Legendary chess author IM Jeremy Silman valued his chess friendships highly, and referred to his inner circle as his chess ‘“posse.” This week, two members of that posse, IMsJohn Donaldson and IM Cyrus Lakdawala join me to share stories and biographical details about their friend. As one might expect from Silman’s books, they recall a friend who was funny, empathetic, extremely strong as a chess player, and a brilliant writer and gifted public speaker. John and Cyrus both begin with their first recollections of meeting Jeremy in 1981, and they take us through his chess life and his journey from a chess nomad to a devoted husband, cat dad, and one of the most successful chess authors of all time. Thanks to John and Cyrus for helping us all learn more about Jeremy’s life. Timestamps of topics discussed are below. .
Obits-
https://new.uschess.org/news/im-jeremy-silman-1954-2023
https://www.chess.com/news/view/jeremy-silman-1954-2023
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/26/books/jeremy-silman-dead.html
Fred Wilson’s old interviews with IM Jeremy Silman will be posted to the Perpetual Chess YouTube channel by the end of the week.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtcudElmRsQYTwULtd_gnFw
01:30- John and Cyrus share their first memories of meeting IM Jeremy Silman, both in 1981.
Mentioned; Chuck Johnson
07:00- John and Cyrus describe Silman’s “hippie days.”
12;00- How did Jeremy get his start in chess?
Mentioned: IM John Grefe, Dennis Waterman, IM Jack Peters, Bob Long, and
Silman’s article describing his ‘posse’-
https://www.chess.com/article/view/chess-books-and-youth-vs-old-age
Silman’s Chess Odyssey
22;00- Cyrus discusses the legacy of How to Reassess Your Chess, as well as Jeremy’s unique insight into a need for literature addressing club players.
26;00- Why did The Complete Book of Chess Strategy sell so well? How did his other books do?
33;00- John and Cyrus discuss Jeremy’s abilities as a speaker, and the success of the series he did for “Great Courses”
Mentioned: https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/how-to-play-chess-lessons-from-an-international-master
38;00- Did financial success change Jeremy? John also discusses some of Jeremy’s students.
Mentioned: von Frankenstein, Allan Horn, Brady Anderson, NM Vanessa West
43;00- Could Jeremy have been a GM?
Mentioned: Ken West?, IM Jack Peters, IM Douglas Root
50:00- John and Cyrus discuss the challenges of fe as a chess author and how chess content has changed.
1:13:00- John discusses the health challenges Jeremy faced late in life.
1:16:00- What jobs did Jeremy have outside of chess?
1:21:00- John discusses Jeremy’s love for chess books, and for Japan!
Mentioned: The Games of Tigran Petrosian by Shekhtman
1:26:00- Should we care about analytical mistakes?
Mentioned: Vitiugov vs. Robson 2013
1:31:00- Favorite Silman stories
Thanks so much to John and Cyrus for sharing their memories of IM Silman
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Bonus Pod- Three Amateurs on Chess Lessons Learned and Adventures Had at the National Open in Las Vegas
Bonus pod- Law Professor David Franklin returns to Discuss the Dismissal of the Hans NIemann/Chess.com Lawsuit
EP 336- GM Jan Timman: The Legendary Author and Dutch Champion discusses his new book on Max Euwe, How his Generation Compares to the Current One, and Magnus and the Modern Chess Landscape
EP 335- Adult Improvers and Chessable co-Authors, WIM Natasha Regan and Matthew Ball on Improving at Chess in Your 50s, Tips for Playing against Kids and The Similarities between Shogi and Chess
EP 334- GM Ben Finegold on the Possible Decline of Magnus, his New 1. d4 Chessable Course, and more Stories from his Years of Chess Travels
EP 333: IM James Sherwin- A US Chess Hall of Famer Looks Back on his Chess Career and Shares Stories about Fischer, Reshevsky, Seirawan and Many More!
EP 332- GM Vinay Bhat: A Former Child Prodigy Turned Data Scientist Shares Lessons Learned and Memorable Stories from his Chess Career
EP 331- Adult Improver John Neely (aka Benedictine) on lessons learned and recommendations from a long journey to 1800.
EP 330- Chess Improvement Q and A with Top Trainer and Author, GM Wojciech Moranda Topics Include: Annotating Games, Improving Positional Chess, and Learning from Playing vs. Learning from Studying
EP 329- GM Sam Shankland: One of the the top Players in the U.S. on How he Improved His Rapid Game and his Endgame Play, His 2023 Tournament Plans and his Advice for Overcoming Setbacks in Chess
EP 328- Ding delivers in dramatic fashion! World Championship wrapup with Dutch National Champion and Top Trainer, GM Erwin L’Ami.
Bonus Pod- Tied with just one classical game to go! GM Alex Lenderman helps break down the Blunders and the Bouncebacks of this Fascinating FIDE World Championship
EP 327- Geert van der Velde, CEO of Chessable, on the Chess.com Merger, “Chessable 3.0,” Including the Courses and Improvements Chessable Users Can Expect this Year
Bonus Pod - World Championship Round 9 Update- Dramatic Games, Leaked Prep and Chess Improvement Takeaways for Amateur Players with IM Andras Toth
EP 326- Popular YouTuber and Streamer WGM Dina Belenkaya on Lessons Learned from Recent Tournaments, Twitch Streaming OTB Games and her Content and Chess Goals for 2023
Bonus Pod- Ding Deadlocks the World Championship Match after 4 games, with FM Mike Klein of Chess.com
EP 325- Adult Improver Chris Duncan on the Popularity of Chess in the Military and the Connective Power of the Game to bring Cultures Together
EP 324- IM Levy Rozman/Gotham Chess on Surpassing 3 Million YouTube Subs, Retiring from OTB, his DMs with Magnus, and his Future Plans
EP 323- Ding-Nepo World Championship Match Preview Double Episode- GM Daniel King on the Players and Historical Context, NM Matt Jensen on the Match Analytics. Also Discussed: Rating Deflation, The S
EP 322- IM Willy Hendriks- The Groundbreaking Author and Trainer on Chess Improvement, Chess History, and The Books that Most Influenced Him
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