Cover image, Dr. Barry Hymer, and GM Peter Wells, respectively, photos courtesy of Crown House Publishing
This week I am joined by Dr. Barry Hymer and GM Peter Wells, who are the authors of the new book, Chess Improvement: It’s All in the Mindset. Dr. Hymer is a Professor of Psychology in Education, as well as a long time chess enthusiast. GM Peter Wells, in addition to being an active player is a prolific chess author and a trainer for some of Great Britain’s top juniors. As a pair, they are perfectly suited to write a book tackling so many persistent questions related to chess improvement. Our conversation discusses questions such as the following: What is a growth mindset, and how can it apply to chess improvement? What can parents and trainers learn from the approach to nurturing talent taken by the family of GM Magnus Carlsen? How much of chess talent is determined by genetics? What are Peter’s favorite games of his career? How has Barry managed to go from the 1800 level to over 2000 while in his 50s? For the answers to these questions and many more, please enjoy the show. You can find timestamps and show notes below.
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0:00- We begin by discussing the source of the authors’ idea for this book, and they explain the research that framed their writing of it.
Mentioned: Tim Kett, Carol Dweck, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success
7:00- What psychological issues in his own chess game did Carol Dweck’s research help Peter address?
10:30- Barry and Peter answer the first of many Patreon mailbag questions relating to whether their book is more of a “how-to guide” or more of an overview of research chess players should know?
Mentioned: GM Boris Gulko, GM Boris Gelfand, Tim Kett, Henrik Carlsen, GM Erwin L.Ami
Henrik Carlsen interview with IM Sagar Shah here-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TAGKisuHUg
20:00- Another Patreon question- what advice do Peter and Barry have for managing chess study while working full time?
25:00- Must “deliberate practice” be inherently unenjoyable?
Mentioned: Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers
30:00- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Chessable.com. Chessable is a great way to put in your deliberate practice and learn opening lines, tactical patterns and other aspects of the game. Check out their latest offerings here:
https://www.chessable.com/courses/all/new/
31:00- Dr. Barry Hymer is an adult improver who has gained over 200 rating points in his 50s. What has been his approach to chess study?
Mentioned: GM Luke McShane, The King’s Indian Attack Move by Move, Bill Goichberg
38:30- How will this research affect the GM Peter Wells' approach as chess trainer?
42:30- Another Patreon mailbag question: What does Peter think can be done to help improve the British chess scene, especially for talented juniors?
Mentioned:GM Alexander Morozevich, GM Gawain Jones, IM Malcolm Pein
48:00- What is the chess scene like in Barry’s native South Africa?
50:00- The authors answer another Patreon mailbag question relating to the always controversial topic of the extent to which chess ability is determined by nature as opposed to nurture.
Mentioned: Chessdojo, Robert Plomin, GM Bobby Fischer, IM Kostya Kavutskiiy, GM Jesse Kraai, IM David Pruess, GM Luke McShane,
1:02:00- The authors interviewed many of the top players of Great Britain, including IM Harriet Hunt and GM Nigel Short. Were they more struck by the similarity of their approaches or their differences?
Mentioned: IM Harriet Hunt, GM Nigel Short
1:04:30- Another Patreon question- How can parents find the right balance between being encouraging their children and being pushy with their encouragemen?
Mentioned: IM Merijn Van Delft, Angela Duckworth
1:15:00- Peter answers a listener question relating to what it was like beating GM Alexei Shirov with the Trompowsky Opening in just 13 moves.
Mentioned: IM William Hartston, GM Joel Lautier, GM Judit Polgar, GM Patrick Wolff
Wells-John Emms 2000
Wells- Zoltan Almasi 2001
Chess24 coverage of Norway Chess Round 6, featuring GM Joel Lautier: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8LNhYDyHFo&t=3437s
1:23:30- Another listener question: What type of work will Barry be doing with Chessable.com?
GM Alex Colovic
1:26:00- Thanks so much to Peter and Barry for sharing their knowledge and experiences. You can buy the books here:
You can keep up with them in the following ways:
Barry Hymer website- https://barryhymer.wordpress.com/
Chessable blog-https://www.chessable.com/blog/page/2/
Peter Wells twitter- https://twitter.com/GMPeteWells
Email the authors through Crown house publishing- https://www.crownhouse.co.uk/contact-us
You can help support the podcast here:
https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/donate