Perpetual Chess Podcast

Legendary chess author IM Jeremy Silman valued his chess friendships highly, and referred to his inner circle as his chess ‘“posse.” This week, two members of that posse, IMsJohn Donaldson and IM Cyrus Lakdawala join me to share stories and biographical details about their friend. As one might expect from Silman’s books, they recall a friend who was funny, empathetic, extremely strong as a chess player, and a brilliant writer and gifted public speaker. John and Cyrus both begin with their first recollections of meeting Jeremy in 1981, and they take us through his chess life and his journey from a chess nomad to a devoted husband, cat dad, and one of the most successful chess authors of all time. Thanks to John and Cyrus for helping us all learn more about Jeremy’s life. Timestamps of topics discussed are below. . Noteworthy obituaries of IM Silman:- https://new.uschess.org/news/im-jeremy-silman-1954-2023 https://www.chess.com/news/view/jeremy-silman-1954-2023 https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/26/books/jeremy-silman-dead.html Fred Wilson’s old interviews with IM Jeremy Silman will be posted to the Perpetual Chess YouTube channel by the end of the week. Interview #1- https://youtu.be/FVDGwFIUjkA Interview #2 coming soon. 01:30- John and Cyrus share their first memories of meeting IM Jeremy Silman, both in 1981. Mentioned; Chuck Johnson 07:00- John and Cyrus describe Silman’s “hippie days.” 12;00- How did Jeremy get his start in chess? Mentioned: IM John Grefe, Dennis Waterman, IM Jack Peters, Bob Long, and Silman’s article describing his ‘posse’- https://www.chess.com/article/view/chess-books-and-youth-vs-old-age Silman’s Chess Odyssey 22;00- Cyrus discusses the legacy of How to Reassess Your Chess, as well as Jeremy’s unique insight into a need for literature addressing club players. 26;00- Why did The Complete Book of Chess Strategy sell so well? How did his other books do? 33;00- John and Cyrus discuss Jeremy’s abilities as a speaker, and the success of the series he did for “Great Courses” Mentioned: https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/how-to-play-chess-lessons-from-an-international-master 38;00- Did financial success change Jeremy?John also discusses some of Jeremy’s students. Mentioned: von Frankenstein, Allan Horn, Brady Anderson, NM Vanessa West 43;00- Could Jeremy have been a GM? Mentioned: Ken West?, IM Jack Peters, IM Douglas Root 50:00- John and Cyrus discuss the challenges of fe as a chess author and how chess content has changed. 1:13:00- John discusses the health challenges Jeremy faced late in life. 1:16:00- What jobs did Jeremy have outside of chess? 1:21:00- John discusses Jeremy’s love for chess books, and for Japan! Mentioned: The Games of Tigran Petrosian by Shekhtman 1:26:00- Should we care about analytical mistakes? Mentioned: Vitiugov vs. Robson 2013 1:31:00- Favorite Silman stories Thanks so much to John and Cyrus for sharing their memories of IM Silman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the wake of IM Jeremy Silman’s recent passing,Chess Books Recaptured returns to review one of his classic books, The Amateur’s Mind. The Amateur’s Mind sold over 90,000 copies, and IM Jeremy Silman said that he thought it was his best instructional book.What made this book, and Silman’s writing so unique? We dive into that topic, share many memorable (and amusing) quotes from the book, and briefly discuss some of the other works from IM Jeremy Silman’s illustrious canon. Joining me for this discussion, is David Hamm. As a 1000 (ish) rated, relatively recent chess devotee, who is also an attorney with 3 kids, David is just the type of reader that Silman likely had in mind when writing this book. While The Amateur’s Mind might not be my #1 recommendation if your goal is to improve your game, it was a ton of fun to read it and to discuss it, and reflecting on IM Jeremy Silman's legacy has left me more impressed with his work than ever. Timestamps of topics discussed and links of articles referred to are below. IM Jeremy Silman’s How to Reassess Your Chess is now on Chessable, and The Amateur’s Mind will be coming in 2024! Use this link to sign up for Chessable Pro, and and/or make a Chessable purchase, and it will help support Perpetual Chess. https://www.chessable.com/pro/?utm_source=affiliate&utm_medium=benjohnson&utm_campaign=pro 0:00- Thanks to Fred Wilson of Fred Wilson Books for allowing me to share Fred’s old interviews with IM Jeremy Silman. They will be posted soon to the Perpetual Chess YouTube Channel, so make sure you are subbed. Interview #1- https://youtu.be/FVDGwFIUjkA Interview #2 coming soon. 0:03- David Hamm joins me to discuss the book. We begin by discussing how David got into chess, and to IM Jeremy Silman. 