Photo courtesy of U Chicago Booth School
The founder of the St. Louis Chess Club, Rex Sinquefield is my guest this week. We have a timely conversation about the upcoming Sinquefield Cup, and about how Garry Kasparov's return to competitive chess came to be. We also talked about his vision for the future of chess, his favorite chess openings, finance, and baseball. To donate to the St. Louis Chess Club, click here.
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Perennial top 10 Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura was kind enough to join Perpetual Chess for an expansive interview. We talked about Garry Kasparov's upcoming return to competitive chess and about Hikaru's experience training with Kasparov. I asked him to handicap Kasparov's chances in St. Louis, and his answer may surprise you. We also touch on a myriad of other topics of interest to chess fans, including computers in chess, Hikaru's passion for trading stocks options, and his training methods. Enjoy this ringside seat to elite level chess. You can follow Hikaru on Twitter here.
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As someone who spent formative years in both the former Soviet Union, and the US, Eugene Perelshteyn has studied with and competed against many iconic chess players and trainers. Eugene discusses the different approaches he encountered from various trainers and also discusses how he approaches helping his chess own students. We also relive Eugene's playing career highlights, which include winning the Samford fellowship in 2001. Much more recently, he had the opportunity to play Anish Giri in the 2017 Reykjavik Open. To reach Eugene, look for him on his instructional chess website, Chess Openings Explained, or message him on chess.com.
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GM David Smerdon is one of those people who seems to find more hours in the day than the rest of us. In addition to being the #2 player in Australia, he recently completed his Ph.D. in economics and landed a job as an assistant professor in his native Brisbane. David also manages to stay quite active in and vocal about chess, particularly on his excellent blog. In our conversation, we discuss David's experiences representing Australia at several Olympiads, including the 2016 Olympiad in which he drew against Magnus Carlson. We also talk about gender in chess and his economic research away from the board. Naturally, I didn't let David escape without coaxing him to dish some excellent chess advice as well. David gives great tips on how to play against higher rated opponents and also offers a book recommendation. Please enjoy our interview, and then check out David's blog here, follow him on Twitter here.
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GM Pontus Carlsson speaks several languages, has lived many places, and is, of course, excellent at chess. In our interview, Carlsson discusses his ascent as a young chess talent in Sweden, race relations inside and outside of the world of chess, plus he reveals a grandmaster's secret for how to play while in time trouble. We also talk abut how GM Carlsson manages to balance a successful career outside of chess while continuing to teach and play chess. Pontus is a fascinating guy. Enjoy the conversation, then visit his webpage. He can be reached on Twitter, Facebook or by e-mail.
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
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IM David Pruess has been a fixture on the US Chess Scene throughout the 2000s. In our interview, we talk about David's early chess days in the Bay Area, his ideas for improving your tactics, and his complicated history as an early employee with chess.com.
David also tells us about his new job, and why he chooses to pursue a career outside of the chess world in addition to teaching chess and chess announcing. Thanks to David for the thoughtful and candid interview, ping him on chess.com here and follow him on Twitter here.
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Photo courtesy chess.com
Photo courtesy of chess24.com
Grandmaster Sandro Mareco is the highest rated chess player in Argentina and is currently #89 in the world. GM Mareco gives the unique perspective of a top Grandmaster who brought his rating from 2200 FIDE at age 18 to its current standing at 2659 at age 30.
Sandro also tells us which up and coming South American players to watch, discusses his work as a chess trainer, and reveals why he should be nicknamed "the Argentinian Turtle." To reach Sandro you can e-mail him here.
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JB in Boston, photo courtesy of Boylston Chess Club
Just 2.5 years after posting his first Youtube video. IM John Bartholomew has become one of the most popular chess YouTubers in the world. John reveals his original motivation for starting his channel and talks about its phenomenal growth to over 38,000 subscribers. He also analyzes the impact his popularity has had on his chess teaching business.
We also discuss chessable, the chess training website that he co-founded. Other topics convered include John's influences, his chess playing career, and why he decided to drop out of law school after a semester. Subscribe to John's youtube channel here,follow him on twitter here.
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Thibault Duplessis is a 31-year-old computer programmer, world traveler and the creator of one of the world's most popular chess servers, LiChess.org. Thibault tells us of the origins of LiChess, the driving philosophy that led him to create it and about his background in both programming and chess. We also discuss the issue of cheating in online chess and Thibault's vision for the future of LiChess.org.
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Photo courtesy of lichess.org
Photo courtesy of US Chess.org
For an 18-year old, IM Luke Harmon-Vellotti is rather ridiculously accomplished.. In addition to countless chess achievements, he will graduate from UCLA with a double major and was recently hired by Google for a highly coveted job as a programmer.
During our interview, Luke talks about the rigorous interview process at Google, discusses the similarities between chess and computer programming and, of course, reflects on his chess career and how his new job will impact his pursuit of the Grandmaster title, Read all about Luke's new gig here, and reach him on his website here.
