Photo by Paul Swaney
My final guest live from Nashville was none other than the seven-time winner of the US Women’s Championship, GM Irina Krush.
Irina and I had a fun discussion, and covered the following topics:
Her reflections on the most recent US championships in St. Louis. (Irina finished in 3rd place)
How does she recover from tough losses? This is a crucial skill for all chess players to develop, and no, it doesn’t get much easier for grandmasters.
Why did she decide to devote herself full-time to chess while some of her peers have sought work in other fields? How does she manage to play so much while also teaching and writing about chess?
Irina had many tales to tell, including stories of playing blitz with Magnus, playing future World Champ Hou Yifan when she was just 11 years old, the Olympiads and more. Thanks to Irina for a great chat.
To see the puzzle from Shereshevsky's new book mentioned by Irina, go here. Black to move and win.
This is the last "Friday bonus" podcast, Perpetual returns to weekly Tuesday releases next week.
Click here to download the episode.