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 2022 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?
Denniis 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 Yusopov’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 struggle?
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 Sololov’s Winning Middle Game Strategies, Sokolov’s interview with Chessbase India, His How to Chess Interview is Now Out!
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EP 264- Elizabeth Shaughnessy (founder of the Berkeley Chess School)
Book Recap #23- Discussing Shereshevsky's Endgame Strategy with Dr. Kevin Scull
EP 263- Author Oliver Roeder on the Enduring Appeal of Chess and Other Games
EP 262- IM Kostya Kavutskiy returns
EP 261- "Master to IM" Adult Improver Special with FM Doug Eckert, NM Evan Rosenberg and FM Dalton Perrine
Book Recap #22- Discussing Isaac Lipnitsky's Questions of Modern Chess Theory, with Martin Justesen
EP 260 - IM Christof Sielecki is back!
EP 259- Ben Johnson
EP 258- GM Matthew Sadler
EP 257- GM Erwin L'Ami with a World Championship Wrap Up (and more!)
World Championship Bonus Pod #5- GM Vasyl Ivanchuk on His Career, Twitch Streaming and his Thoughts on the Match
Book Recap #21- Discussing A First Book of Morphy with Mads Jønsson
World Championship Bonus Pod #4- GM Jacob Aagaard on the match, plus Shaun McCoy with a report from Dubai
EP 256- Alex Crompton (Adult Improver Series)
World Championship Bonus Pod #3- GM Jan Timman on the match so far, NM John MacArthur with a Dubai trip report.
World Championship Bonus Pod #2- FM Mike Klein joins from Dubai to recap 5 tense, deadlocked rounds.
EP 255- WGM Tatev Abrahamyan returns
World Championship Bonus Pod #1- The match so far + interviews from Dubai with Geert van der Velde and Jonathan Corbblah
EP 254- World Chess Championship Preview Part 2 with Tai Pruce Zimmerman
EP 253- GM Daniel King Previews the World Championship, plus more!
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