Perpetual Chess Podcast
Perpetual Chess features weekly conversations with the chess world's best players, trainers and accomplished amateurs about their careers, current projects, best practices and the latest in chess news. Learn more at PerpetualChessPod.com
Episodes
April 22, 2025 • 76 mins
GM Mihail Marin is a prolific and popular author, trainer, and 3-time Romanian national champion. He has made numerous contributions to the chess canon but is probably best known for the book Learn from the Legends, published in 2005, which received high praise from GM Daniel Naroditsky, IM Jeremy Silman, and many others. In 2025, its much-anticipated sequel, Learn from the Legends 2: Chess Heroes at Their Best has finally been rel...
Mark as Played
April 15, 2025 • 69 mins
GM Susan Polgar is a World Chess Hall of Famer and former Women’s World Champion. She is also the holder of numerous records, including being the first female “triple crown winner” and the first woman to earn the Grandmaster title by norms and rating. She is also an author, and Chessable author. Her latest book, Rebel Queen: The Cold War, Misogyny and the Making of Grandmaster is a candid and fascinating memoir which looks back a...
Mark as Played
April 8, 2025 • 67 mins
The Adult Improver series returns to Perpetual Chess to welcome Omar Mills (aka ChessvonDoom) to the podcast. Omar fell in love with chess during the pandemic and has learned some unexpected lessons through the thousands of games he has played in subsequent years. He learned that chess improvement and maintaining a disciplined study routine is much harder than he ever could have guessed, but that you can learn a lot about yourself...
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April 1, 2025 • 74 mins
IM Danny Rensch is a former child prodigy turned Chief Chess Officer of Chess.com, the largest chess website in the world. Danny rejoined me 8 years after his first visit to the podcast (Episode 18) to discuss all that is new with Chess.com. Inevitably, this means a detailed discussion of online cheat detection, and whether Chess.com thinks that their increased deterrence methods are working. But there is a lot more to discuss incl...
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GM Noël Studer is a two time Swiss National Champion turned blogger, course creator and chess trainer. Noël is also a regular guest on the podcast, and as an avid reader of his blog, I always have plenty of questions for him. This particular interview tackles questions like the following:
What has training for a marathon taught Noël about chess?
Do Grandmasters like Noël make it sound easier than it is to “fix blunders?”
What a...
Mark as Played
March 20, 2025 • 24 mins
The Perpetual Chess Book Review series, Chess Books Recaptured is back, to discuss a new tactics primer that has been getting a lot of buzz, 100 Tactical Patterns You Must Know by FM Frank Erwich. My guest co-host is Kevin Scull, the host of the Chess Journeys podcast, and a dedicated student of the game. Kevin wanted to discuss this book because he felt it filled a glaring void in the marketplace and that it helped his game a lot....
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March 18, 2025 • 55 mins
Oleksandr Prokhorov is a Lviv, Ukraine-based chess organizer, trainer, FIDE arbiter and Twitch streamer. Ukraine has a rich chess history and has a vibrant grass roots scene in addition to famous natives such as Vasyl Ivanchuk, the Muzychuk sisters, and GM Ruslan Ponomariov. In recent years, I have marvelled at the persistent passion for chess in Ukraine as I follow Facebook groups like the Love Chess Ukraine Facebook Group. Oleks...
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IM Willy Hendriks is an award-winning chess author, historian and chess trainer. He has just released his fourth book, The Philosopher and the Housewife:Tarrasch, Nimzowitsch and the Evolution of Chess. This book is the completion of a trilogy which casts a new light on chess history and looks at the evolution of chess ideas. Willy’s newest book focuses on the early 20th century, with a particular emphasis on Aron Nimzowitsch and S...
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GM Wojciech Moranda is a high-level trainer, author and 2600+ rated player who has worked with the Polish youth national team and IM Levy Rozman among many other students. I often recommend his books for ambitious advanced players, so I was excited to welcome him back to discuss his new Chessable Course, The Moranda Method: How to Calculate Like a Beast. In the course, and in our discussion, Wojciech lays out his core beliefs and ...
