The Chess Experience

096 After a two-week break, we are back! For the first time, I explain what I have in store for the podcast for 2024…and beyond. (Hint: it’s all good news!) From new episode formats to a different category of guests, I share my ambitions for this show.

I also preview the upcoming launch of my community-themed membership for adult chess improvers, which will also have some connections to the podcast.

The final part...

095 GM Alex Colovic is an exceptional course creator and an engaging writer on all things chess. He returns to the pod to discuss some intriguing subjects from his weekly newsletter. I hand-picked three topics Alex wrote about that I found fascinating. We dive deep into each one:

• Why pro chess players (outside the Top 50) can't make a living competing anymore?
• Can you create a certainty of winning before the game begins that...

094 Kaja Snare, a pro chess broadcaster, has been leading chess into a new and more accessible era of live coverage.  Gone are the days of top-level chess being watchable only for the most dedicated to the game. With her co-hosts, GM David Howell and WGM Jovanaka Houska, Kaja anchored one of the most popular live chess broadcasts our sport has ever seen.

And for good reason…

At Chess24, Kaja was part of a team tha...

093  An exciting new chess coach has hit the scene. NM Robert Ramirez has seen a huge growth in popularity in the past several years. Already, his YouTube channel has grown to 140K subscribers at the time of this episode. He’s launched two Chessable opening courses in the past year alone...

And his coaching advice and videos are being shared all over Chess Twitter.

As you watch his videos and listen to Robert spea...

092 It’s rare to see an adult chase a title and work full-time as a chess content creator. With passion and confidence, that’s exactly what this week’s guest, Elaynah, is doing with her chess life. 

It's an inspiring journey because, only two years ago, she was an absolute beginner who was beaten easily by her cousin at a Christmas party.

Now?

She’s rated 1800 Chess.com Rapid and has 22K followers fo...

091 This week’s guest, Emilia Castelao, approaches chess in rare but special ways. First, she’s making chess her career. Though not as a player, coach, or content creator. Instead, she’s pursuing a Ph.D in chess history.

For most folks, that would take up a majority of their waking hours. Emila, however, has another major chess ambition.

To improve the chess world for women.

To that end, she recently co-f...

 090 With natural charisma and exceptional chess skills, Dina Belenkaya is perfect for this new era of chess. A serious student of the game all her life, she competed professionally and earned the WGM title in 2016. In 2020, Dina began her new career as a streamer and content creator... 

Just two years later, her popularity soared. Dina delivered bold and funny interviews with the world’s top players at the FIDE Grand Prix...

089  It’s rare to see an adult club player make a career in chess. This week’s guest, Ono, has done just that. He started like many of us: inspired to dive into the game after watching the Queen’s Gambit.  Which progressed into working studiously on his chess.

Then, he embarked upon a chess blog, called The Ono Zono. Not long after the blog gained traction, Ono started coaching beginners.

Since then, he’s develope...

088 Like many chess subjects, knowing what to study for strategy is a bit murky. Especially if you’re a semi-confused club player like myself. So, who better to chat with about this topic than an author who has written three books on the subject? Welcome today’s guest: IM Thomas Willemze.

Over the past six years, Thomas has published three popular books and several courses on the subject of strategy, all specifically aimed at the cl...

087 Rarely have I publicly reflected on my experiences from running this podcast. Or what I’ve learned from talking to so many titled players, coaches, and commentators. But it’s been a little over two years since the show’s launch. And it has recently crossed 250K downloads (woohoo!)

To top it off, we’ve delivered eighty guest interviews and counting.

So, I figured a little reflection was due.

In this episode, I s...

086 She’s a rock star of chess accomlishments. WIM Natasha Regan has represented England in two chess Olympiads.  She’s co-authored two award-winning chess books with GM Matthew Sadler. And, in recent years, Natasha has co-created three Chessable courses on strategy.

Even outside of chess, Natasha impresses.

She earned a degree in mathematics from Cambridge University, has had a career as a professional actuary, a...

085 GM Noël Studer is a fountain of superb chess advice. Many folks loved his first appearance on the show (Ep. 67.) And that’s why he’s here a second time! It’s rare and special to have a Grandmaster working hard to help club players improve their game.

And, now, he even helps beginners.

A former Swiss chess champion and the youngest GM ever from Switzerland...

Noël has just released a comprehensive cour...

084 Hungary has a rich history of producing chess stars. Even at the adult improver level, you have the impressive accomplishments of our guest, Kincső Toth.

She’s already reached 1900 FIDE and is gunning for the Woman FIDE Master (WFM) title - which requires a 2100 rating plus norms.

And she does this all while earning her computer engineering degree in Budapest.

Kincső infuses even more chess into her l...

The life of a chess player is often emotional. There can be huge wins and the joy of learning, but also painful losses and sluggish improvement. Helping me gain new insights into how to address these challenges is clinical psychologist and co-host of the ChessFeels podcast, Julia Rios.

Julia combines her professional knowledge with her chess experience to offer some brilliant insights into “chess psychology.”

In this episod...

082 Many adult improvers ask this question at least once: Should I get a chess coach? This episode is designed to help you figure out what to look for in a coach and how to maximize the experience.

Helping me discuss this topic is IM Yuriy Krykun.

Yuriy is a well-known course creator with Chessable, and a superb coach who’s helped countless students.

In this episode, we cover: 

• What are some of the qua...

Renowned chess coach and co-founder of the Chess Dojo, IM Kostya Kavutskiy, returns to the podcast! Previously, we talked mostly about how to read annotated game books (Episode 17).

This time, we cover a wide variety of topics. Including:

• What new insights the Chess Dojo has learned on helping adult improvers from running their online membership, called “Training Program.”
• Kostya’s recent OTB tournament experiences and h...

080 What can you learn from a year of coaching from one of the world’s best chess coaches More than can ever be packed into a single podcast episode! BUT we cover the top five lessons I learned from IM Andras Toth - with Andras doing a deep dive into each one.

Andras is an extraordinary chess coach. He has a YouTube channel full of entertaining videos on powerful chess improvement help.

Plus, he has a wide variety...

079 Sometimes a passion for chess runs so deep you want to make it your life. That’s the story of South Africa’s WIM Charlize van Zyl. While she earned the WIM at just age 13, she didn’t fully realize her passion for the game until she left it for five years and then returned to it as an adult.

From there, she earned her way to multiple Chess Olympiads and is now gunning for the WGM title.

Plus, she has a chess business and...

 078 Dedicating three years of your life to chess as an adult is huge.  Especially when it includes OTB classical tournaments and running a chess YouTube channel.  That’s been the story of Sam Canciobello.

Inspired by the Queen’s Gambit, her passion for chess - now in its fourth year - has been consistent and impressive.

In this episode, we cover the different stages of her chess life, her long-term goals, and les...