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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Book Recap #26- Discussing Alexei Shirov's Fire on Board with Mitchell Fabian
EP 280- GM Ben Finegold on The FIDE Candidates, Recent Declines in Chess Twitch Viewership, and Why He Thinks he Doesn't Play as Well as he Used to.
EP 279- Derek Wilder (Adult Improver Series)- The key lessons that helped an 1800 break through to a USCF 2000 rating.
Ep 278- GM Jan Gustafsson- The Popular Chess24 Commentator discusses the World Championships, Chess Openings, The State of his Chess Game, and his new Chess Podcast
EP 277-GM Kirill Shevchenko and WFM Maria Emelianova, a Ukrainian GM and a Russian Chess Streamer, on How the Russian-Ukrainian War Impacts their lives, their Careers and the Chess World
EP 276- GM Michael Adams- Stories and Lessons from Mickey's decades Among the Chess Elite
EP 275- IM Ali Mortazavi- A CEO and Successful Stock Investor on how the Challenges of Chess Help Everything Else Seem Easier
EP 274- Paul Hedrick (Adult Improver Series) with guest co-host Han Schut
EP 273- GM Johan Hellsten on Chess Improvement, the Inspirations for his "Mastering Chess" Book Series, and his favorite OTB Memories
EP 272- "Positional Puzzle Book Championship" with Neal Bruce
Book Recap #25- Review and Discussion of The Mammoth Book of the World’s Greatest Chess Games with NM Chrisopher Chabris and FM Graham Burgess
EP 271- GM Hans Niemann on his Rapid Climb up the Chess Rankings and What's Next for Him in 2022
EP 270- Cody Smith (Adult Improver Series)
EP 269- Jen Shahade on her New Book and Chess in the Queen's Gambit age
EP 268- GM Joel Benjamin and Harold Scott on How to Win the World Open
Book Recap #24- Discussing GM Jan Markos' Under the Surface with NM Gopal Menon and Matt Fletcher
EP 267- NM Nelson Lopez (of the ChessVibes YouTube Channel)
EP 266- NM Jeremy Kane (Adult Improver Series)
EP 265- GM Simon Williams- (aka The Ginger GM) returns
EP 264- Elizabeth Shaughnessy (founder of the Berkeley Chess School)
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