0:07- We briefly go over IM Jeremy SIlman’s bio, and discuss some of Silman’s works. Mentioned: NY Times obit by Dylan Loeb McLain, Chess.com obit by Tarjei Svensen John Donaldson’s obit for US Chess 12:30- What makes SIlman’s writing stand out? Mentioned: How to Reassess Your Chess, Nick Visel’s Review of Amateur’s Mind 19:00- If chess improvement is your primary focus, what books could one consider as alternatives to Amateur’s Mind? Mentioned: Simple Chess, Winning Chess Strategies, Mastering Chess Strategies, Techniques of Positional Play 22:00- We read the first few paragraphs and discuss Silman’s meticulous approach to writing. Mentioned: Dojo Talks Episode 92: Remembering IM Jeremy Silman, Zen in the Art of Archery 29:00- We read our favorite quotes from the book! Mentioned: Alekhine-Maroczy 1923 , IM Willy Hendriks, Silman response to Hendriks ADD LINK 52:00- Closing thoughts and our favorite Silman’s books ranked! Mentioned: Autobiography of a Goat, Make it Stick, How to Reassess Your Chess, Silman's Complete Endgame Course, Silman's Chess Odyssey Volunteer to co-host a book review podcast via the following form: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/co-host Thanks to David for doing a great job co-hosting! Here is how you can reach him: LiChess Chessdad1979 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-hamm-1a3a325?trk=public_post_feed-actor-name If you would like to help support Perpetual Chess, you can do so here; https://www.patreon.com/perpetualchess Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we are joined by the economist, award-winning author, and top Australian player, GM David Smerdon. David is a professor at the University of Queensland. With a statistical background, David is a particular expert in the intersection of statistics and chess and is frequently able to combine his chess expertise with his academic research. Since chess cheating has been in the news again, we begin by getting David’s thoughts on the renewed allegations against GM Hans Niemann, as well as the recent concerns about rampant online cheating voiced by GM Vladimir Kramnik. David drew some interesting comparisons between these cheating scandals and a recent one in the academic world. David also had some recently published chess research to discuss, as he and a team of collaborators have recently launched the “Gender Equality in Chess Index. (GECI)” What is the goal of his index and how did they arrive at the numbers? Lastly, we catch up on David’s chess career. As David details, he doesn’t have a ton of time to study, but is competing when he can with a specific goal in mind. There is always lots to learn from GM Smerdon, and it was a pleasure to catch up with him Timestamps of topics discussed are below. Thanks to our presenting chess education sponsors, Chessable.com! Help support Perpetual Chess by signing up for Chessable pro using this link: https://www.chessable.com/pro/?utm_source=affiliate&utm_medium=benjohnson&utm_campaign=pro 0:00- Intro Mentioned: Tarjei’s Svensen’s article, Dojo Talks EP 101with GM Vladmir Kramnik 0:02- David discusses cheating in the chess world, and draws parallels to some scandals in the academic world. Mentioned: Did an honesty researcher fabricate data?, GM Alex Fishbein 10:00- Has any good come of the recent chess cheating scandals? Mentioned: GM Mamedyarov withdraws from 2018 tournament after accusing opponent of cheating, Hans Niemann competes in London Chess Classic after stunning result in Zagreb 17:00- Chess.com statement regarding Kramnik allegations against Nakamura 23:00- Do continued allegations against Niemann cause concern about the viability of the future of OTB chess? Mentioned: Poker pro alleged to have used special contact lenses to see through a deck 26:30- Can statistics help detect “smart cheating”? 29:00 What was the genesis of the idea for a “chess gender index”? Mentioned: Mongolia Tops Chess Gender Index by Leon Watson 34:00- Did Queen of Katwe likely contribute to the success of women’s chess in Uganda?What did he notice about other high ranking countries? 41:00- What are the components of the index? 51:00- David discusses his other chess-related research 52:00- How is David’s chess game, and what is his current chess goal? Mentioned: Episode 30, The Complete Chess Swindler Thanks to David for joining me again, here are links to keep up with him: X: https://twitter.com/dsmerdon David’s Blog; https://www.davidsmerdon.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ben Hodgkiss is a 32-year-old chess enthusiast who has worked in a few different fields, but feels like he has not yet found his professional calling. Ben knows that he loves chess though, and for at least the next year, he has decided to live the life of a chess professional and to chronicle this pursuit on his YouTube channel. Many chess players have fantasized about taking such a leap, so I was fascinated to hear that Ben is actually doing it! In our conversation, we cover the nuts of bolts, of how Ben will pay the bills, and what Ben will study, but we also discuss his goals for the project and his chess-related goals. Ben has already collaborated with well-known presenters like IM Eric Rosen and IM Andras Toth and recently played his first of what will likely be many OTB chess tournaments. I really admire Ben’s dedication to his chess passion and am excited to share his story with you! Timestamps of topics discussed are below. Thanks to our presenting chess education sponsor, Chessable.com! Find out more about becoming a Chessable pro member, and receiving a wide range of features here: https://www.chessable.com/pro/?utm_source=affiliate&utm_medium=benjohnson&utm_campaign=pro 0:02- How did the idea of doing a year of full chess come about? Ben’s Reddit post is here: https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/17anc4k/quit_your_job_chess_full_time_for_a_year_how_do 0:08- What are Ben’s goals for this project? What is his chess history? 13:30- Patreon mailbag questions: Does he think it will be more challenging to maintain motivation? Would taking a week or a month off be beneficial for one’s chess? 22:00- Patreon mailbag questions Is it possible that working full time subtracts 200 points from your chess strength? Mentioned: Check out Tactics Time author Tim Brennan’s rating graph here: https://www.uschess.org/datapage/ratings_graph.php?memid=12718954 30:00- What was Ben’s first OTB tournament like? 37:00- Ben discusses his study regimen more, and why he decided to join the Chess Dojo. 41:30- We discuss the best potential ways for Ben to chronicle his chess pursuit on YouTube. 50:00- Ben read my book and wanted to discuss some topics on it! We start with discussing visualization. What does one see when visualizing a chess board? Mentioned: Chess Steps 2, Thinking Ahead, Visualize Courses on Chessable 1:03:00- Ben asks me: which chess weakness of mine am I working on? 1:07:00- Thanks so much to Ben for sharing his inspiring story, be sure to check out his YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@pifflesticks If you would like to help support Perpetual Chess via Patreon, you can do so here: patreon.com/perpetualchess Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week I am joined by a rising star in chess media, Davaun Williams. To his 200,000+ Tiktok followers and nearly 80,000 Instagram followers, Davaun is better known as “Chess Knowledge with H1.”In our conversation, we discuss H1’s chess origins, the origins of the nickname “H1,”and how he gained fame for using a demo board and throwing the captured chess pieces during his entertaining videos. Davaun’s videos feature a lot of opening traps, andhe has just released his first Chessable course, “Opening Traps You Must Learn.” In addition to discussing chess openings, Davaun shares other chess improvement advice, and even advises me on whether or not I should continue to post videos on TikTok. All in all, this was a fun conversation, and it was great to learn more about Davaun’s background. Timestamps of topics discussed are below. Thanks to our presenting chess education sponsors, Chessable.com. You can see their latest courses here: https://www.chessable.com/courses/all/new/ Make sure you are also subbed to the How to Chess Podcast on your podcast app of choice: https://open.spotify.com/show/74A0JotybXUvnviTCzsSUp?si=e58986b2ce124911 And sub to my free newsletter, The Perpetual Chess Linkfest, here: https://benjohnson.substack.com/ 0:02- Davaun has been making chess content for years, but during the past year he has seen his TikTok channel explode. What changed? 0:05- Does Davaun have plans to dedicate himself full time to chess content? 0:06- Davaun discusses his unusual USCF rating history: 12:00- Davaun’s favorite chess content creators Mentioned: Gotham Chess, IM John Bartholomew, KingsCrusher, The Chessbrahs 13:00- Davaun’s chess origin story Mentioned: Chessmaster: Grandmaster Edition 17:00- How did Davaun develop the habit of throwing the Demo board pieces after they are captured in his videos? 20:00- How did Davaun decide to write a Chessable course on Opening Traps? Mentioned: Davaun’s video about the Polish/Orangutan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQQW_ZHbut4 23:00- Whatis Davaun’s theory as to why his shorter videos get more traction than the longer ones? How is his podcast, Chess Knowledge with H1 doing? https://open.spotify.com/show/6AefOx7Atzw3bgyfHG2bjR?si=3ed28f8e7d794837 27:00-Is Davaun interested in, and does he cover, top-level chess? Mentioned: Agadmator, Gotham Chess 30:00- Will Davaun’s kids play chess? 33:00- What is Davaun’s favorite aspect of chess? What is his favorite opening to play? 39:00- Davaun gives both chess improvement and chess content advice. 44:00- I ask Davaun’s advice: Should I continue to post videos to TikTok if noone is watching them? Thanks to Davaun for joining me on the pod, here is his linktree: https://linktr.ee/H1chess Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week a favorite guest returns to the pod, GM Robert Hungaski. Robert wears many hats in the chess world, as an accomplished player, Fide Senior trainer and International arbiter. His newest project involves organizing and presenting FIDE-sanctioned chess teaching seminars from some of the top trainers in the world, including Grandmasters Gregory Kaidanov, Alexey Shirov, Antoaneta Stefanova and many others. These seminars provide a unique opportunity to learn tricks of the trade from some chess legends. In addition to this project, Robert always has plenty of entertaining and insightful stories, and this interview is no exception. Robert reflects on his encounters with young Nakamura and Niemann, his trip to the 2022 Chess Olympiad, his friend GM Ulf Andersson, and, of course, he leaves with a bit of chess study advice and a book recommendation. It is always fun to talk chess with GM Hungaski! Thanks to our presenting chess education sponsors, Chessable.com: Check out their new courses here: https://www.chessable.com/courses/all/new/ Check out my favorites here: https://go.chessable.com/perpetual-chess-podcast/ More information about the FIDE trainer seminar’s here: https://fideamerica.net/tca/registrations/?fbclid=IwAR1TQF5uATurqzF0Prwmr6QEg8LWJ165d0ttZrvOG2N0LlqLjqZkbEWdJ6w Prior Interview 2019- Episode 149 02:00- Robert describes his “chess upbringing” and why his contemporaries (such as Nakamura, Vitugiov and Le Quang Liem) made him feel like he had no chess talent. Mentioned: GM Joel Benjamin, Jen Shahade 08:00- Robert reflects on the rise of chess in India and describes his trip to the 2022 Olympiad. 11:00- Robert discusses the teachers’ seminars he is arranging featuring top GMs like Shirov, Kaidanov, Illescas and many others. It will take December 8-10. Also Mentioned: Stefanova, Cheparinov, Bologan, Yottachess.com 25:00- Robert tells stories about GM Alexei Shirov. Mentioned: GM Andy Rodriguez 31:00- Who are the most impressive players Robert has analyzed with? Mentioned: GM Grande Zuniga, Ulf Andersson 32:00- As a fellow Connecticut native, what have been Robert’s interactions with GM Hans Niemann? 39:00 Robert tells a few stories about spending time with GM Bill Lombardy, Boris Spassky and others 46:00- Ulf Andersson stories 50:00- Robert’s chess improvement advice 55:00- Patreon mailbag question- “How many openings does Robert suggest that his students learn?” Mentioned: Boom Boom- The World vs. Boris Becker 1:01:00- Who is the most impressive blitz player Robert has ever seen? 1:02:00- Book talk! Mentioned: Domination by Kasparyan Thanks to GM Hungaski for joining me, you can contact him via his website: https://gmhungaski.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Perpetual Chess Adult Improver Series returns with another guest with a great story. Denis Markov is a 39 year-old working dad with a passion for chess. Denis has deep chess roots which date back to a childhood in Russia where he took classes at the fabled “Palace of Pioneers.” According to Denis, he did not show exceptional talent in those days and eventually set chess aside for some years. Now based in Pennsylvania, Denis returned to competitive chess in mid-2021 and since then, through hard work and consistency has elevated his USCF rating from 1742 to over 2050! While this type of improvement is quite unusual, Denis is adamant that he isn’t doing anything to “reinvent the wheel.” In our conversation Denis details an approach focused on frequent competitive play, game review and lots of hard work. I found our conversation grounding and inspiring at the same time. Timestamps of topics discussed are below. Adult Improver Series Spotify Playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/75Uoqz2BoRt2IiTCeOfuky?si=680ff07480434ec9 0:00- Thanks to those who help support Perpetual Chess via Patreon! If you would like to join the community, you can do so here: https://www.patreon.com/perpetualchess 0:01- Thanks to our presenting chess education sponsors, Chessable.com! New Chessable courses including Silman’s Endgame Course, and new ones by GM Erwin L’ami, GM Johan Hellsten. You can check out their latest offerings here: https://www.chessable.com/courses/all/new/ 2:00- Denis joins the show! What is his “ why”? What does he do when his motivation to study chess is low? Denis’ Reddit post detailing his success: https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/16sw628/1740_to_2040_uscf_in_2_years_adult_improver/ 11:00- Patreon mailbag question: “How will Denis approach teaching chess to his kids?’ 14:00- Patreon mailbag question: ‘Does Denis think that his Russian background helped his chess development?’ 21:00- What got Denis back into chess in his college years? Mentioned: Aron Nimzowhitsch’s My System 25:00- Denis’ study routine Denis’ coach: https://lichess.org/coach/Davjan 34:00- Denis discusses his approach to openings, especially as it relates to playing the same opponents repeatedly. 42:00- How did Denis settle on studying via ChessTempo and the Chess Steps workbooks? Mentioned: Arthur Yusupov’s series, Chess Steps Method 48:00- What is the nature of Denis’ work with his coach? 54:00- Does Denis have any theories on why he is seeing gains while others might bestruggling? 1:03:00- More book recommendations! Mentioned: Sam Shankland’s books, Endgame Strategy by Shereshevsky, GM Johan Hellsten’s books, Chess Structures by GM Mauricio Flores Rios, GM Ivan Sokolov’s Winning Middle Game Strategies, Sokolov’s interview with Chessbase India, His How to Chess Interview is Now Out! 1:08:00- Thanks to Denis for joining me! You can email him at dvmarkov at gmail dot com Or follow him on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/dvm0101/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Next week’s podcast is arriving early, and it's a double episode!For the first segment, I am joined again by Chessable author and trainer CM Vjekoslav (Vjeko) Nemec. Vjeko and I discuss the riveting, recently concluded FIDE Grand Swiss. India’s ascension continued as GM Vidit Gujirathi and IM R. Vaishali’s had impressive victories in the Open and Women’s Sections respectively. With more spots in the 2024 FIDE Candidates now settled, we also look ahead to what is shaping up to be quite an entertaining fight for the right to challenge for the World Championship titles. Lastly, Vjeko followed this event quite closely, so he recommends several interviews and games from an action-packed tournament for usto check out. Following Vjeko, I catch up with Chris Callahan (38:00) about what is new with LiChess.org since our last chat in 2021. Chris reports that LiChess is continuing to see solid growth, and discusses their plans in terms of both community outreach and potential additional features on the website. We also discuss the latest in cheat detection and LiChess’decision to stop working with US Chess and with the St. Louis Chess Club in the wake of the allegations against GM Alejandro Ramirez. It is always fun to catch up with Chris and hear about what is going on with LiChess. As always, timestamps of the many topics discussed can be found below. Thanks to our presenting chess education sponsors, Chessable.com! Silman’s Endgame Course is now on Chessable and on sale if you act quickly! https://www.chessable.com/silmans-complete-endgame-course-from-beginner-to-master/course/199399/ 0:00- Intro Up to date information about ordering my book, and events can be found here: 5:00- CM Vjekoslav Nemec joins me to recap the FIDE Grand Swiss 5:30- Who won and earned Candidates’ spots in the FIDE Grand Swiss? More info here 13:00- What can chess do to make more tournaments feel as important as the Grand Swiss and the FIDE World Cup? Mentioned: Tarjei Svensen’s article about GM Ding Liren 19:00- What players and personalities stood out in the tournament? Mentioned: L’ami-Gujirathi 2023 Bogdan-Daniel Deac interview with Fiona Stiel-Antoni: Mishra’s amazinganalysis of his win over Ivanchuk: Sevian’s analysis of his win over Firouzja L’ami-Gujirathi 2023 24:00- Who are the early favorites to win the 2024 Candidates? 27:00- What stood out from the Women’s section? Mentioned: GM Pia Cramling, GM Tan Zhonkyi, GM Humpy Koneru IM Vaishali’s analysis of her round 3 win over Garifullina 32:00- Early thoughts on the 2024 Women’s Candidates Field 36:00- Thanks to Vjeko for coming back to talk with us- check out his Twitter page here: 37:00- Chris Callahan joins the pod to talk LiCHess 38:00- How LiChess has changed in recent years? Mentioned: Episode 221 with Chris Callahan, LiChess game database available for download here: 42:00- How do LiChess blogs work? How is it determined which posts get on the home page? Mentioned: FM Nate Solon 46:00- How do they treat blog posts that are somewhat promotional in nature? 48:00- What, if any, are the technical upgrades the LiChess team is working on? 50:00- What are most requested features for LiChess? 52:00- Chris’ discusses the financial situation of LiChess. LiChess’ costs spreadsheet here: 54:00- Patreon mailbag question: “Does LiCHess have plans to become a non-profit (501c3)in the US?’ 57:00- What is the latest on LiChess’ cheat detection efforts? 1:03:00- What went into Lichess’ decision to stop working with US Chess and the St. Louis Chess Club? Mentioned: Breaking the Silence, Chris’ interview on Ono Another Chess Podcast St. Louis Chess Club Statement 1:10:00- Patreon mailbag question: “How can one volunteer with the Women in Chess Foundation?” 1:13:00- Thanks to Chris for joining the pod! You can email him at chris.callahan at Lichess dot org Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guests this week are Cecilia Albertini and Chandler Toffa the director and co-producer (respectively) of the charming new documentary The City of Human Chess. This short documentary tells the story of Marostica, Italy, where a famous chess game is recreated by human volunteers on a bi-annual basis. The event has a long tradition and draws upwards of 4000 paying customers. It is a touching story about people working together and the connective power of chess, and I greatly enjoyed watching it and discussing it with its creators. We also discussed Cecilia and Chandler’s backgrounds both in chess and away from it. Timestamps for topics discussed can be found below. If you sign up for MagellanTV, use link code to save 30%! http://go.chess.com/livingchess. Trailer for the film here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kdaZSb-5Z0 0:00- Thanks to our presenting chess education sponsor, Chessable.com. You can check out new courses, including the excellent Silman’s Endgame Course, presented by IM Alex Banzea, here: https://www.chessable.com/courses/all/new/?page=2 0:02- Cecilia and Chander discuss how they became aware of the bi-annual human chess game. 0:07- What is the history of the human chess game in Marostica, Italy? 0:12- Which chess game is demonstrated by the humans in the game? Mentioned: Nimzowitsch-Alapin 1914 0:13- How much time on location did Ceclia spend? 20:00-How did they decide to show the film on the Magellan platform? 25:00- Chandler discusses his prior collaboration with Chess.com, Griffin’s Gambit, which you can watch for free on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5_D11NJI3I 28:00- Chandler and Cecilia discuss their own chess games! 33:00- Thanks to Cecilia and Chandler for joining me! Please be sure to check out their film via this link to save 30%! http://go.chess.com/livingchess Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My book, Perpetual Chess Improvement,is now available from New in Chess (and should be shipping from Amazon any day now), so it was time to dedicate a podcast to discussing it in detail. Joining me for the discussion is longtime friend of the pod, cognitive scientist, author and USCF Master, Dr. Christopher Chabris. Christopher had a sneak peak at the book and shares his impressions of it and interviews me on the topics that interested him. . We discuss what I call “The Four Pillars of Chess Improvement,” how the project came about, and the key lessons I derived for improvement ofmy own chess game from writing it. Whether or not you are interested in reading the book, I hope you find this discussion of chess improvement worthwhile. Timestamps of topics discussed are below. 03:00-Thanks to our presenting chess education sponsors, Chessable.com. You can check out what is new here: https://www.chessable.com/courses/all/new/ And you can check out some of my favorites here: https://go.chessable.com/perpetual-chess-podcast/ 05:00- Book announcements Full info on book signings and ordering signed books here: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/book?fbclid=IwAR0oy_PqpOhc-S7sP-mOZClmKZyhKwuWUbthSY8Um4qVp_YCJKYgL9HJiCA 07:30- Book discussion with Dr. Christopher Chabris 14:00- What is the target audience for the book? 17:00- The importance of playing serious games 25:00- Why did I write several pages about IM Levy Rozman’s pursuit of the GM title? 32:00- Why did I write a book? Did I ever want to quit this project? 42:00- How did I decide that “The Four Pillars of Chess Improvement” should be identified as these: 1) Play competitive games2) Review them3) Solve puzzles and 4) Find a Community? 53:00- What is my next project? Mentioned: Episode 349 with Dr. Anique de Bruin 1:01:00 Patreon mailbag:Advice for Solitaire chess Mentioned: GM Gregory Kaidanov, my video on How to Do Solitaire Chess on LiChess Studies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8bpFF4nnPE GM Daniel King’s How Good is Your Chess Chess Life magazine archive with Pandolfini’s Solitaire Chess: https://new.uschess.org/chess-life-digital-archives Also available as a book: https://www.amazon.com/Solitaire-Chess-Bruce-Pandolfini/dp/0812936566 1:05:00-Patreon mailbag question: “What are some scientifically proven ways to improve at chess? What about unproven ways that Ben thinks are effective?” 1:13:00- Patreon mailbag question: “Which piece of advice do I think will be most helpful for my own improvement?” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices