How to Build Attacking Intuition w/ WGM Thalia Cervantes Landeiro

117 Hailing from Cuba, and now one of the top American women players, WGM Thalia Cervantes is a chess powerhouse. For the past four years, she’s been invited to and played at the elite US Women’s Chess Championship.

And her competitive pursuits are nowhere near finished. Thalia is working diligently with a coach to earn her IM title, with one norm already achieved.

She’s also just released her first Chessable course, called, “Building an Attacking Intuition in Chess,” a subject we explore at length in the second half of the episode.

We also discuss:

• How a club player can develop an attacking intuition through pattern recognition.
• Thalia’s thoughts on her performance at the 2024 US Women’s Chess Championship (and how she prepares for these events.)
• The highlights of her early years in the thriving Cuban chess culture and the importance of Capablanca.
• Her plans post-college and what goes into earning the IM title.

More From Thalia:

• Chessable Course: Building an Attacking Intuition in Chess
• Instagram

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Episode Transcript

Daniel (00:05):
Hey, welcome to the chess experience On this show.
It's all about helping adultimprovers.
I want to make learning chesseasier for you to navigate, and
I also want you to have a morefun experience along the way.
I'm your host, daniel Lona, afellow chess amateur.
Let's get to it.
This show is sponsored bychesscom, the world's largest

(00:29):
chess community.
One of chesscom's most popularfeatures is called Game Review.
This feature weaves together alot of benefits.
In one post-game analysis, forexample, you can see how
accurately you played, whetheryou made any moves that were
deemed brilliant or great, whichmakes me feel a lot better
about my chess when I get one ofthose.
And Game Review also offers avirtual coach that gives

(00:51):
insights on every move.
It'll also show you alternatelines that would have been
better for you to help youunderstand how you can improve
your game.
So go on chesscom, play a gameand try out the Game Review.
Welcome to this week's show.
In this episode, we have thehighly accomplished woman
grandmaster Talia CervantesLantero.
Talia was born and raised inCuba.

(01:11):
She began playing chess atseven years old.
She won a bunch of youthchampionships and by 2014, at
only age 12, she won theunder-19 Susan Polgar
Invitational.
This led to her and her familymoving to the US shortly
thereafter.
Specifically, she moved to StLouis for its thriving chess
scene, and since 2021, she hasbeen invited to each year's US

(01:36):
Women's Chess Championship,which means she has been invited
and competed at thatchampionship four times already,
and in 2022, she placed thirdat that event.
In the first half of thisepisode, talia and I talk about
her experiences competing at theUS Women's, including her
thoughts on her performance atthe event this past fall.

(01:56):
We also discuss the highlightsof her rapid rise in chess in
her early days in Cuba, pluswhat her experience has been
like in St Louis.
Then, in the second half of theepisode, we talk about why it's
important to develop anattacking intuition and how you
can do that, even as a clubplayer.
This includes diving into herchessable course on this very

(02:17):
topic, a course that I highlyrecommend checking out.
I went through some of itmyself.
It is excellent.
A link to that will be in theshow notes.
And just one correction inadvance on my part In my chat
with Talia, I mistakenlyreferred to the course as
Building Attacking Initiative inchess, when the word I meant to
say was intuition.
So I should have said BuildingAttacking Intuition in chess

(02:40):
when I cited her course name.
My apologies for that, but Ijust wanted to correct that in
advance.
Anyhow, I think you'll reallyenjoy my discussion with Talia.
She's had an incrediblyaccomplished chess career.
She's down to earth, insightful, and you can tell there's a lot
more exciting stuff ahead ofher, even though she's already
accomplished a lot.
Here's my interview with Talia.

(03:00):
Enjoy, I'm excited to have youon the podcast today.
How are you doing?

Thalia (03:06):
Hello, I'm doing good.
Thank you so much for having mehere.

Daniel (03:09):
Yeah, my pleasure Thrilled to chat with you.
You've had such an impressivecompetitive career and chess
journey so I couldn't be moreexcited to talk about all of it
with you.
So thank you very much forbeing on the show, of course,

(03:29):
thank you.

Thalia (03:30):
Yeah, you know, I think I'll just start with this
question before I dive into allthe main.
Of course, thank you.
Every single day try to findsome sort of balance between my
school life and chess itself.
This week, on Monday, I hadtraining with my coach for a few
hours, so that felt really goodgetting into the rhythm, and

(03:55):
after that I have been mostlyjust doing puzzles online,
checking on recent chesstournaments.
I try to stay updated withwhat's going on, but it's
difficult to find big chunks oftime where I can focus only on
chess.
But when I do find those, I tryto work on calculation, check

(04:16):
my lines, and we still have ourgroup training here at the
university.
So I try to at least have alittle bit of chess every single
day.

