107 Few adult club players are as committed to the game as Nick Visel.

For years, he’s been racking up countless OTB classical games, poring through books and courses, and sharing his wisdom on Chess Twitter.

Currently, Nick stands at 1600 USCF with ambitions of becoming a Class A player and reaching National Master.

Nick shares great tips from his earned wisdom, plus how he’s willing to scale back his chess when other areas of his life take priority.

In this episode, we discuss:

• A better way to learn openings beyond just tedious memorization.
• Why he’s reduced his chess study workload and how it helps him avoid burnout.
• Why he thinks Karpov would have beaten Fischer had they played in 1975.
• The importance of a poker face in OTB chess

More From Nick:

• Twitter
• Nick’s Substack

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Just a quick update on why there won't be an episode this week. But we'll be back on November 12th!

106 Adriana is a dynamic titled player, coach, and content creator from Spain. She’s already reached a 2000+ FIDE rating and is working regularly towards her WFM title. This year alone, she’s competed in ten OTB classical tournaments.

Adriana also coaches students ranging from beginner up to 1800.

Outside of chess, she has a degree in film studies and is pursuing a career in film. Recently, she helped distribute an award-winning short film thriller.

As a fun detour, this podcast takes a rare opportunity to chat with Adriana about our favorite movies for a few minutes.

As always, we close with questions about her favorite player of all time, her favorite openings, and what her one “chess wish” would be.

More From Adriana:

• YouTube
• Twitch
• Twitter
• Instagram

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105 Today’s guest is a huge help to countless adult improvers.

GM Eugene Perelshteyn is a highly regarded coach, author, and course creator.

In more recent years, he went beyond helping his private students and extended his chess wisdom to writing a book and publishing courses.

His 2022 book, Evaluate Like A Grandmaster, is a huge help to almost every club player. And we discuss at length the benefits of improving your often-overlooked evaluation skills in chess.

But this is also a wide-reaching interview…

In our chat, we discuss the recent controversy with GM Christopher Woo at the US Chess Championship and why mental health is a critical topic for competitive players (even amateurs!)

Plus, we cover:

• How studying gambits can make you a better chess player.
• Who is likely to win the World Chess Championship between Ding & Gukesh.
• Hikaru’s trick to playing better competitively that applies to all players.

Follow me on Twitter to win Eugene's "Every Gambit Refuted" Chessable course (and other future giveaways!)

More From Eugene:

• Eugene’s Chessable Courses
• Book: Evaluate Like a Grandmaster
• Twitter
• Website

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104 This week’s guest is Vanessa Sun, a former chess journalist. For years, she covered events for US Chess, from major national tournaments like the US Open to local competitions.

She was also a tournament director at the famous Marshall Chess Club in New York City. Plus, she’s volunteered for IM Greg Shahade at the US Chess School, which is a nonprofit that offers free chess coaching to the most promising juniors in the country.

Beyond her chess experiences, she’s an atmospheric chemist and is currently in a Ph.D program.

In this episode, we chat about her chess journey, including:

• What unique insights about chess she’s gained from covering tournaments and doing interviews as a chess journalist.
• Why she prefers classical and calls herself a “blitz hater.”
• Whether there’s any link between playing chess and intelligence.
• The powerful impact chess can have on people’s lives, even if they don’t make a career of it or work on the game regularly.

Find Vanessa on Twitter

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103 Our guest is an inspiring adult improver, Dr. Ryan Thomas. Ryan is a surgeon, a cancer researcher, and a father of two. With all that, he’s still highly dedicated to chess improvement and his love of the game. Ryan regularly attends OTB classical tournaments, and his current USCF rating is 958 with a goal of 1200.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Ryan’s journey from casual high school player to avid tournament competitor later in life.
• How all chess players share common bonds regardless of their skill level.
• What Ryan did to solve the problems of information overload & inconsistent practice.
• The courses Ryan revisited to ensure he practiced chess fundamentals.
• The parallels between chess and medical training, and how each has informed the other in Ryan’s life.

Find Ryan on Twitter

Resources Referenced:

• FM Paul Giannotos: Everyone’s First Chess Workbook (Chessable)
• IM Andras Toth: Chess Principles Reloaded: Development (Chessable)
• GM Artur Yusopov: The Fundamentals 1: Build Up Your Chess (Chessable)

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102 Learning from a prolific chess author and course creator is always exciting.

Today we dive into various chess improvement topics from Serbian International Master, Boro Zlatanovic.

Boro has published over two dozen courses and books. And in just five years!

And his two most recent courses have been published with Chessable, including Masterpieces of Amateur Play and Conversion in the Endgame.

One thing that stands out about Boro, and that I find refreshing, is that while we’re in an era where most published works are focused on openings, Boro prefers to write and teach about strategy, endgames, and chess psychology.

In our discussion, we chat about:

• What you can learn from annotated amateur games, not only master games.
• The psychology and attitude you ought to have when playing higher-rated opponents.
• Why you should focus on understanding chess ideas & principles as the guiding star of your chess journey, not just memorization or what engine analysis tells you.

More From Boro:

• Boro’s Chessable courses
• Boro’s Books on Amazon
  
  

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101 Megan Lee is an inspiration to all of us adult improvers. Even with a busy work life running two businesses, Megan has had an incredible year: reaching her lifetime rating peak (2297 FIDE), earning the FM title, and competing in the US Women’s Championship.

In fact, this year will be her third invitation to that prestigious event.

Yet she does this all on the side while she juggles a typical but heavy load of adult responsibilities.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why Megan can achieve more in chess as an adult than she did as a junior.
• Megan’s experiences competing at the US Women’s Chess Championship (including her prep for this year’s event.)
• What areas of her game she’ll need to strengthen to achieve the IM title.

More from Megan: Snippet Studios (her lifestyle brand business)

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