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Although just 30 years old, GM Mesgen Amanov has many great stories to tell. In our interview, Mesgen tells the remarkable story of his emigration to the US after growing up in Turkmenistan. He also recounts how he got the idea for his successful chess education site, improvemychess.com. In addition, GM Amanov reveals his unique college major, tells some GM drinking stories, and gives some helpful chess improvement tips. To reach GM Amanov go to improvemychess.com.
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Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
Fresh from an emotional victory at the US Women's Championship, WGM Sabina Foisor joined me to discuss her impressive victory. Sabina's mother, WGM Cristina Foisor, passed away at the beginning of the year, so it has been a trying year for Sabina. Sabina talked openly about her mother's legacy and the loss that Sabina and her loved ones have endured. She also discussed how her mother's passing affected her tournament preparation and gave her perspective while she competed for the title. We also talked about the 2017 Women's World Championship in Iran, cooking, growing up in a chess family in Romania, and Sabina gave a few chess book recommendations. Follow Sabina on twitter here.
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14-year-old David Brodsky has been piling up the norms lately and has recently achieved the final norm necessary to earn the International Master title (pending 20 more FIDE rating points and FIDE approval). We talk about the secrets of his chess success, how he developed his ability to write about chess, how math competitions compare to chess tournaments, and the differences between the FIDE and the US Chess rating scales. Read all of David's excellent tournament recaps and chess advice on Chess Summit.
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This week GM Timur Gareyev, aka The Blindfold King, joined me. Timur has rightfully been getting a lot of media attention due to his mind-boggling feats in blindfold chess, but he has a lot of other interests as well. Timur's hobbies range from skydiving to yoga to traveling to poker. Naturally, we talked a bit about his incredible, record-breaking 48 board blindfold simul, but we also talked about his many travel plans, his business ideas, his chess beginnings in Uzbekistan, and many other topics. Timur is a fascinating guy and I can't wait to see what projects he undertakes in future years. Follow his exploits and contact Timur on blindfoldking.com.
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In addition to hosting the excellent chess podcast The Full English Breakfast, both Macauley Peterson and IM Lawrence Trent have had eclectic and interesting careers in chess. Macauley Peterson has been writing about, and reporting on chess for a long time and most recently has been the Content Director of Chess24. We talk about his various adventures in the world of chess media, as well as his recent profile of Fabiano Caruana in Chess Life. Mr. Trent shares what he learned from being the manager of an elite player, and reveals the "real job" that prepared him for his roles as a chess announcer and chess manager. Follow Lawrence on twitter here, follow Macauley here. Listen to and support The Full English Breakfast via Itunes or here. Watch Lawrence's chess videos on chess24.com
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Daniel Rensch, International Master, and Chess.com VP stopped by to talk all things chess.com. We previewed the upcoming Speed Chess Championship, and reviewed the good and bad of the Pro Chess League's successful first season. We also talked about Danny's dormant chess playing career, shark tank, and how a high school dropout learned to navigate the business world. This was a fun and inspiring glimpse into the future of chess. Follow Danny on twitter here.
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International Master Michael Rahal has been teaching chess in Barcelona for 25 years and competing in chess since his childhood in England. Rahal breaks down the chess scene in Spain and tells stories of crossing paths with chess elites like Kramnik, Anand, and Svidler. Michael also reveals his persuasive theories on why chess is flourishing in China and India, and why watching television series are so popular with upper echelon chess players. You can watch IM Rahal's videos on ICC and follow him on twitter here.
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Photo courtesy of scramblewithfriendsleague
With Chess.com's Pro Chess League headed into its Final Four this weekend, Greg fought through sickness to give us a quick rundown of the teams and players that will be playing this weekend, including Carlsen, So and Caruana. Greg also reflected a bit on the first season of the Pro Chess League and touched on his forthcoming chess book and on the upcoming US Championships. For more coverage of the Pro Chess League final 4 head over to chess.com and enjoy the extravaganza.
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GM Alex Yermolinksky takes us through his storied chess career which has spanned decades and has taken him from Leningrad to Rome to several different cities in the US. Yermo has crossed swords with legends like Kasparov and Kramnik, and also enjoyed a time as a dominant force on the US Chess tournament circuit. These days, he lives in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and focuses on family, and chess teaching. Alex is an entertaining and outspoken storyteller, so please sit back and enjoy this interview.
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Photo courtesy of twitter.com
International Master and Woman Grandmaster Anna Rudolf is an engaging and informative chess announcer and presenter. In our talk Anna candidly discusses her nervous beginnings in front of the camera and what she did to make herself a better presenter. We also discuss the chess culture in her native Hungary, her transition from primarily playing chess to promoting it, and what it's like to work with Judit Polgar. This was an inspiring and fun talk. Please have a listen. You can reach Anna on Facebook or twitter here, and watch her videos on chess24.
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