Perpetual Chess returns for the second edition of what will be an occasional series, Perpetual Tournament Reports. (First edition here). For this episode, two guests join me to share their experiences at ALTO (“At Least Twenty One”), which was a tournament that took place in early September and was hosted by the Charlotte Chess Center. ALTO is a semi-annual tournament that has quickly gained a loyal roster of attendees due to the unique opportunity it presents to compete against and socialize with other adult chess players. My guests are 1) Returning guest, data scientist, blogger and Chessable Author, FM Nate Solon. Nate hasn’t been competing OTB much lately, in part due to having his first baby at home, but somehow won the open section of the tournament! Despite this incredible success, Nate feels he has plenty of chess to work on, and he shares his reflections from his games and away-from-the-board experiences in Charlotte. 2) James Braindmair got into chess via the Queen’s Gambit and is already quite active in his chess community in Columbia, South Carolina. In addition to a busy work and family life, James is President of the Columbia Chess Club. With so many responsibilities, James doesn’t get a ton of time to study, but he and some local chess friends all made the trip to play and compete. James reflects on the chess and non-chess lessons he has recently learned. Timestamps of guests and topics discussed can be found below.
Prior tournament report podcast-
https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/new-blog/2023/6/30/f82nnc8zc3crw6pxaprlkd5rgil5a7
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2Hmf19bVCz3WiwqFTmuHAE?si=8eedbfe0a6154989
If are rated below 1300 Chess.com or lower (Approximately) and would like to send me games for my forthcoming Chessable course please email Ben at perpetualchesspod.com
4:45- FM Nate Solon joins the pod! Was he surprised that he won the tournament? What were the key moments?
Mentioned:
https://www.chessable.com/100-repertoires-reti-1nf3/course/170854/
Episode 346 with NM Todd Bryant
LiChess study with most of Nate’s games
Episode 307 with IM Dean Ippolito
Nate’s post on Time Management-
https://zwischenzug.substack.com/p/time-management
16:00- Nate describes his mindset going in to his final round game against IM Dina Belenkaya.
Mentioned: GM Eugene Perelshteyn
21:00- Nate just hit a new rating high at age 38- how is he able to defy chess gravity?
23:00- What was ALTO like away from the board?
26:00- How is the 1. Nf3 repertoire from Nate’s Chessable course working out?
30:00- How did Nate’s new openings as Black work out?
Mentioned: King’s Kalashnikov Sicilian, Shankland’s Semi-Slav
38:00- What are Nate’s chess takeaways from the tournament?
Mentioned: Check Nate’s video recap of his White games here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fd6niI6KllI
45:00- James Brandmair joins the pod! He begins by discussing how he recently got into tournament chess.
Mentioned: Paul Copeland, NM Sam Copeland’s YouTube Channel
48:00- What were James’ goals going into the tournament?
Mentioned: Hanlon-Brandmair 2023, IM Dina Belenkaya, JJ Lang, IM David Vigorito
54:00- What has James learned from reviewing the games?
Mentioned: GM John Shaw’s King’s Gambit, Godly Gambit
1:00:00- What are the goals for the Columbia Chess Club?
Mentioned: Is James’ wife supportive of chess weekends?
1:05:00- Did the tournament feel differently without kids competing?
Thanks to James for joining! You can email him at Jamesbrandmair at gmail dot com
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EP 368- Erik Allebest (Chess.com CEO)- Online Cheating, The Magnus-Hikaru match that fell through, the Chess24 closure & more
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.
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