Daniel (04:26):
That's awesome.
Yeah, that's fantastic.
You said you're working with acoach.

Thalia (04:31):
My university.
We have two main coaches and Iwas meeting with our assistant
coach, Darius Schwiertz verystrong grandmaster, also has a
lot of really good chessablecourses and we have been working
together for a couple of yearsnow.
It's not really a secret and,no, he's amazing and we were

(04:52):
working on some lines, workingon calculation, earlier this
week.

Daniel (04:56):
Awesome.
Yeah, that's exactly what I wasgoing to ask you.
I know what club players oftenwork on with their coaches.
It's typically game review islike the most common thing, but
I didn't know at your levelwhat's common to work on with
with their coaches.
It's typically game review islike the most common thing, but
I didn't know at your levelwhat's common to work on with a
coach yes, so we still do.

Thalia (05:11):
We still do a lot of game review.
I just haven't played atournament since the very start
of this year.
My last tournament was thepan-american collegiate chess
championship in January and wewent over games from that
tournament.
Before that I had played someother tournaments and we also
checked some games briefly.
It's always very nerve-wracking, even at this point, because

(05:34):
you are almost seeing the rawreaction of your coach, seeing
your moves, and you're like, ohmy goodness, is he going to say
something about this move that Imade, is he not?
But we're working through those.
In general, we have a plan forupcoming tournaments and the
rest of the year, and for meit's mostly about, like I said,

(05:54):
trying to find some balancebetween school life and chess.

Daniel (05:58):
Yeah, yeah, that's awesome.
Well, there's so much to talkabout with your chess life.
It's hard to know where tobegin, sometimes with guests
like you who are awesome thatway.
But one thing I'd like to startwith is your most recent
participation in the 2024 USWomen's Chess Championship,
obviously in a very excitingevent to be a part of.
And you've been part of severalnow right, if I'm not mistaken,

(06:19):
since 2021 through 2024.
Yeah, so I guess it's only beenabout four months since you
finished and for those whoaren't familiar, I know you know
what happened.
But just for my audience, youplaced fifth of 10 players with
a score of five and a half, andthat even puts you ahead of
Grandmaster Irina Krush andprevious winner Jennifer Yu.
So, overall, how did you feelabout your performance?

Thalia (06:41):
Overall, I'm very happy about this 2024 USS Women's
Championship.
As mentioned, I have alreadyparticipated in the tournament
quite a few times and it'sreally an honor that I get to
qualify and play such aprestigious tournament,
especially here in St Louis,which is where I also live and
for the past 10 years or so Ihave been attending the St Louis

(07:03):
Chess Club.
I work with the St Louis ChessClub, so it's always nice to
play there as well.
Such an incredible event andoverall, I would say that this
tournament was the balance thatI needed because I finished
fifth.
Obviously, it's not first.
At the same time, it's not last, but I have come to this

(07:25):
tournament and gotten verydifferent results throughout the
years.
First time I participated, in2021, I believe I got seventh or
tied for seventh, which wasokay with me.
It was just my first year.
2022 was incredible.
I had a streak of five wins andI finished on third place, so

(07:47):
that was the best performancethat I have had so far and,
incredibly enough, 2023, Ifinished in last place.
It was the worst, probably theworst tournament that I've ever
had.
So it's very peculiar, all ofthese ups and downs, and I think
this 2024 edition was thebalance that I was looking for

(08:10):
and in a way, it's somethingthat I was trying to prove
myself also.
I can not only have theseincredible peaks, but also I can
establish myself as a playeramongst all of these incredible,
incredible competitors.
So I'm very happy with theresults and it's a good balance,
a good ground, and then for theyears to come I'll try to get

(08:32):
back into the podium.

Daniel (08:34):
Right, right, yeah, it's a fantastic performance.
Yeah, a couple of things aboutthat.
One thing you said that kind ofperked my ears is that you had
your best performance, I thinkyou said in 22 and then the
worst in 23.
And I don't think you're alonein that.
I've seen that with some of theother players, where they do
really well, like you know,maybe the top two or three and
then bottom two or three a yearor two later Does that make this

(08:56):
event just very hard to.
I don't want to say predict,but sort of anticipate how
you'll do.

Thalia (09:07):
Yes, yeah for sure.
In general, I would say thatthe level in the United States
just keeps increasing, whetherit's for men or women.
It just keeps increasing everyyear and at the same time, in
our tournament, because it's thetop 12, it's a very close, very
tight race and from first placein the rankings to 12th, it's
very close in rating, very closein strength as well.

(09:27):
So it's very common also thatyou might see us in one place
for one edition and then in avery different one for another
edition.
I think, for the most part, itdepends on how much we have been
working on chess and how we'refeeling for this tournament,
specifically Because I know thatin 2022, I was still very busy

(09:51):
with school, but I was puttingin a lot of work into the
tournament.
2023, I think I picked up a fewdifferent projects and I was
still looking forward to the USchampionship a lot, but I
remember that I was playing mygames and going back to my hotel
room to take exams and it wasjust very overwhelming.

