This week I am joined by the esteemed Grandmaster Evgeny Bareev. GM Bareev has been ranked as high as #4 in the world, and has been the trainer of the Russian National Team, and was a vital member of the team that assisted former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik in the early 2000s.
Evgeny is also an acclaimed chess author. His prior book, From London to Elista, (co-authored with Ilya Levitov), won the 2007 Book of the Year, from the British Chess Federation. This year, Thinker’s Publishing has recently released his new work, Say No to Chess Principles . This book tells some great stories and explores the topic of when one should “break the rules” in chess, as shown in Evgeny’s and some other top level games. In our interview, Evgeny discussed both of his books, shared some stories, and offered some chess improvement advice. Read on for details, links and timestamps.
0:00- Intro and discussion of Say No to Chess Principles . GM Bareev tells the story of how the project came to fruition, the idea behind the book, and tells some memorable stories from growing up in the Soviet Chess School, which are touched on in his book. People and books mentioned include Boris Postovsky, who headed the Vasily Smyslov School of chess, and the book Devoted to Chess: The Creative Heritage of Yuri Razuvaev . This includes a discussion of whether its important to have a good memory (14:00) to be a top chess player, according to GM Bareev, former World Champion Anatoly Karpov had a notoriously faulty memory in his prime. Evgeny gives some helpful tips for how to approach chess if you have a bad memory.
23:00- How do we know when to “say no to chess principles” anyway?
28:00- As a former member of his “team Kramnik” did the retirement of former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik surprise GM Bareev? Evgeny also reflects on some of the stories and perspective from the classic book From London to Elista. His current take on the some of the stories shared in this book might surprise you. We also touch on Carsten Hensel’s recent book about his time as the manager of GM Kramnik, you can hear my interview with Carsten Hensel here.
37:00- GM Bareev shares some stories dealing with getting sick at a chess tournament, and about how to deal with tough losses. This includes some discussion of Peter Leko, who lost to GM Kramnik for the 2004 World Championship in a very close match.
45:00- Who were GM Bareev’s toughest opponents? Players mentioned include Garry Kasparov, Veselin Topalov, Viswanathan Anand, Vassily Ivanchuk, Alexey Dreev and Alexei Shirov.
49:00- Chess books! Since GMs Magnus Carlsen and Anish Giri have been trading barbs about Vladimir Tukmakov’s new book, I asked Evgeny if he had read it. Evgeny does not read all of the chess literature, but has enjoyed the books of Boris Gelfand, Matthew Sadler and Yasser Seirawan.
54:00- A Patreon supporter of Perpetual Chess asks if GM Bareev has a particular method as a trainer.
58:00- We talk a bit how GM Bareev ended up emigrating to Toronto, Canada, and he answers a question from a Patreon supporter comparing chess and literature.1:05- Goodbye Evgeny! If you want to reach him or follow him you can do via Facebook.
Book Recap #35- Make it Stick: The Science of Successful Learning- What should chess players know about how to learn and retain information? (with Dr. Nick Vasquez)
EP 367- Adult Improver Julio Calcina: A Chess and MMA Enthusiast on the Life Lessons that Each Can Provide.
EP 366- GM Raven Sturt: Chess Improvement Deep Dive with a Self-Taught Grandmaster. Board Visualization Tips, Book Recs & Lots more.
EP 365- GM Abihimanyu Mishra: The Young Phenom on his Chess Improvement Regimen, His Next Goals, and his 2024 Plans
EP 364- GM Patrick Wolff: Recent Chess News Breakdown: Prearranged Draws, Bizarre Dress Codes, the Candidates Cycle- Is it time to Replace FIDE? Plus, a Chess and AI update
EP-363 Jennifer Shahade on Playing Like a Champion, Building Confidence, and what "Zapping" is in Chess.
EP 362- IM Jeremy Silman tribute: IM John Donaldson and IM Cyrus Lakdawala look back on their friend's life and legacy
Book Recap #34- IM Jeremy Silman's The Amateurs Mind (with David Hamm)
EP 361- Professor/ GM David Smerdon: Renewed Chess Cheating Allegations and the new “Gender Equality in Chess Index.”
EP 360- Adult Improver Ben Hodgkiss just quit his job to pursue chess full-time. Here is his story.
EP 359- Davaun Williams (aka Chess Knowledge with H1) on Chess TikTok Stardom, Opening Traps, and Improvement Recs
EP 358- GM Robert Hungaski on Teaching Chess Teachers, Nakamura, Shirov, Niemann The Indian Chess Boom & more
EP 357- Adult Improver Denis Markov on How a Calm and Consistent Approach has Elevated his Chess Game
EP 356- FIDE Grand Swiss Recap/FIDE Candidates Lookahead plus LiChess Catchup with Community Manager Chris Callahan
EP 355- Cecilia Albertini and Chandler Toffa- Two filmmakers discuss their touching new chess documentary, The City of Human Chess
EP 354- Perpetual Chess Improvement Book Discussion with Dr. Christopher Chabris
EP 353- GM Davorin Kuljasevic: Chess Improvement Q & A (plus discussion of his great new book on GM Ding Liren)
EP 352- Emilia Castelao and Craig Dubose: Two Chess Enthusiasts on their Chess Passion Projects
EP 351- Steffen Nielsen: The author and award-winning endgame study composer on what makes a good chess puzzle, and whether endgame studies are good for your chess calculation.
EP.350- CM Can Kabadayi: A self-taught Candidate Master and Cognitive Scientist on Calculation, The Chess Aging Curve and his Favorite Chess Books
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