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
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EP 325- Adult Improver Chris Duncan on the Popularity of Chess in the Military and the Connective Power of the Game to bring Cultures Together
EP 324- IM Levy Rozman/Gotham Chess on Surpassing 3 Million YouTube Subs, Retiring from OTB, his DMs with Magnus, and his Future Plans
EP 323- Ding-Nepo World Championship Match Preview Double Episode- GM Daniel King on the Players and Historical Context, NM Matt Jensen on the Match Analytics. Also Discussed: Rating Deflation, The S
EP 322- IM Willy Hendriks- The Groundbreaking Author and Trainer on Chess Improvement, Chess History, and The Books that Most Influenced Him
EP 321- GM Cristian Chirila on Past and Upcoming World Championship Matches, his OTB game, and the Growth of the C Squared Podcast
EP 320- Adult Improver Ben Hunt of “Chess Boot Camp" YouTube Channel on going from 0-1500, “The Goldfish Method” and Transitioning to OTB Chess
EP 319- Dr. Howard Burton- An Award Winning Documentary Filmmaker and Author on the Growth Opportunity for Chess, the Genius of Morphy, Fixing FIDE, and Whether Chess Skills Transfer to Other Domains
EP 318 - Trainer and Chessable Author IM Yaacov Norowitz on How he Became a Blitz Specialist, His Early Encounters with Hikaru and Gothamchess & His Unique Approach to Chess Learning
Book Recap #31- San Luis 2005- Dr. Christopher Chabris on a A Tournament Book featuring Sparkling Games and Annotations, A Mini Cheating Scandal, at a Crossroad Moment in World Championship Chess Hist
EP 317- GM Jorden van Foreest- The Dutch Chess Champ on Working with Magnus and Anish, How he Became Known as a “Creative Player” and What he is Doing to Work on His Own Game
EP 316- GM Mihail Marin: The Renowned Author and Trainer on Learning from Larsen, Tal, Polgar and other Legends
EP 315- Dr. Jon Edwards- The Correspondence Chess World Champion on what Top Engines think of Different Openings and his Road to the World Title
Bonus pod- Tata Steel in the Home Stretch- FM Michiel Abeln assesses the Tournament so Far
EP 314- Adult Improver Kamryn Hellman on How Discovering Chess via Queen's Gambit turned her into a Fast Improving Chess Obsessive
Bonus pod- Dispatch from the Tata Steel Chess tournament with Renowned Author, FM Michiel Abeln
EP 313- FM James Canty on Staying Motivated and His Grind Toward the IM Title and Beyond.
EP 312- GM Noel Studer- The Swiss National Champ Turned Trainer Shares Advice on Overcoming Plateaus, Calculating, Analyzing Games & More
EP 311- GM Jonathan Speelman- A British Chess Legend on His Time as a Top 10 Player and His Encounters with Anand, Korchnoi, Tal and many more!
EP 310- John Hartmann joins to Review the Year in Chess: A Carlsen/Niemann Update, A New Cheating Scandal, The Chess.Com/PM Merger, & lots more
EP 309- Dr. Joel Sneed- An Author and Psychology Professor on How to Regain One's Chess Motivation, Curbing "Blitz Tilt" and How he Made Unusual Rating Gains as an Adult
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