Championships in St. Louis. As listeners who heard our popular first interview will recall, John is the book reviewer for Chess Life Magazine, but they may not know that he was also recently named digital editor for Chess Life Online. Some of the highlights of this conversation include: a discussion of the 2019 US Championship, a rundown of some recent standout chess books, details on John’s new job, and his reflections on how to find work in the chess world. For timestamps and relevant hyperlinks, please go to the episode webpage here:www.perpetualchesspod.com/new-blog/2019/4/2/episode-120-john-hartmann-returnsIf you would like to help support Perpetual Chess via Patreon, please go here:Ben Johnson is creating Perpetual Chess Podcast | Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week GM Alex Colovic joins me from his native Skopje, Macedonia, speaking to me on the "rest day" of the European Chess Championship, in which he is competing. Alex Colovic is a Grandmaster, blogger, author and newly elected President of the Association of Chess Professionals. Alex catches us up on the status of the tournament at the midway point, and from there we have a wide-ranging conversation which covers topics which range from his latest Chessable course, The Najdorf Sicilian Simplified, to why he loves studying the games of Jose Raoul Capablanca. I think that Alex’s love for and knowledge of chess and chess history is evident in our conversation. Read on for timestamps, links and GM Colovic’s contact info. For timestamps and relevant hyperlinks, please go to the episode webpage here:www.perpetualchesspod.com/new-blog/2019/3/26/episode-119-gm-alex-colovicIf you would like to help support Perpetual Chess via Patreon, please go here:Ben Johnson is creating Perpetual Chess Podcast | Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week it my pleasure to talk with the well known Dutch trainer, and award-winning author, IM Herman Grooten. Herman has been active as a chess trainer for more than 45 years and has worked with countless players, including well known players such as GM Loek Van Wely, GM Jan Werle and GM Benjamin Bok. Read on for more details and timestamps. 0:00- Intro and discussion of Herman’s life as a football/soccer coach and “chess dad.” Herman’s son, Tommy is a scholastic chess champion. What are the secrets of Tommy’s success? How much credit do Dad and Mom, FM Petra Schuurman, deserve for it? 18:00- Herman tackles the age old question of how important talent is for chess achievement. He looks at the question through the lens of having coached elite players such as GM Loek Van Wely. What lessons has he learned that have helped him become a better trainer over the years? 28:30- A Patreon supporter of the podcast asks Herman, "How should we select a coach and assess their work?" The game referenced from IM Grooten’s book is Petrosian-Planinc 1972 (I have uploaded the game from my database for listeners to see, but they are encouraged to buy Chess Strategy for Club Players: The Road to Positional Advantage in order to see IM Grooten’s analysis of this and countless other instructive games. 😃 ) 37:40- Another question comes from a listener/supporter of the show, "How can one go from 1700 to GM in 10 years?" The famed Dutch chess players that Herman mentions are are the co-founders of the Steps Method., IM Cor van Wijgerden, and Rob Brunia and Adrian de Groot. 49:00- We discuss IM Grooten’s acclaimed book, Chess Strategy for Club Players: The Road to Positional Advantage, as well as Attacking Chess for Club Players: Improve Your Skills to Overpower Your Opponent. IM Grooten's book Understanding Before Moving 2: Queen's Gambit Structureshas just been released on Chessable. 55:00- Goodbye and contact info. You can email IM Grooten here. If you would like to help support Perpetual Chess via Patreon, please go here:Ben Johnson is creating Perpetual Chess Podcast | Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week the Adult Improver Series continues with another inspiring guest. Twenty eight year-old Stjepan Tomić (creator of the Hanging Pawns Channel on Youtube) learned the rules of and fell in love with chess only a few years ago. Since that time he has not let a full-time job or a girlfriend (his life currently includes both) interfere with his drive to improve at the royal game. Stjepan details for us how he created a nine-year plan to become a Grandmaster, and three years into the plan, he has made steady progress, with an ELO peak nearing 1900. In our conversation Stjepan shares what he has learned about how to manage one’s time, deal with defeat, create a Youtube channel, and of course, improve at chess. For timestamps and relevant hyperlinks, please go to the episode webpage here:www.perpetualchesspod.com/new-blog/2019/3/12/episode-117-stjepan-tomi-adult-improver-seriesIf you would like to help support Perpetual Chess via Patreon, please go here:Ben Johnson is creating Perpetual Chess Podcast | Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

GM Michal Krasenkow has battled many legends of the chessboard during the course of his life, and he has been one of the top 10 chess players in the world. He is also a respected chess trainer and author. His recently released and excellent new book, Learn from Michal Krasenkow shares many of his memories and favorite games. In our conversation, we discuss GM Krasenkow’s book in great detail, along with the usual assortment of improvement advice, recommendations, and favorite stories. Please read onward for many more details of this week's podcast. For timestamps and relevant hyperlinks, please go to the episode webpage here:www.perpetualchesspod.com/new-blog/2019/3/5/episode-116-gm-michal-krasenkowIf you would like to help support Perpetual Chess via Patreon, please go here:Ben Johnson is creating Perpetual Chess Podcast | Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, the always popular and entertaining GM Jan Gustafsson makes his third appearance on Perpetual Chess. In addition to the broadcasting, streaming and video creation that Jan does for Chess24.com, he also was a part of "Team Magnus" for the 2016 and 2018 World Chess Championships. Naturally we discussed the most recent World Championships in great detail, as well as catching up on what else Jan has been up to since his Perpetual Chess interviews #1 and #2. As always you can keep up with Jan on twitter or by subscribing to and monitoring the calendar on Chess24.com Read on for details and timestamps about all that we discussed: 0:00- Glowing intro and discussion of Jan’s work as a member of Magnus Carlsen’s team for the 2018 World Championship Match. Jan reflects on his overall thoughts on the match and answers some follow up questions I had based on the excellent Chess24 series “Inside the 2018 World Championship Match” featuring Jan and GMs Peter Heine Nielsen and Laurent Fressinet. 31:30- More World Championship talk, but now with a focus on the openings that were played. 36:00- Is it really true that a Queen and Knight is better than a Queen and a Bishop? 38:00 What should one do to get back into playing shape after a layoff from competitive chess? (a discussion prompted because Jan will be playing in the Bangkok Chess Club Open in April) 39:00- Coaching Netherlands at Olympiad. What mystery book was Jan pictured reading while the games went on? The Patrick Melrose books 44:00- What is Jan’s favorite Jan Gustafsson game? What about his favorite other people games? Jan mentions his opening prep paying off in the following games: Naiditsch-Gustafsson 2007 and Gustafsson-Rodshtein 2007 Jan also highlights the modern classic, Wei Yi-Lazaro Bruzon Batista 2015 and Jinishi Bai vs. Ding Liren 2017 49:00- Some idle chit-chat and Jan’s latest pop culture recommendations. Jan gives a lukewarm recommendation for True Detective Season 3 and did not share Ben’s level of enthusiasm for Atlanta, but is a big fan of the movie Burning. 53:00- Goodbye and what to watch for coming from Chess24. Jan recommends GM Laurent Fressinet’s recent series Playing the Berlin and teased a blitz match between Magnus Carlsen and Peter Svidler, which you can now watch on Chess24.If you would like to help support Perpetual Chess via Patreon, please go here:Ben Johnson is creating Perpetual Chess Podcast | Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

28 year old Grandmaster Romain Edouard has been a top 50 chess player in the world, with a peak rating over 2700, but in recent years, he has been quite busy with other chess related work. He is the author of the highly regarded, Chess Calculation series, and this year, has published, My Magical Years with Topalov.a book about his time working as the second to one of the strongest players in the world. GM Edouard is also the Editor-in-Chief at Thinker’s Publishing, the publisher of his acclaimed works. For more detail about all that we discussed, plus recommendations and contact information, please read on: 0:00- Intro and discussion of GM Edouard’s new book, My Magical Years with Topalov. This book annotates games and shares stories and reflections from GM Edouard’s time working as a second to GM Veselin Topalov, between the years of 2010-2014. Romain shares how the relationship began and how it evolved in the ensuing years. 17:00- What differentiates GM Topalov’s chess style from other top-level players? 20:00- Romain discusses his most recent chess tournament. He recently played in the super strong 2019 Gibraltar International, and finished with 7 points, as part of a big tie for 6th-22nd place. 25:30- GM Edouard retells how he became the Editor-in-Chief with Thinker’s Publishing, and what that works entails. The two new books that we mention are: Gata Kamsky - Chess Gamer, Volume 1: The Awakening 1989-1996, and Michal Krasenkow - Learn from Michal Krasenkow 32:00- Romain’s gives his chess improvement advice for those with a limited amount of time. 1) Play lots of games 2) Find openings you like and know well  3) Learn Endgames from Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual 4) Practice Calculation 37:30- Discussion of the London Lions of the Pro Chess League, who have had a disappointing season, but just had a strong showing in defeating the Montreal Chessbrahs. 39:00- Discussion of GM Edouard’s favorite game of his own (Edouard-Tkachiev 2010) , as well as his favorite game of all time (Kasparov-Topalov 1999) 43:30- Goodbye and contact info, you can follow Thinkers Publishing on Facebook and their website, and GM Edouard on Facebook and Twitter. If you would like to help support Perpetual Chess via Patreon, please go here:Ben Johnson is creating Perpetual Chess Podcast | Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

My guest this week is 21 year old GM-elect Michael Brown. Michael just earned his final GM norm in January 2019, but the path to earning the highest chess title has come with many challenges. In our conversation, Michael walks us through how he overcame those challenges, and gives advice for how others can do the same in their own chess journeys. For many more details about our conversation, check out the timestamps below. Michael can be reached via email here. 0:00- Intro and recap of the tournament at the Charlotte Chess Center and Scholastic Academy where GM-elect Michael Brown got that elusive and coveted 3rd GM Norm. The dramatic GM Norm clinching-game vs. FM Gauri Shankar that Michael discusses can be found here. 10:00- How did Michael stay sharp as his time became more scarce after enrolling in college? Michael mostly credits study partnering with other strong players, such as IM Keaton Kiewra,and IM Shiyam Thavandiran. 16:30- After graduating from BYU in December 2018 what is Michael’s next professional step? 19:30- We discuss Michael’s memorable experience beating world class GM Yu Yangyi in 2016. Michael annotates this game in this very instructive Youtube video, and you can also play through the moves here. We then discuss some of the “super GMs” Michael has played in addition to Yu Yangyi. 32:00- Michael tells a couple fun stories of playing at the notoriously strong Chess.com Isle of Man International tournament in 2017 and getting to see and meet the likes of GM Vishy Anand and GM Magnus Carlsen. 39:00- What have been the most challenging periods during Michael’s chess career? How did he get through them? What advice did his trainer at the time, IM Armen Ambartsoumian, give him? 44:00- What are Michael’s favorite chess books? As a young, improving player, he learned a ton from Winning Chess Brilliancies by GM Yasser Seirawan and later used CT-ART to sharpen his tactics. 51:00- What was the connection between his choice of college, Brigham Young University, and his desire to remain dedicated to chess? What other factors went into Michael’s decision as to which college to attend? 59:00- What is going on with the San Diego Surfers of the Pro Chess League? 1:04- Goodbye and contact info See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.If you would like to help support Perpetual Chess via Patreon, please go here:Ben Johnson is creating Perpetual Chess Podcast | Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices