This week’s guest is Author and Data Scientist, GM Vinay Bhat. Vinay was one of the top chess prodigies in modern US History. He amassed many scholastic titles and held the record of the youngest ever US National Master before Hikaru Nakamura broke his record. Despite Vinay’s extraordinary chess success, he always maintained many interests and put a particular emphasis on his school work, and then his career. Now 38 years of age, Vinay has written an excellent new book with Quality Chess, How I Became a Chess Grandmaster. Part memoir, part chess manual, in the book, Vinay reflects on his career, annotates memorable games, and takes a big picture look at the study choices and decisions he made over the years, including the tough decision to walk away from chess as a profession. Vinay places a particular emphasis on the few steep plateaus he faced in his development. In our conversation, Vinay reflects on his career and shares plenty of chess lessons and memorable anecdotes. A Bay Area native and resident, Vinay has gotten to know many people who will be familiar to Perpetual Chess listeners. Please read on for timestamps of topics discussed.
0:00- My Recommended Chessable Courses:
https://go.chessable.com/perpetual-chess-podcast/
Check out ChessDojo’s 1.e4 Repertoire for White here:
https://www.chessable.com/chessdojos-1e4-repertoire-for-white/course/150049/
0:02- As Vinay reflects on his chess career, how does he reflect on his first real plateau, which occurred around 2200.
Mentioned: The Best I Saw in Chess by IM Stuart Rachels, GM Gregory Kaidanov, Episode 295 with GM Gregory Kaidanov
13:45- What is Vinay’s advice for when an opening change might be in order?
Mentioned: Vinay’s Chessbase India interview with IM Sagar Shah
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4IIiYe5Vb8
20:00- What conclusions does Vinay draw from reflecting on his whole chess career?
Mentioned: Savely Polovets
24:00- How did Vinay utilize one page writeups in his opening prep?
28:00- Vinay shares his thoughts on various players he knows and has met, including GM Sam Shankland, GM Daniel Naroditsky, GM Magnus Carlsen, GM Eduard Gufeld, the RZA from Wutang Clan,
Mentioned: Joe Lonsdale Jr., Peter Thiel, The GZA, Josh Waitzkin
45:00- What were Vinay’s first impressions of Wesley So and Fabiano Caruana?
47:00- What was it like to live in the “chess house” with IM David Pruess and GM Jesse Kraai?
49:00- Vinay is an avid reader and discusses some of his favorites.
Mentioned: ChessDoJo video- The Best Chess Books , New York 1924, Life and Games of Mikhail Tal, How Not to Play Chess, The Books of Irving Chernev
57:00- What have Vinay’s interactions with GM Viswanathan Anand been like? What about Spassky, Kasparov and Karpov?
1:01:00- Patreon Mailbag Question: As a data scientist has Vinay discovered any useful statistical patterns in his play?
1:05:00- What does Vinay think of the acceleration of Chat GBT and similar products? Could it have a further impact on the chess world?
1:10:00- Vinay reflects on the difficult decision he made not to pursue professional chess.
1:15:00- Is there anything Vinay wishes he could have done differently?
1:18:00- Thanks so much to Vinay for joining the show! Here are the links for his excellent book:
Check out the book here:
Quality Chess
https://forwardchess.com/product/how-i-became-a-chess-grandmaster?section=
Free Excerpt of the Books:
https://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/HowIbecameaChessGrandmaster-Excerpt.pdf
Forward Chess
https://forwardchess.com/product/how-i-became-a-chess-grandmaster?section=
Vsbhat02 at gmail
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
EP 380- FIDE Candidates Wrap Up with GM Erwin L'Ami: Gukesh Ascends as Caruana Suffers a Heartbreaking Setback
EP 379- IM Renier Castellanos on How he Earned the GM Title at Age 41.
Bonus Pod- FIDE Candidates Round 12 Breakdown (Part 2)- FM Mike Klein on the Player’s Mindsets, Historical Context, and the Alireza Shoe Controversy
Bonus Pod- FIDE Candidates Round 12 Breakdown (Part 1)- An Epic Finish Awaits, as Naka, Nepo and Gukesh are Tied!
Bonus Pod- FIDE Candidates Round 10 Breakdown (Part 2)- GM Jan Timman on the tournament so far.
EP 378- Lou Hays- Spending weekends with Fischer and Spassky, Getting to 2100 from Scratch as an Adult, Chess Publishing Then and Now
Bonus Pod- FIDE Candidates Round 10 Breakdown (Part 1)- Nepo and Gukesh lead Narrowly as Naka and Fabi are in Pursuit
Bonus Pod- FIDE Candidates Round 7 Breakdown (Part 2)- GM Daniel King on the Tournament So Far
Bonus Pod- FIDE Candidates Round 7 Breakdown (Part 1)- Nepo and Tan Zhongyi Lead after a Dramatic First Half of the Tournament
EP 377- NM Dan Heisman and NM Laura Smith. Two Accomplished Trainers on Capturing, Counting, and other Chess Concepts To Know
Bonus Pod- FIDE Candidates First 4 Round Breakdown. Nepo leads (As usual). Plus a Fan's Toronto Trip Report
EP 376- Adult Improver Jordan Groff on What it Takes to Make Master in 2024
EP 375- FIDE Candidates Mega Preview with GM Rafael Leitão, Chess by the Numbers, and On the Queenside
EP 374- GM Noel Studer- Chess Improvement Q & A- Avoiding Burnout, Addressing Weaknesses, Avoiding Blunders, & Lots More!
EP 373- Carol Ann Caronia: Advice for Chess Parents & Scholastic Teachers from an Author and Longtime Teacher
EP 372- GM Jan Gustafsson: Learning 1. E4, Life after Team Magnus, Chess Cheating, the FIDE Candidates & more
EP 371- GM Josh Friedel- Common Beginner & Intermediate Mistakes, Freestyle Chess, and Advice for Goal-Setting
EP 370- GM Paul van der Sterren- Breakthroughs, Declines, Mindfulness and the Odyssey of a 20+ Year Professional Career
EP 369- NM Robert Ramirez on the difference between Adult and Youth Chess Students, Chess in Cuba, and Why He Loves the Pirc Defense
EP 368- Erik Allebest (Chess.com CEO)- Online Cheating, The Magnus-Hikaru match that fell through, the Chess24 closure & more
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