Photo by IM Alina L’Ami
35 year-old Grandmaster Erwin L’Ami has had quite a varied and interesting chess career thus far. He is one of the top players in the Netherlands, and has competed on every Dutch Olympiad team since 2006. He has had many impressive finishes in individal tournaments, including winning the 2015 Reykjavik Open.
When not competing himself, Erwin is a highly respected opening theoretician, who has worked with former FIDE World Champion Veselin Topalov and currently works with perennial top 10 player, GM Anish Giri. All of this makes Erwin the perfect person to publish a Lifetime Repertoires course on the Caro-Kann defense for Chessable. In our conversation, we touch all aspects of his chess career. Topics included how he works with engines, the life of a traveling second, the 2020 FIDE Candidates, Anish Giri and Magnus’ Carlsen’s twitter banter, the latest in Caro-Kann theory, improvement advice,and the identity of his favorite player of all time. As you can imagine, there is lots to dig into! Show notes and timestamps can be found below:
Click here to download the episode
0:00- We begin by chatting a bit about the Caro-Kann and about Erwin’s new course. Why was now a good time to do a course on the Caro-Kann? This also includes talk of what sort of engine use goes into top-level opening preparation generally.
Mentioned: Leela Chess Zero, Stockfish Open Source Engine, Setting up Engines in Chessbase Video with John Hartmann of US Chess- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_G-tvePe6Q, Jon Edwards, GM Viswanthan Anand
14:00- Erwin tells some stories about working with GM Veselin Topalov during his 2010 World Championship Match
Mind Master by GM Viswanthan Anand, The Anand Files by VIshwanathan Anand, Episode 177 with GM Peter Heine Nielsen
19:00- Should the format of the World Chess Championship be changed?
Mentioned: Daryl Morey interview with GM Hikaru Nakamura- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prI_EEq6Xsc
IM Greg Shahade, GM Magnus Carlsen, FIDE Candidates Tournament 2011
23:30- We talk about what it was like for GM Erwin L’Ami to travel to the 2020 FIDE Candidates tournament in Yekaterinburg, Russia and what he thinks of how the tournament was handled generally.
Mentioned: Perpetual Chess Episode 174 with GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov , GM Teimour Radjabov, GM Emil Sutovsky
33:00- GM Anish Giri has been showing great results in rapid and blitz chess lately. What is his secret to his improvement?
Mentioned: GM Ian Nepomniatchi, Chessable Masters 2020, GM Mikhail Botvinnik
41:00- We finally tackle the Girl-Carlsen “Twitter Beef!” Erwin answers two related questions from the Perpetual Chess Patreon mailbag!
Mentioned: IM Anna Rudolf
46:30- As always, Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Chessable!
Check out GM Erwin L’Ami’s Free Short and Sweet Caro Course here:
https://www.chessable.com/short-sweet-the-caro-kann/course/45388/
Check out his comprehensive and impressive, Lifetime Repertoire Caro-course here:
https://www.chessable.com/lifetime-repertoires-caro-kann/course/37366/
47:30- We talk about some of Erwin’s favorite chess books and a novel he has been enjoying.
Mentioned: On the Origin of Good Moves by IM Willy Hendriks, Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann, My Great Predecessors, GM Jacob Aagaard, Game Changer by GM Mathew Sadler and WIM Natasha Regan
54:00- What is GM Erwin L’Ami’s Best Chess Improvement Advice?
Mentioned: GM Peter Svidler
59:00- Erwin tells the story of being in attendance while Garry Kasparov, his favorite player, played one of his most famous games, vs. GM Veselin Topalov in Wijk an Zee in 1999.
Mentioned: Test of Time by GM Garry Kasparov
1:02:00- A Patreon supporter of the podcast asks about the role that body language plays in top level chess.
Mentioned: GM Viswanthan Anand, GM Michael Adams, IM Stuart Rachels’ The Best I Saw in Chess, see Chess24’s coverage of Magnus’ 2014 blunder against Anand, here:
https://chess24.com/en/read/news/carlsen-blunders-but-wins-game-6-video-recap
1:08:00- Erwin briefly discusses what it was like to be the student of famed trainer GM Vladimir Chuchelov, who has also worked with GMs Caruana and Anand.
1:10:00- What is life on the road like for the second of a top 10 player?
Mentioned: GM Max Euwe, GM Jan Timman, IM Alina L’Ami, Jeroen Van Den Berg, organizer of Tata Steel Chess
1:20:00- We bring it back to the Caro-Kann, and Erwin answers some questions, including one from a Patreon supporter, relating to the theoretical state of the Caro Kann defense.
Mentioned: Panov-Botvinnik attack, Shirov variation, Short variation of the Advanced Caro
Mentioned: GM Danil Dubov, GM Alireza Firouzja, GM Vladislav Artemiev, GM Jan Gustafsson
1:28:00- Thanks to GM Erwin L’Ami for an insightful and enjoyable interview.
Get his Caro-Kann Chessable course here:
https://www.chessable.com/lifetime-repertoires-caro-kann/course/37366/
Follow him on Twitter here:
https://twitter.com/erwinlami?lang=en
If you would like to help support Perpetual Chess, you can do here:
https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/donate