IM David Vigorito is a Massachusetts-based chess player, author and trainer. As a player, David been the state champion of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Nevada. He has also competed in the U.S. Championship and has been among the top 50 player in the US. David and his publisher, Quality Chess, have just released his 9th book, Playing the Najdorf. David also has been a tremendously accomplished adult improver. As his USCF rating graph shows, he took his rating from the 2200s in his early 20s to a peak of 2565 in his 40s in 2013!
In our conversation, we dug into how David was able to improve so much at a phase when many others stall. Naturally, we also spent some time discussing the state of the Najdorf variation of the Sicilian. Please read on for timestamps and more details!
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0:00- We begin by discussing David’s chess background, with an emphasis on how he gained so many rating points in his 20s.
Mentioned: FM Dennis Monokroussos, Pawn Structure Chess by Soltis, Art of Defense, IM Mark Dvoretsky, GM Ulf Andersson, Inside Chess Magazine, New in Chess Magazine, Chess Informants
16:00- David answers a question from the Perpetual Chess Patreon mailbag about what advice he would give to other working parents who want to improve at chess.
20:30- One of David’s old schoolmates writes in to ask for David’s thoughts about the nature of chess talent.
30:00- David traces the arc of his career as a chess writer, beginning with his decision to write his first Quality Chess book, Challenging the Nimzo-Indian.
Mentioned: Gambit Chess Books, IM James Rizzitano, Everyman Chess, The Sicilian Dragon, GM Daniel King’s Winning with the Najdorf, GM Larry Kaufman, IM Christof Sielecki, Sozin, Nikolaos Ntirlis, The Sicilian Sozin by Golubev
46:00- Chess opening talk! How can a non-professional player handle the complexity of the Najdorf? What can attacking players play against 1.d4?
Mentioned: The King’s Indian Defense, The Grunfeld Defense
55:00- Another supporter of the show writes in to ask David to assess the past and present of the Boston, Massachusetts chess scene.
Mentioned: GM Alex Ivanov, 2020 Charlotte Open, North American Open, 2020 Foxwoods Open
1:02- Does David worry about giving away too many opening secrets?
GM Alex Khalifman, GM Hikaru Nakamura
Thanks to David for a fun conversation! You can keep up with him via his website here: https://www.vigoritochess.com/ His book is available through Quality Chess and Forward Chess.
If you would like to help support Perpetual Chess, you can do so here: https://www.patreon.com/perpetualchess