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.350- CM Can Kabadayi: A self-taught Candidate Master and Cognitive Scientist on Calculation, The Chess Aging Curve and his Favorite Chess Books
EP 349- Dr. Anique de Bruin: Deliberate Practice and the Science of Chess Learning
Book Recap #33- Think Like a Super GM and Strategic Chess Exercises: 2 Great Books for Intermediate Level and Up (with Dr. Michael Franco)
EP 348- ALTO Tournament Report- Two Participants on What they learned and Experienced at an Adult Only Weekend Tournament in Charlotte
EP 347- GM Gregory Kaidanov on The Return of Hans Niemann, FIDE World Cup Reflections & The Differences Between Adult and Youth Chess Students
EP 346- NM Todd Bryant Shares his Data on the Most Accomplished Adult Improvers in recent US Chess History, plus Discusses his Own Approach to Chess Enjoyment & Improvement
EP 345- WFM Maaike Keetman on The Best Open Tournaments in Europe, The Chess Steps Method & Chessable's Create Your Own Course Contest
EP 344- GM Melik Khachiyan on How Staying Active OTB and Emphasizing Physical Fitness helped him Finally win his First National Title!
Bonus Pod- FIDE World Cup Update- Magnus and Fabiano on a Collision Course? Featuring CM Vjekoslav Nemec and IM Michael Rahal reporting from the tournament in Baku.
EP 343- Rating Deflation Roundtable- Statistician Jeff Sonas and Data Scientist FM Nate Solon discuss FIDE’s Proposed Changes to their Rating System, Plus Historical Chess Nuggets from Jeff’s Grea
EP 342- GM Simen Agdestein: The Norwegian Chess Legend on Coaching Young Magnus, Life as a Pro Footballer, and What he Learned from Career-Altering Injuries
Book Recap #32- GM Rowson's Chess for Zebras a classic book that tackles the challenges of adult improvement, and the differences between playing White and Black (with guest co-host, Professor David
EP 341-Double Episode! GM Levon Aronian on The Global Chess League, How to Better Promote Chess, and Reflections on his Bumpy Ride to the Chess Elite + Global Chess League Chairperson Jagdish Mitra on
Bonus Pod- Jen Shahade joins for a FIDE Women's World Championship Wrap Up
EP 340- FIDE World Cup Preview with Mr. Dodgy- The Best Tournament of the Chess Year starts Sunday! Magnus looks for his first World Cup Win, and Hikaru, Fabiano, and a host of Challengers hope to Ear
EP 339- WGM Anna Zatonskih: The Four-Time US Women’s Champion Shares the Story Behind Earning Her First GM Norm at age 44!
Bonus Pod- The FIDE Women's World Championship is at the Halfway Point: American Chess Olympian WGM Begim Tokhirjonova joins to discuss it
EP 338- Dr. Daniel Simons and Dr. Christopher Chabris- Two Award Winning co-authors and Professors on Growth Mindset, Cheating in Chess, Chess Improvement & Much more!
EP 337- NM Nate Shuman- A Scholastic Champion on How Mindfulness Practices Helped Him & Can Help All Competitive Chess Players
Bonus Pod- Three Amateurs on Chess Lessons Learned and Adventures Had at the National Open in Las Vegas
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