Photo courtesy of GM Moranda
This week we are joined by top chess player, trainer and author GM Wojciech Moranda. GM Moranda is one of the highest ranked and most accomplished players in Poland, with a FIDE rating of 2618 and many tournament victories. Wojciech has also been a frequent competitor in the Pro Chess League, where he has beaten the likes of GM Fabiano Caruana and GM Alexander Grischuk. As a trainer, GM Wojciech has worked with both amateur adults and with top young players in conjunction with the National Youth Chess Academy of the Polish Chess Federation. GM Moranda is a chess bibliophile who has developed a unique chess instruction style, which is on display in his excellent new book, Universal Chess Training, recently published by Thinkers Publishing. We talk about the book as well as chess improvement more generally, including getting Wojciech’s takes on the age old questions of what to study, how to study, and how much to study. If you are looking to improve your own game you are assured to pick up something both from Wojciech’s book, and from our conversation. Please continue reading for timestamps and relevant hyperlinks.
Click here to download the episode.
0:00- We begin by discussing GM Moranda’s new book from Thinker’s Publishing, Universal Chess Training. GM Moranda shares how he decided on the unique presentation style of this book, and what he likes and dislikes about other recent chess books.
Mentioned: Reshevsky-Petrosian 1953 (25...Re6), Jon Edwards, My Great Predecessors, Kasparov-Topalov 1999, Episode 199 with Dr. Barry Hymer and GM Peter Wells
24:00- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Chessable.com. One of their latest offerings is a Lifetime Repertoires course on the Taimanov Sicilian by GM Harikrishna. Check it out here:
25:30- GM Moranda answers a question from the Patreon mailbag about whether playing blitz and rapid is bad for one’s chess development.
Mentioned: Lichess.org, Episode 200 with GM Boris Gelfand, GM Alireza Firouzja
34:30- We discuss how much one should study, and how one should allocate chess study time.
Mentioned: Applying Logic in Chess by IM Erik Kislik
41:00- Are the rumors true that GM Moranda has a law degree? How did Wojciech get into chess?
Mentioned: FM Kamil Plichta
48:30- GM Moranda answers another question relating to the state of the chess culture in Poland.
Mentioned: GM Jan Krzysztof Duda, Paul Morphy, The Queen’s Gambit Series
56:30- What are GM Wojciech’s favorite chess books?
Mentioned: GM Jacob Aagaard’s Grandmaster Preparation Series, Beyond Material, GameChanger
1:03:00- GM Moranda has some experience teaching blindfold chess and visualization. What advice does he usually give his students?
1:19:00 Thanks so much to GM Moranda for sharing his chess wisdom!
You can reach him via chess.com here: https://www.chess.com/member/gmmoranda
You check out a teaser of Universal Chess Training here:
and you can buy it here:
https://thinkerspublishing.com/product/wojciech-moranda-universal-chess-training/
Its also available from Forward Chess here: https://forwardchess.com/sample/universal-chess-training