(10:13):
So I think it really depends onon how much your, how much time
you can put into into thepreparation for the tournament.
It's not the tournament itself,also the preparation that comes
before it.

Daniel (10:26):
I can't even imagine having to do an exam for
anything, especially college,but right after a game.
I mean, that just seems like.
I mean I'm usually justcollapsing onto the bed for
hours after a game.
How do you do something likethat?
I mean, do you just ride off ofadrenaline from the game that
you were playing?

Thalia (10:45):
Actually, yes, I feel like a lot of times I'm nervous
going into a game, but after Ifinish it I still have a little
bit of adrenaline.
It goes away kind of quickly,but I still have a little bit of
adrenaline, maybe for an houror two where my feelings are
still very heightened.
And that's usually how I wasgetting my work done In general,

(11:08):
as a person like you tell mewhat I need to do and I'll do it
, and then, after it's done, Iwill realize oh, wow, that was a
lot.
Or finally, after it's done, Iwill calm down, sit down,
internalize everything and thengo to rest but this is something
that I have actually noticedfrom my games and my tournaments
everything and and then go torest.
But this is something that Ihave actually noticed from from
my games and my tournaments.
I don't like drinking coffee ortea during games or anything,

(11:32):
but I try to like somehow I justhave energy left over at the
end.
So maybe it's just me beinghyperactive, maybe it's
something else, but I try yeah,I try to to balance, balance it
all, yeah.

Daniel (11:45):
Yeah Well, it's an impressive work ethic and I
guess it's also helpful that itdoesn't catch up to you until
afterwards, so that's good Interms of going into an event
like this.
I mean, like you said, I meanthis is an extremely competitive
event.
Every player there wants to winfirst.
So do you have goals going intothis beyond that, like anything
like specific that you'retrying to aim for yourself in

(12:07):
terms of performance or habits,or anything like that?

Thalia (12:11):
I feel like there are certain things that every year I
try to test almost intournaments like this, I try to
improve, like is my opening workpaying off, right, is my
calculation paying off, andthings like that.
Have I been able to improvecertain areas throughout the
years?
Or, if I'm struggling against aplayer in particular, have I

(12:34):
overcome that?
So it's a very importanttesting ground for me, this US
championship, but at the sametime, it really focuses on the
preparation that I do before thetournament specifically, and in
my case, I know that I need alot of calculation training in

(13:05):
order to get into the rhythm andthe psychology and the mindset
of playing chess and basicallygiving it your all for one
particular tournament.

Daniel (13:18):
Interesting.
Yeah, you said that you try toget back into the rhythm.
I mean, maybe I'm wrong.
My impression was just that youcompete pretty regularly
throughout the year, as is.

Thalia (13:26):
I do.
Honestly, I can't stay too faraway from chess.
That's just not going to workfor me.
But there are periods, right,because I, like I said, still a
college student and especiallyin the summers I play a lot of
chess.
I am all over the place.
My mom doesn't get to see memuch over the summer anyways,

(13:47):
because I'm traveling andplaying tournaments but
especially during the schoolyear it can be very difficult
and there might be periods wherethere are no tournaments that
come up or interest me or simplyI am not feeling ready for a
tournament because, as I said,it requires a lot of preparation
and if I don't feel like I havedone that level of preparation,

(14:10):
I don't know what the outcomeis going to be for a tournament.
So there are periods where I amplaying quite a lot and periods
where maybe periods of like amonth or two where I haven't
played a tournament and I wantto make sure that for the big
events that I'm playing warmedup and I'm in the rhythm of
playing chess and my openingsare working well, I can see if

(14:32):
my calculation is good duringgames time management, things
like that.

Daniel (14:36):
Yeah, how much time would you say in terms of weeks
or months do you spend preparingin advance before the US
Women's For the US Women's, Iwould say about a month
beforehand.

Thalia (14:50):
I'm already focused on the tournament, thinking a lot
about any specific changes thatI need to make or any specific
preparation that I'm going to dofor the tournament.
I try to set everything so thatI have the time to study and
prepare.
So if I have schoolwork, I'lltry to put it aside before this

(15:14):
month window, and if I haveother works, other projects
related to chess, I try toalmost clear out my calendar and
make sure that I have time toseriously prepare for a
tournament like this.

Daniel (15:27):
Yeah, and, as we mentioned, you're competing in a
good number of tournamentsthroughout the year and, of
course, throughout your career.
There's a lot of events thatyou go to.
Where does the US Women's fallfor you amongst everything?
Is there something else that'smaybe even more significant for
you, or just where does it fallin the scheme of things in terms
of big events that you competeat?

