This week I am joined by 25 year old GM Alex Ipatov. Alex is quite an accomplished chess player who is well known for winning the 2012 World Junior Chess Championship, among many other distinctions. These days, Alex is graduate student at St. Louis University, and he has recently published an original chess book called Unconventional Approaches to Modern Chess Volume 1: Rare Ideas for Black. His book is available from Thinker’s Publishing, Amazon and Forward Chess. Please keep reading to see more details of what we discussed, as well as relevant links and contact information.
0:00-Intro and discussion of Alex’s new book. It is based on the thesis that the trend of memorizing too many opening lines has become unhealthy. Alex believes that we can learn from the very strong GMs who essay offbeat lines, such as GMs Baadur Jobava and Richard Rapport. Naturally, GM Ipatov also relies heavily on his own chess repertoire to find lines to recommend, but he wishes to stress that adopting an original and practical approach to chess openings is more important than buying his book and copying his lines.
7:30- We discuss Alex’s life away from the board for a bit. He discusses his academic pursuits, his enthusiasm for soccer and how he enjoys life in St. Louis.
11:00-We return to the topic of how the club level player should approach studying openings. A couple supporters of the podcast wrote to ask about how to balance avoiding getting bogged down in theory, while also making sure that they know a bit about classical structures.
21:00- What did Alex think of the news that FIDE is sponsoring a Fischer Random World Championship tournament?
25:00- We delve a bit into Alex’s background. He spent his early years in Lviv, Ukraine. We briiefly discuss the past and future of chess in his native Ukraine. As Alex tells, chess standouts like GMs Vassily Ivanchuk and Yuriu Kryvoruchko, Oleg Romanishin, Alexander Beliavsky, Anna and Mariya Muzychuk, Martyn Kravtsiv Yaroslav Zherebukh and Ilya Nizhnik were all born in not far from Lviv, but many have relocated to different countries.
29:00- Chess improvement! Why should we study the classics? Which classics should we study? Alex is a big fan of Alexander Alekhine’s Best Games and recommends that stronger players study Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual.
One of own most memorable games is Grandelius-Ipatov, and one of his favorite of all time is Rotlewi-Rubenstein (1907)
39:00- Who does Alex think we might see in the next World Championship? Who are the strongest players he has ever played? What lesson did he learn from GM Vladimir Kramnik when he played him at the 2013 Olympiad?
47:00- How did Alex end up representing Turkey in international chess competitions? Has he lived in Turkey?
50:00- Before we say our goodbyes, we briefly discuss an interesting game Alex annotated in his book with online bullet star, GM Andrew Tang. You can see Alex’ annotation in his book, but can also see notes to the game here. You can follow Alex on twitter here, or reach him via email here.
EP 401- Sam Kahn: Overcoming Chess Degeneracy and The Lessons We Can Learn from Past Chess Greats
Olympiad Bonus Pod- Mr. Dodgy on the Atmosphere, Controversies and Notable Stories so far from Budapest
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
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