Andrew Zinn at the venerable Marshall Chess Club
Andrew Zinn is a 29 year old Mathematics graduate student who also works in the finance industry . Despite his busy career, Andrew managed to take his USCF rating from 1567 to 2027 in the two years leading up to the coronavirus shutdown. How did he do it? As Andrew tells us, he has an approach based on playing lots of tournament chess, reading classic chess books, and really focusing on improving his visualization skills. Of course, there is more to Andrew’s approach than that, as you will hear in the interview. Andrew has much to say about what contributed to his remarkable rating leap. Please read on for more details and timestamps.
Click here to download the episode.
0:00- Andrew tells the story of his discovery of chess as a kid, and his rediscovery of the game in recent years. As Andrew explains it, his approach has changed a lot as an adult.
Mentioned: GM Alex Shabalov, NM Jerry Meyers, Richard James, GM Magnus Carlsen
09:45- Andrew is also an adult improver as a piano player. How did learning piano as an adult inform his chess learning?
Mentioned: Chess by Laszlo Polgar, Blindfold Chess: History, Psychology, Techniques, Champions, World Records, and Important Games, Pillsbury, Alekhine, Lasker’s Manual of Chess, The Ideas Behind the Chess Openings by Reuben Fine
22:30- A supporter of the podcast aska Andrew what classical player he most likes to study.
Mentioned: Masters of the Chessboard by Richard Reti, GM Alexander Alekhine
25:30- We discuss tournament chess. Andrew discusses how often he played competitively, and answers a Patreon mailbag question about his approach to analyzing those games.
Mentioned: Marshall Chess Club
Mentioned: GM Jesse Kraai
34:00- How much time per week has Andrew been devoting to chess?
37:30- Chessable is out with another new course by none other than World Champion Magnus Carlsen. Like all of Chessable’s courses, it utilizes spaced repetition to make sure you remember what you learn. Check it out here:
https://www.chessable.com/the-magnus-touch-endgame/course/42361/
38:00- What has Andrew done to improve his chess visualization abilities?
Mentioned: Think Like a Grandmaster by GM Alexander Kotov, IM John Donaldson, GM Jacob Aagaard, Chess Books Recaptured discussing Think Like a Grandmaster with NM Christopher Chabris. https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/new-blog/2020/2/21/bonus-pod-chess-books-recaptured-discussing-think-like-a-grandmaster-with-nm-christopher-chabris
44:00- Andrew answers one more Patreon question about which training technique he thinks has given him the best return on time invested.
Mentioned: Zurich International Chess Tournament, 1953
52:00- What is Andrew’s approach to studying openings?
54:30- What about endgames?
Mentioned: Chess Endgames by Laszlo Polgar
57:00- In closing, Andrew discusses his future plans for chess as his life continues to get busier. Thanks to Andrew for joining the show!
You can keep up with Andrew via Lichess:
https://lichess.org/@/Andrew_Zinn or you can email him via email at zinn.andrew.m at gmail.com