Welcome to another “Adult improver” edition of Perpetual Chess. Our guest this time is Dr. Courtney Frey. Courtney is a 35 year old doctor (radiologist) and father of 2 kids. Like a lot of us he played in a chess club during his school years, but then didn’t play for many yearsuntil he finished medical school. He got more serious during the pandemic, started taking lessons with a coach, and he has seen his LiChess Rapid rating go from the 1500s to 1900 in about a year! As you will hear, Courtney has been successful with a very balanced approach to chess improvement that focuses on studying the aspects of chess that he enjoys most. Courtney had a lot of helpful tips to share- you can find relevant links and timestamps below!
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0:00- Did you know that Chessable now sponsors an adult improvement weekly chess podcast called How to Chess? Did you know that you can subscribe to it on Spotify and all the other podcast apps? Be sure to subscribe, or go to Howtochess.com for more info.
https://open.spotify.com/show/5SzyXVaBZtM8CA6dtBQj7o?si=Q5SZzmcXT4i65y219xKTzQ&dl_branch=1
2:00- Courtney briefly delves into his chess background prior to his renaissance that began during Quarantine.
Mentioned: Episode 87 with Adult Improver Stacia Pugh
6:00- Once Courtney decided to start training what did he do?
Mentioned: Episode 194 with Yuriy Krykun, Book Recap #14- Discussing The Seven Deadly Chess Sins with David Franklin,
13:00- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by AImchess.com. Check out their site, and if you decide to subscribe use the code Perpetual30 to save 30%.
13:45- Courtney answers a question from the Patreon mailbag relating to how he selected his opening repertoire. Then he provides more detail on his chess study regimen.
Mentioned: IM Yuriy Krykun’s Chessable Course- The Dynamic Italian Game
30:00- What does Courtney do when he faces an opening move he hasn’t seen before?
Mentioned: Chessable Course- My First White Opening Repertoire
35:30- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Chessable.com! Check out their latest offerings here. New Chess Courses Online - For All Levels in all - Chessable.com
Also be sure to subscribe to the How to Chess podcast, more info here:
36:00- Courtney shares a few more recommendations, he has found many ways to improve beyond tactics training!
Mentioned: The Checkmate Patterns Manual
60:00- Thanks so much to Courtney for joining the show!