Thalia (15:48):
yes, so the us women's is extremely special to me.
It's just a tournament here inst louis, in my home, and it's
incredible just the fact that Iget to play with the top players
in the united states.
It's, it's just wonderful.
It's the one tournament that Ilook forward to every single
year.
But I love participating in allsorts of events, so especially

(16:13):
international tournaments,places that I've never been to
before.
I try to go and put on my bestperformance.
I have not been able to play atournament like the Chess
Olympiad, where you go with theteam to a different country, you

(16:37):
represent your nation, andthings like that.
I did play one time the onlineOlympiad, and that felt very
special too.
It's a shame that it was onlinebecause it was back in 2021.
But that felt very, veryspecial as well.
And I would say tournamentsalso yes, tournaments that are

(16:58):
team events.
So, for example, here at StLouis University, because I'm
part of the chess team, we playthe intercollegiate Pan Am
tournament every single year,which basically is a tournament
between universities, amongstuniversities, and being able to
represent mine is a huge honor.
So those tournaments really,really mean a lot to me.

(17:23):
But I think I've mentionedevery single kind of tournament.
So I just get excited wheneverI'm playing.
Whichever one it is, I'll try toput as much emotion and carry
into it as I can and do my best.

Daniel (17:39):
That's awesome.
I like hearing that perspective.
I can understand why the USwomen know have a little extra,
but I love that they're, all youknow, a big deal for you.
So what I'd like to talk aboutnext is your chess journey from
the beginning, your chess originstory, so to speak, how it all
began for you.
One thing that stood out to meas I was reading about that

(18:00):
aspect of your life and I knowthere's not like the full story,
that's why I'm talking to youbut one thing that was published
that stood out to me is thatyou studied under a grandmaster
as a child, which I think isprobably a little more on the
rare side.
So how did that come to be?

Thalia (18:13):
Yeah, so I am originally from Havana, cuba, and I
learned to play chess in Havana.
They had a lot of after schoolchess programs or even chess
programs during regular physicalexercise classes and things
like that.
And it all has to do from theinfluence that Capablanca José
Real Capablanca, third worldchampion had in the game in our

(18:36):
country and I just realized thatI loved chess from the very
first moment that I played it.
It was insane because basicallyit was six-year-old me.
At school I didn't knowanything about chess.
They presented to me for thefirst time, I think, my first

(18:56):
game.
I remember this very, veryvividly.
Actually.
I was playing with the whitepieces against a friend and it
was E4, e5.
And I took the pawn on E5 withmy pawn on e4, because nobody
told me that pawn stooddiagonally.
I learned that later butsomehow afterwards I managed to
win that game.

(19:17):
I went home, I told my motherand she immediately put me in a
chess institute that there wasin Havana, because she realized
how excited I was about playingchess.
And the great thing about chessculture in Cuba is that it's
literally everywhere, so you canwalk on the streets, at the
parks, you're going to see chessplayers A lot of times people

(19:40):
after work 4 or 5 pm, they justdecide to bring the chess set
out and play with theirneighbors and things like that.
So chess was all around for meand I never thought that I could
be able to play it, because youhave to sit down for so long,
you have to calculate everysingle step and I just didn't

(20:00):
think that it was for me.
I'm not sure exactly why at thetime, like why I was having
such a philosophical realizationat six years old, but I thought
that it was too intricate.
But also the competitive sidein me was really excited about
this game and I wanted to keeplearning more about it.
I wanted to win more games andthat required studying more.

(20:24):
And when I was put in thischess institute in Havana I was
able to learn alongside manyother kids.
So that gave me motivation tokeep going, because there was a
circle to some sort of unionamongst us.
But at the same time there wereother kids that I could compete
with and that gave me a lot ofmotivation.
But at the same time there wereother kids that I could compete

(20:45):
with and that gave me a lot ofmotivation.
I was in a chess institute for afew years.
I won a few championships, likescholastic championships for
the province of Havana.
I was the best girl from agesseven to nine years old more or
less years old, more or less andthen I started training under

(21:08):
the tutelage of GrandmasterWalter Ardensivia who is this
Grandmaster, yes, that I studiedwith, and he was a world junior
champion.
I believe he was back in the80s and he was incredible.
I learned a lot from him,no-transcript, and it was very

(21:46):
peculiar because he left Cuba atthe same time that my family
left for the United States.
So it's almost as if our paths,you know like, had gone
together up until that moment inthe summer of 2014.
And then we both went ourseparate ways.
I think he's still coaching.
He's coaching the women's chessin UAE, if I'm not mistaken.

Daniel (22:10):
Oh yeah, that's what I was going to ask where he went
to.

Thalia (22:12):
Yeah, very, very peculiar path, but, funny enough
, we we coincided in an airportin 2019.
It was, it was wild.
I just saw him in the in thegate and I was like wow, is that
you?
And he was like yeah, and wetook a picture.
We caught up a little bit and Ithink it's really important to

(22:32):
always, you know, still thankand appreciate the coaches or
the people that have helped youin the past, and for me,
something that I always tried todo was take the best out of
every coach that I had, and withWalter in particular, I have a
lot of great memories and a lotof affection, and I think he
definitely took my chess to thenext level.

(22:56):
I feel like before I enjoyedchess.
It was what I liked to do whenI was a kid and then, with him,
it almost became something thatI was very passionate about and
I considered in my career.
So, yeah, he was a wonderfulinfluence and it's a part of my
life in Cuba that I will alwaysremember.

Daniel (23:16):
Yeah, that's amazing.
I love that story.
That's an incredible story.
Just going kind of a little bitback towards the beginning
there did anyone in yourhousehold play chess?

Thalia (23:26):
No, funny enough, nobody played chess in my house.
I just happened to learn it atschool, and the thing is that I
lived in Cuba, in this apartmentcomplex apartment building.
So even if my family didn'tknow how to play chess, I could
always go to the lobby or thepark behind the building and

(23:47):
there would be a bunch of peopleplaying chess.
So chess was still around, evenif it wasn't specifically
inside the home.
But even after I I showed thisinterest in chess, my sister
started playing, my mother dideverything she could to support
me with chess, and basicallyeverybody that I had around me

(24:11):
was very, very supportive anddid their best to not only
understand what I was doing butalso try to take me to the next
steps try to take me to the nextsteps.

Daniel (24:23):
That's fantastic.
That's great.
The other thing I wanted tomention about your story is the
chess culture in Cuba, whichsounds pretty robust the way you
described it, which isfantastic.
I think I had one other guestwho was from Cuba so far, but
that's it, and I don't know ifwe got too much into what the
chess culture was like there,but it is fascinating to know
what you said, which is that alot of that stems from

(24:44):
Capablanca, which we're talkingabout about 100 years ago now at
this point, and his influenceis still felt there at this
point, with chess culture.
Huh.

Thalia (24:52):
Yes.
So, especially in Havana, it'sstill a very big part of our
culture.
Basically, if you ask anybodyin Cuba whether they're a chess
player or not, I think they willknow who Capablanca is.
So if you mention chess,they'll be like oh Capablanca,
you know, and that's the chessplayer that they're going to
reference.
So in Havana in particular,there's this institute for

(25:14):
children that I mentioned it'sLatin American Institute for
Chess Excellence, which isbasically where you are almost
raised up as a chess player intothis culture.
At the same time, there's a lotof chess hustlers, a lot of
casual players.
Like I said, in the parks, instreets, in parking lots, in the
lobbies of buildings, literallyanywhere you're able to find

(25:38):
chess.
People just love the game, andit's something that is really,
really embedded into the Cubanculture.
Additionally, there is theCapablanca Chess Club in Havana.
I am not sure if it's stillrunning or not because, well,
there are a bunch of differentissues.
I think there were somefinancial issues with keeping

(26:02):
the club running.
Maybe the space was used forsomething else a few years back,
but it's the club where a worldchampionship match was played.
I believe it was Alaska orCapablanca, and Capablanca
managed to win, and it happenedin Havana.
They have this table with thechess set that they played.

(26:24):
At the chairs they had aportrait of Capablanca and it
was in the heart of Havanabasically, so anybody could walk
around, appreciate the cultureand the history that chess has
in Cuba and I am not thereanymore, but I hope it's
something that still goes on tothis day and if I can help at

(26:48):
some point in the future I mean,I guess I am already helping I
try to promote chess as much asI can with my Cuban heritage and
I try to talk about it, but Ihope that it's something that I
can dedicate some of my time inthe future as well, because I
feel like throughout Cuba andLatin America in general, there
is a lot of talent, a lot ofculture that doesn't get to see

(27:10):
the light of day Oftentimes wehave great players.
We have great players likeLenier Dominguez, lazaro Brisson
, uniesky and Yasser Quesada,who are like grandmasters 26,
2700 level and it's not justthem, but also like the kids
that are coming up in Cuba.
So I hope that the culturekeeps rising for sure.

Daniel (27:33):
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, that's a beautifulthing that you're doing, you
know, trying to promote Cubanculture, and you know those who
have, you know, accomplished alot in chess in Cuba, with
Capablanca being such a stronginfluence on chess there.
Like you said, there's like abig I don't know if it was a
painting or a poster that yousaid that was up on the wall at

(27:54):
the club.
Would you say he was one ofyour top chess role models or
chess influences growing up, ordid you have others that you
looked to?

