This week on Perpetual Chess, we have two interviews in one for you! Return guest, FM Peter Giannatos, who many know as the founder and head of the award-winning Charlotte Chess Center and Scholastic Academy, is also an extremely accomplished adult improver, and in the first half of this interview, Peter shares many inspirational words and his best chess improvement advice. As we discuss, in the past decade, Peter has made the difficult climb from 2100 to 2390 USCF! Peter has also improved his blitz game, but, as Peter explains, he does not think that requires the same skill set as playing slower tournament games.
In the second half of the interview we turn our attention to Peter's new book and Chessable course.. It is a great resource for newer chess players and chess teachers. Last, but definitely not least, we discuss the current system for players seeking to earn the Grandmaster title. There has been a fair bit of conversation and controversy on this topic of late, so it was great to have one of the world’s leading organizer’s of “norm tournaments' ' help us separate fact from fiction.
Click here to download the episode
0:00- Peter shares his beginnings in tournament chess and discusses the 2 major rating plateaus he faced (Approximately 1600 and 2100 USCF)
Mentioned: Episode 201 with FM Peter Giannatos, Episode 151 with JJ Lang, Matthew Noble, On the Origin of Good Moves, A First Book of Morphy, NM Dominique Myers, Noel Studer’s Blog
16:45- Peter talks about how his chess evolved in his 20s and the ways that GM Ben Finegold and GM Alexander Shabalov helped Peter improve
Mentioned: Episode 239 with GM Jan Markos,
26:30- How do adult improvers approach chess improvement differently from kids?
Mentioned: #chesspunks, Neal Bruce
33:00- How did Peter change his opening repertoire once he started working with GM Alexander Shabalov?
37:45- Perpetual Chess is also 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%.
38:15- Perpetual Chess is also brought to you in part by Chessmood.com
They offer a huge library of instructive videos. You can hear GM Avetik Grigoryan on Episode 192 of Perpetual Chess. Be sure to subscribe to their YouTube channel here.
40:00- How many hours per week did Peter study while his rating was climbing?
Mentioned: Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual, Perfect Your Chess
48:00- How does Peter adapt his game for speed chess?
Mentioned: Simple Chess, How to Reassess Your Chess
57:00- Recommendations for players rated below 1600
Mentioned: Step 2 Thinking Ahead, Forcing Chess Moves
1:05:00- 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:
1:06:30- Peter’s improvement bullet points
Play Stronger Players
Be willing to change things up and exit your comfort zone
Work hard! Do 10-15 minutes puzzles that push yourself
(my addition)- find a training partner
1:14:00- We discuss Peter Giannatos’ new book and Chessable course Everyone’s First Chess Workbook,
Mentioned: Laszlo Polgar’s Chess, Al Woolum’s Chess Tactics Workbook, Chess Steps Books
1:21:00- We discuss a recent, somewhat controversial New York Times article about how title norms are achieved.
Link for the article here
Mentioned: GM Abhimanyu Mishra, GM Sergey Karjakin, GM Bobby Fischer, GM Judit Polgar
Ian Nepomniatchi’s tweet is here, IM Nikolas Theodorou, GM Nigel Short, IM John Bartholomew . Chess for Charity Jacksonville
1:55:00-
Thanks so much to Peter for coming on the show! Here are the links you need to reach Peter or buy his book/course:
See a preview of the book here
Buy the book here:
Buy it in Chessable form here:
Follow Peter on Twitch here:
Email him here:
Peter.giannatos at charlottechesscenter.org