It is my great pleasure to announce a new monthly podcast project, called Perpetual Chess: Chess Books Recaptured. This series will be on the same podcast feed as “regular” Perpetual Chess, and on the show, we will reflect upon and synthesize classic chess books! We will try to place the book in historical context, give a few favorite quotes from the book and and offer some chess improvement takeaways. We will even drop a couple of chess blindfold puzzles at the end!
This series will feature a rotating cast of guest co-hosts, and this month I am happy that USCF Master Sam Copeland of Chess.com is hosting with me to discuss one of everyone’s favorite chess books, The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal.
Please check it out, and then let me know what you think, whether via email, The Perpetual Chess Facebook Group or Twitter. Show notes, timestamps and links below, as always. Enjoy!
Click here to download the episode
0:00- My somewhat rambling introduction of the vision for Perpetual Chess: Chess Books Recaptured.
Mentioned: The Overdue Podcast, Animal Spirits: Re-Kindled, The Ringer: Rewatchables, Affiliate links: If you buy a Forward Chess book using this link, or an amazon product using this link, it helps support the podcast without costing you any additional money. The same is true if you sign up for a chess.com premium account (as you should) using this link.
4:15- This month’s guest co-host, Sam Copeland joins the conversation
Mentioned: GM Murray Chandler, IM Jeremy Silman’s Review of The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal
7:30- About the authors, Mikhail Tal, Iakov Damsky
Mentioned: Kramnik: My Life and Games, The Art of Defense in Chess, Chess Brilliancy, Ken Neat (translator), The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Fire on Board
13:30- We jump into the meat of The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal, commencing with Sam's reading the opening quote of the book and recalling a few other favorite quotes and games.
Mentioned: Alexander Koblencs
28:00- We add in a bit more color of lessons drawn from GM Genna Sosonko’s The World Champions I Knew and Tal-Botvinnik 1960.
32:30- We select a few favorite games from the book.
Mentioned: Botvinnik Tal 1960, Game 6 , Tal’s Most Famous Quote, Donner-Tal 1961, Capablanca, Alekhine, Smyslov-Tal 1964, John Nunn, Chess.com’s CAPS System, Dr. Kenneth Regan
41:30- Chess improvement takeaways:
This book can increase your love of chess, which is ultimately indispensable if you want to improve.
Chess is a game between humans- initiative in a game can be more important than objective truth
Play openings that suit your style and get you excited to play.
Mentioned: The Benoni Defense
51:00- Quibbles. I mentioned the lack of quality e-book for this book- I am happy to report that Everyman Chess has now informed that The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal is coming soon to Chessable and Forward Chess!
Mentioned: Sam’s excellent video recap of Tal vs. Flesch 1981, The Magic of Mikhail Tal, Checkmate: The Love Story of Mikhail Tal and Sally Landau
57:00- Thanks so much to Sam Copeland for all of his work on this project! Keep up with him via-Chess.com blog, Twitter, YouTube, and Twitch.
Here is the home page for Perpetual Chess Chess Books Recaptured. To apply to be a co-host fill out this form. If you would like to help support this project, and Perpetual Chess generally, go here. Email Ben here.
1:01- Blindfold puzzles!
To see the puzzles and answers click here (answers may be visible upon clicking):
Puzzle #1: White K on f4, White R on c5, White pawn on b6. Black pawn on b2 Black K on a6. White to move and win.
Puzzle 1 diagram (adapted from IM Kostya Kavutskiy's twitter feed)
Puzzle #2: White to move and mate in two: White Q on b5, White N on f5, White K on c1. Black K on c3.
Puzzle 2 diagram (adapted from Step Workbook 4 of the Steps Series)
Last chance to find out more and/or support the “Square Off Chess robot” Kickstarter project , check it out here.