Thalia (28:00):
Capablanca.
For sure he was one of them.
But since the moment that I gotinto chess and I heard about
his story, my favorite chessplayer has always been Bobby
Fischer.
There's no question, no doubtabout that.
I think he was in my teenageyears, or even when I was a kid,
like.
He was my home screen on myphone for, like you know, five,

(28:21):
six, seven years and peoplewould always ask me, oh, like,
is that your grandfather orsomething?
And I'm like no, that's just achess player I like.
So, for sure, bobby Fischer ismy biggest influence, I would
say.
Also, since I started tounderstand my chess style more,
I realized that I really likedBoris Spassky as well, and this

(28:44):
is something interesting,because I almost never hear
people talk about Spassky, but Ifeel like he was just so
wonderful.
He not only promoted a lot thisuniversal chess style that he
was known for, where you canplay aggressive chess in certain
positions.
You can play more technical inother positions.
But in general, when you hearabout him interviews or written

(29:06):
stories, a lot of theinformation that I got from him,
admittedly, was from my greatpredecessors, by Garry Kasparov.
A lot of what you hear about himis just so incredible and he
just sounds like a great guy,like a true gentleman.
So not amazing just on thechessboard but also outside of
it.
So he's another player that Ireally enjoy watching his games

(29:30):
and learning more about his life.
Here in St Louis for a littlewhile we had this exhibition at
the World Chess Hall of Fameabout the 1972 match and they
provided a lot of memorabilia,especially from spassky, and it
was just so wonderful to towatch and even to this day I'll
I'll say that spassky is anotherplayer that I really love and I

(29:53):
get weird looks from time totime, but learning about him
it's, it's amazing yeah, no, I.

Daniel (29:59):
I love when, when people have as amongst their favorite
players people who are not asoften talked about, so that's
refreshing.
Going back to Bobby Fischer,first of all, you're in good
company, because he's myfavorite player and he's been my
biggest influence.
So I a big reason that I becameaware of him and what he had

(30:22):
accomplished.
But I know you're a bit laterin time than me as to when you
were growing up and experiencingchess.
So how did Bobby Fischer becomeone of your favorites, given
that it had been some decadessince his height of fame?

Thalia (30:35):
at that point, yes, well , I will say I have watched the
movie, even if I was born a fewyears later, so I get it.
But I think it's veryinteresting actually because, as
I said, I grew up in Cuba.
It's a very small country, notas many resources, especially
comparing to the United Statesright, and a lot of the chess

(31:01):
books that I had were from theSoviet times, so like 1960s,
1970s actually.
Through them I learned aboutthe old style of chess notation,
not just the one that I havetoday and that we have today,
and that's why a lot of timesreading these older books
becomes very easy for me,because it's that notation of
like pawn king four, somethinglike that right, or pawn four
something like that right, rightor pawn four king, I guess.

(31:24):
But yeah, so in a lot of theseolder books you read, you learn
a lot about, like, the sovietchess.
There are a lot of storiesabout soviet chess and then all
of a sudden there is like thisone american guy that is
disrupting all of the dominationthat the Soviets have and I
just thought that was veryimpressive, just being so

(31:49):
revolutionary to the world ofchess, like completely taking it
by storm.
The impact that he had wasincredible and obviously the
games itself, the sacrificesthat he made, the brilliances
that he had, were just likebreathtaking to me.
And especially, I feel like,especially when you're a, when
you're a child or when you'regetting started into chess, you

(32:12):
love that romantic chess styleof like attacking, sacrificing,
going for the win, defensestrategy doesn't matter.
So a lot of his sacrificesreally spoke to me and I thought
it was just so, so incredible.
It was something that I hadnever seen before and it sticks
to me to this day.

Daniel (32:33):
Yeah, yeah, that's fantastic hearing all your
reasons for that.
So I just want to talk a littlebit about your time in St Louis
.
For those who don't know, youmoved to the US in 2014.
I guess that'd be my firstquestion Did you move directly
to St Louis when you moved tothe US?

Thalia (32:50):
Yes, because I was invited to a tournament here in
St Louis.
It was a tournament from theSusan Pogger Foundation.
It was this girls' invitationalevent and my family came to the
United States.
We came to St Louis for thisparticular tournament and,
honestly, we didn't know thatthere was such a chess scene

(33:14):
here in St Louis and we didn'treally know about the St Louis
Chess Club, the World Chess Hallof Fame, and as soon as we got
to the city and we saw all ofthe support that chess had, we
just realized that this was theplace to be and I have to be
very thankful to my mother onceagain.
My family, because theysupported me even though we had

(33:35):
just moved to the United States,started a new life and you know
, being able to stay in St Louisand being able to call it home
Tuesdays is an honor yeah,that's, that's fantastic, you
know.

