0:00- Intro and Alex’s breakdown of the ongoing European Chess Championship. On the day that we talked Alex was enjoying a break from the tournament
10:20- We discuss Alex’s brand new Chessable course, The Najdorf Sicilian Simplified. This includes the story of how he began to collaborate with Chessable, and why now is a good time to learn more about the storied Najdorf defense. In our conversation, Alex gives some updates on the theory of particular lines of the Najdorf, including the contributions that GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave made to the Poison Pawn Variation. The Karpov-Kasparov game that GM Colovic mentions can be seen here.
26:30- Alex’s chess improvement advice for club players. If you want instant results, Alex says, the first thing you should do is improve your calculation. He says that the fact that you are doing the work is more important than the tools that you use to do it.
The viral Quora post that Alex wrote and that we reference can be read here. (In the interview, I erroneously said that Alex’s post got 67,000 views, but actually that particular post got 18,000 views. it is Alex’s Quora posts in total that got 67,000 views.) The study composer that Alex mentions who helped him finally achieve the GM title is Genrikh M. Kasparyan. For all of Alex’s book recommendations check out his blog posts here, here and here. The more beginner-oriented tactics books/courses that Alex mentions in our interview are Mastering Mates 1: 1,111 One-Move Mates by Jon Edwards, and Chess - 5334 Problems, Combinations, and Games by Lazlo Polgar. For his own chess, Alex greatly enjoyed the Jonathan Rowson books, Understanding the Grunfeld, Seven Deadly Chess Sins, Chess for Zebras
42:30- Why is Jose Raul Capablanca Alex’s favorite player? What is his favorite book about Capablanca? The game that Alex is referring to may have been this one. I was unable to find the video footage of Bobby Fischer playing over a game that Alex mentions. If you find it, please email me. and I will add it to the show description :)
50:30- How and why did Alex just become President of the Association of Chess Professionals? How did he become involved with the FIDE Fair play commission?
58:30- Goodbye and contact info. Read Alex’s blog here, follow him on Twitter here and Facebook here.
If you would like to help support the podcast, you can do so here.
EP 400- Adult Improver NM Matt Gross- How Studying Model Games and Improving Intuition Helped Him Become an NM at Age 48
EP 399- GM Tiger Hillarp Persson: The 2x Swedish Champion, Author & Go Master Shares a Life's Worth of Wisdom on How to Improve at Complex Games
EP 398- FIDE Olympiad preview with GM Jonathan Speelman: Magnus, Medal Chases & Prodigies in Action
BONUS POD- Hans vs. Magnus Speed Chess Championship Preview with GM Ben Finegold
EP 397- JulesGambit on What Fueled a Rapid Rating Rise, the Story Behind the Botez Chess Camp, and Why She Thinks Chess is no Longer Uncool
EP 396- GM Pontus Carlsson- Advice for Remembering Openings, early Magnus memories, the FIDE World Rapid & Blitz in New York and much more.
EP 395- FM Kamil Plichta- Learning from your Rating Peers, Opening Advice for Amateurs, Bullet Chess Tips, & more
EP 394- GM Jacob Aagaard- The Story Behind the Big Chess Publishing Merger, plus his Latest Thoughts on Rating Deflation, the World Championship Cycle, Chess Improvement, & more
EP 393- GM Jan Gustafsson on the Candidates, the upcoming World Championship the Olympiad, and his Sicilian Defense Power Rankings
EP 392- Aiden Rayner- What Adult Chess Players Need to Know about Visualization and Working Memory
EP 391- IM Atle Gronn- Life Lessons from the remarkable Careers of GM Simen Agdestein, plus the lessons Simen imparted to his student, GM Magnus Carlsen
EP 390- Russ Makofsky: How Chess Can Change Lives from NYC to Africa
EP 389-Solveig Friberg (The Rookie Redhead)- A Recent Adult Beginner on Getting to 1500 from Scratch and Finding Community and Audience
EP 388- GM Awonder Liang on What Led to His Record-Breaking Chess Success, & Transitioning to Life as a University Student
Book Recap #37- My System (Fast Track Edition) with GM Alex Fishbein
EP 387- Stories and Chess Advice from the National Open with GM Ben Finegold, GM Kayden Troff, Kamryn Hellman, Kyle Boddy & many more!
EP 386- GM Arturs Neiksans- Coaching Gotham Chess, His own Journey to the GM Title & Advice for Choosing Openings
EP 385- GM Eugene Perelshteyn: Recent Online Cheating Drama, Tips for Facing Dodgy Gambits & the Future of Professional Chess
Book Recap #36- The King: Chess Pieces by GM Jan Hein Donner (with Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam)
EP 384- IM Levy Rozman (GothamChess) on renewing his GM title pursuit, lessons learned from his first attempt, and what we needs to do to improve.
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