ChessMood Podcast

Grandmaster Bassem Amin, an Egyptian chess prodigy, rose to prominence as an FM by 11, an IM by 16, and a GM by 18. He shares intriguing insights about balancing a medical career with professional chess and the invaluable lessons learned from his military service. Bassem reveals how he adjusted his training to target a 2,700 rating and what propelled him into the world's top 50 players. With a focus on perseverance and mentorship, he offers aspiring chess players his top advice for achieving their dreams.

IM Eric Rosen, a successful chess streamer, shares his journey of overcoming the plateau, dealing with defeats, and fueling his passion. They discuss finding the balance between competition and collaboration, the importance of improvement and mindset, and learning from losses. Eric also shares his experience defeating Magnus Carlsen and his passion for digital media. They explore finding a niche, the role of self-awareness in learning, and the importance of maintaining passion and trying new openings. Other topics include the 10,000 steps challenge, the ChessMood opening repertoire, and the significance of the mental side of chess.

What can chess players learn from the world of biohacking?In this episode of the ChessMood podcast, our host and founder GM Avetik Grigoryan interviews Ben Greenfield, one of the world’s top biohackers, to share his insights. Ben’s also the author of thirteen bestselling books covering health, biohacking, fitness, and brain optimization. He has worked with many top athletes, CEOs, some of the top poker players, and has also been the president of a chess club!Connect with Ben Greenfield here:Website: https://bengreenfieldlife.com/Get the book "Boundless" by Ben Greenfield here: https://www.amazon.com/Boundless-Upgrade-Brain-Optimize-Aging/dp/1628603976

In this episode of the ChessMood Podcast, our guest is James Altucher, a man who has turned his life around multiple times and achieved tremendous success in many fields! James is a serial entrepreneur, investor, bestselling author, stand-up comedian, blogger, podcaster, and also a chess master! From building a fortune by selling his first company to hitting rock-bottom and even contemplating suicide at one point to making a comeback by achieving success across various domains, his story is a testament of resilience and fearlessness! In this episode with the host GM Avetik Grigoryan, James shares his unique strategies for success, his approach to overcoming life’s challenges, and all the lessons he learned through in his different careers that you can apply to your life and chess.Check out James Altucher here: Visit his official website: ⁠https://jamesaltucher.com/⁠Follow him on Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/jaltucher⁠Listen to The James Altucher Show on Spotify: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/0Tqw1AaZyrZ7kWnrNSgbNQ⁠Watch him on Youtube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRQlx2klE_aNrPhz2OyKRdg⁠

Multiple times Olympic and World Champion, elite chess Grandmaster Vladimir Akopian with 2700+ peak rating, shares the stories behind his remarkable career, including the advice he got from Botvinnik before winning his 1st World Championship, his matches with Garry Kasparov and how he was arrested on his way to chess Olympiad.

If you take care of your inner being and keep it healthy, you’ll elevate not only your chess performance, but also the quality of your life. People around you will be better. The world will be better. Today’s guest is one of the brightest, smartest, deepest and happiest persons alive. He constantly wins both games — the outer game, what the society calls success, and the inner game that we need to win but often forget about. Apart from building a few successful companies in Silicon Valley, then becoming an investor and founding a VC and many other impressive things like walking 550 miles across Spain, he wrote the bestseller book “Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It,” which shaped thousands of people’s lives, including me and my Grandmaster friend. And in this interview, Kamal shares how exactly we should take care of our inner selves to have better chess and life journeys.

How to stop underperforming and play at your peak? Peak performance coach Todd Herman, who has worked with hundreds of Olympians and Elite Athletes like Kobe Bryant, Cristiano Ronaldo and Rafael Nadal, shares how we, chess players, can enhance our performance by creating alter egos and with other techniques.