Daniel (33:49):
So you've been there for , I guess, a little over a
decade now.
Yeah, how do you feel like it'shelped you as a player?
I imagine it makes a differencebeing in a city like that
versus just some random city inthe United States that doesn't
have a strong chess culture, butI'm curious in what ways you
feel it's helped you.

Thalia (34:06):
Yes, it's just really fascinating, even the atmosphere
that is around the chess clubhere it's the Central West End
area we call it, and the chessatmosphere that you can pick up
in the Central West End.
It's just incredible.
And something that I want tomention is that even back then
in 2014, when my family had justgotten to the United States, it

(34:27):
was only my mother and I herein St Louis.
The rest of my family wascoming later.
We stopped by the St LouisChess Club and my mom was asking
about memberships and how doyou get in, how do you attend
classes, how do you play withother people?
Because we had no idea abouthow anything worked.
I didn't speak English at thetime.
My mom had like high schoolknowledge of English and

(34:51):
immediately one of the employeesat the chess club offered to
pay for my annual membership sothat I could play chess,
especially because they didn'thave that many girls young girls
that were interested in playing.
So that was just a very, verykind gesture.
I remember it to this day andbasically ever since, the chess

(35:12):
club has been like a home to me,because not only have I been
able to study and learn andimprove my chess there, but also
I have played a lot oftournaments, from like Friday
rapid events to the USChampionship, as we were saying,
and not only yes.

(35:32):
So not only is it a place whereI have been able to learn,
where I have been able to showmy skills, but it's also been
the place where I work.
Since 2019, officially I havebeen working for the St Louis
Chess Club.
I've done a little bit ofeverything as an instructor, I
give group lectures, I have donestreams with the Chess Club, I
teach summer camps, so it hasbeen able to basically grow me

(35:57):
as a person and as a chessplayer, and without the support
that I have had throughout theyears, I don't think I'll be
able to be here.
You wouldn't be acknowledgingany of my accomplishments,
because there wouldn't be any.
So the chess club plays a hugepart in that, and I hope that
I'm able to stay in St Louis formany more years and that the

(36:19):
club still is able to to supporta lot of up-and-coming players,
as well as the the top ones inthe country yeah, well, I'm so
excited for you that you hadthat opportunity to to be in st
louis.

Daniel (36:32):
You know, have have full access to to the club there and
you know, just everything elsethat brings with it.
That's, that's really great.
Yes, in fact, I'm a littleenvious.
I'd love to live in a city likethat that has such robust chess
culture.
It sounds amazing.
So, yeah, I'd like to talkabout your chessable course that
you just published Just lastmonth, at the time that we're
recording this just a month ago.
The course is called Buildingthe Attacking Initiative, which

(36:58):
I mean.
That's music to my ears, I lovea course on that subject.
So can you share how this coursecame to be in terms of the
topic?

Thalia (37:09):
Yes.
So first of all, I wasapproached by Chessable and we
were trying to come up withideas for this course, and one
great thing is that they hadalready taken a look into a lot
of the material that I hadtaught with the St Louis Chess
Club, and naturally I feel likeI always tend to gravitate
towards these topics of middlegame, but also combined with

(37:30):
chess understanding and thepsychology of being a chess
player, and we somehow arrivedto this topic of chess intuition
and what it is, because a lotof times you just assume that
you're going to know what to do,right, and then the moment
arrives, you're at thechessboard, your clock is
ticking down, you have no ideawhat to do and you're just like

(37:53):
tanking there thinking aboutwhat decision to make.
So I was trying to make acourse that could help players
trust more in their intuition,build it up to a level where
they're comfortable followingwhat it says, and it's very
interesting because it'ssomething that is difficult to
put into words.
A lot of times you just get ahint of something and you want

(38:17):
to make the move, and thenthat's it there's no explanation
behind it.
You want to make the move andthen that's it.
There's no explanation behindit, but I try to talk about the
methodology of you know,building this intuition,
trusting in your instincts andhow it can carry you through
your chess career, and I try toprovide examples not just from

(38:38):
really great chess players andworld champions who clearly have
a strong chess intuition, butalso normal people like me.
So I try to show a little bit ofeverything, and I think my main
goal is to appeal to those whohave never read or heard about

(38:59):
this concept before, because Iremember that when I was a kid
again, very ambitious, but very,very young as well I would talk
to my chess coaches andsometimes I would ask questions
like so how do I win a game,after I already realized that I
have an advantage, because thatseems kind of difficult to me.
Or, like you know, I got to thisposition and it looked really

(39:20):
good, but I didn't know whichroute to take.
And my coaches would always saythings like, oh, you all just
learned that with time.
Or like, oh, I just got alittle bit more experience.
Or like, oh, I can't teach youthat right now because it's too
complicated, and I wanted toknow.
I'm very curious, I wanted toknow and I feel like that could
be the case for many others.
So I want to make sure that,looking back at the little girl

(39:46):
that I was, and I want to tryand be the person that wasn't
there for me at the time, and Iwant to be that for the people
that are learning chess now.
So I hope that yeah, I hopethat I'm able to transfer that
message with my course.