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FM Nate Solon is a data scientist, Chessable author, New in Chess Magazine columnist and the creator of the popular and insightful newsletter, Zwischenzug. Nate joined me shortly after we played in a tournament together to share his latest chess-improvement related thoughts and to reflect on recent lessons he has absorbed. We focused on a few themes in particular:
Why Nate thinks the challenge of learning new openings is often ov...
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WGM Dina Belenkaya is a Russian-born and schooled chess champion who is now based in Charlotte, North Carolina. In recent years, Dina has built a massive Twitch, YouTube and Instagram following, while maintaining a busy competitive schedule. In this interview, we caught up with Dina's recent OTB results, including her impressions of the FIDE World Rapid & Blitz in New York City. Dina discusses the challenges she is currently encou...
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This week’s podcast is a discussion among friends. FM Donny Ariel is an NYC based former scholastic champion who has attained 3 IM Norms. These days he is a working dad, who has recently decided to pursue not only the IM title, but the Grandmaster title as well. (Donny is chronicling this journey on his YouTube channel, The Road to Chess Grandmaster). GM Jan Gustafsson, as many of you know, is a renowned commentator, Chessable ...
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February 4, 2025 • 67 mins
Nikolaos Ntirlis is a Correspondence chess champion, and computer engineer who has become well known in the chess world for his vast opening expertise. Nikolaos is quite skilled at finding original opening ideas, and has grown popular through his books, and by highlighting new opening ideas on his Twitter/X account. The ideas Nikos suggests have often seen quick adoption by Grandmasters, and he has even seen moves he highlighted su...
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Dr. Joel Sneed is a professor, a practicing clinical psychologist and a highly-regarded chess author. And despite a busy professional and family life, Joel has achieved the rare feat of reaching a 2000+ USCF after starting tournament chess in his 30s. But, like many of us, Joel struggles to moderate his relationship with chess. He has long held a goal of reaching USCF Master, and puts a lot of pressure on himself to make it happen...
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The Perpetual Chess Adult Improver Series returns to welcome back a guest who has continued to make steady rating progress. When I last chatted with Michael Franco, in 2021 (Episode 247), he was 7 years into his chess journey. Michael had reached a LiChess rating of 2000, but he was struggling as he tried to translate his online skill into OTB skill. He found learning to play on a 3D set challenging, and encountered the same logist...
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35-year old GM Alex Lenderman was a World Youth Champion and has won the World Open among many other chess accomplishments, but he had never previously had the chance to play in the FIDE World Rapid & Blitz. Since it took place in his hometown this year, Alex looked at the opportunity to compete in it as “a once in a lifetime opportunity.” But since Alex is no longer a professional player and has been losing rating points in recen...
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IM Malcolm Pein is an institution in British chess who has played nearly every role imaginable in helping to grow the game. He is a former professional player who was the British Junior Champion in 1977 , but these days is extremely busy as an organizer, journalist, author, store-owner, and Captain of the England Olympiad team. After an eventful FIDE World Rapid & Blitz, I thought Malcolm would be a great person to chat with abou...
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December 31, 2024 • 82 mins
31-year-old GM-elect Mark Heimann is an accomplished research scientist by day, and avid powerlifter, who has recently been making headlines in the U.S. chess scene during his work vacation time. In late 2024, Mark went on a stunning run where he earned GM norms in back-to-back tournaments in order to clinch the GM-title, less than 3 years removed from being an inactive FM. These experiences were highlighted by playing on the top b...
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David MacEnulty is an award-winning author and chess teacher who coached for many years at CES 70 school in the Bronx. In this public school in a disadvantaged school district, the chess program began with modest expectations, but went on to win many national championships. David’s new book, Sunrise in the Bronx: Chess and Life Lessons from the South Bronx to the White House, tells the story of the many kids whose lives were chang...
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December 20, 2024 • 56 mins
In the chess world, the holiday season means its almost time for one of the most entertaining tournaments of the year- The FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championship. This year’s championship events are star-studded affairs featuring GM Magnus Carlsen, GM Hikaru Nakamura, GM Alexandra Kosteniuk and a litany of big-name challengers. For the first time, these events will be taking place in New York CIty, and I will be attending the event ...
Mark as Played
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