Daniel (40:02):
Yeah, well, that's a great story and great reasons
for it.
I didn't know it was going tobe that awesome of an
explanation.
I just thought you were, likeI've always liked attacking, but
this is so much cooler thanthat.
Even so, yeah, something youmentioned really caught my
attention, which is that youknow, he said like you included
yourself in Normal People, whichis well.

(40:26):
First of all, that'sinteresting to me because you're
so talented to me, but I knowwhat you're saying.

Thalia (40:28):
I know you're kind of like putting yourself in a
particular category.

Daniel (40:30):
It brings up a really great point, though, because
when we're talking about like achess intuition, whether it's
for attacking or anything elsejust speaking as a club player
and I imagine many others feelthis way I mean, I'm only about
1600.
I don't feel like I have anintuition for anything yet I
feel like I'm still just tryingto get a handle on basics in a
way, but that's interesting tome.

(40:50):
So you feel like even people whoare, like, say, in the range of
1600 to 2000, can still developan intuition, though yeah, for
sure.

Thalia (40:59):
It's just something that is there.
You just kind of have to almostactivate it or like listen to
it, and it is true that there'sa lot of experience that is
important to develop thisintuition.
But a lot of times you canalmost train it and try to
realize the moments where thisintuition is showing off Because

(41:21):
, for example, if you play likea bullet game or something, most
of the moves that you're makingare from your intuition and,
like in a split second, you'resaying, oh, this move is good,
this move is bad, and you'reable to make decisions.
So I believe yeah, I believethat it's very important to take
a few different things intoconsideration, but something
that I really like, also aboutthe course and the way that I

(41:46):
structured it, is that the firstchapter is pattern recognition,
which is something that we talka lot about, a lot in chess,
and being able to recognize thepatterns that you're going to be
seeing for a long time in chessreally helps create almost like
that mental catalog or like aportfolio of different positions

(42:09):
, different ideas, but they areall combined through one
specific detail, right.
So being able to recognize allof those patterns and
familiarizing yourself with them, with the ideas, positions
where they work, positions wherethey don't.
What happens if they do this?
What happens if they do that?
It's really important becauseit kind of sets the foundation

(42:32):
for everything else that comesafter.
So I think, regardless of thelevel, it's really, really
important to be able torecognize these patterns.
And going back to this of likeme as a chess player compared to
others, I I tried to putexamples in the course, not just

(42:52):
from me right now as a womangrandmaster, like a title player
.
I tried to put examples from afew years back, even when I
didn't have these titles or Ididn't play in these tournaments
.
So even you know, even in myown games because I, I have it,
I have a data somehow I havebeen able to keep my, my
database of chess games from allthe way back to 2011.
So even sometimes, when I'mbored and I go through through

(43:16):
my games, I'm like, wow, Ilearned something at this
specific time and then I learnedsomething at that specific time
.
So, being able to like, noticethose differences and those
patterns and being able to putthem in the course also, I hope
that the people who study thecourse are able to also see that

(43:39):
growth in themselves.

Daniel (43:41):
Yeah, yeah, that's fantastic.
So you mentioned that the firstchapter is on pattern
recognition Fantastic, so youmentioned that.
You know the first chapter ison pattern recognition and I
know, when it comes to attacking, there's going to be a lot of
tactics there and we're allfamiliar, I think, with you,
know meaning all, as in clubplayers are all familiar with
the idea of tactical patternrecognition.
But I'm assuming that whatyou're talking about goes even

(44:02):
beyond just recognizing a simpleor basic tactic, right, like
you're talking about thepositions that can lead to a
great attack, right?

Thalia (44:09):
Yeah, so the first chapter is about pattern
recognition and it's not justbeing able to understand.
Oh, this is like checkmatepattern, so learn it and
memorize it.
It's a little bit more than thatand it provides a few different
positions where sacrificehappens, but they're all still

(44:30):
connected one way or another andsomething that I don't know if
I should spoil the course or notMaybe I shouldn't, but
something that I'm very proudthroughout the entire course is
that I'm always able to callback to an earlier moment or to
a different position that wehave already talked about that
has a similar idea, and overallin the course, my goal is to

(44:54):
create the sense of familiarity,right, like you have seen this
before, same way that in yourgames you have been able to see
certain ideas before, rightbefore right.
So, especially with chapter oneand chapter two chapter one
being able to recognize patternsof a sacrifice idea.
Chapter two shows you a lot ofthose examples because it has

(45:18):
games from different worldchampions and many different
styles of sacrifices.
So the goal is that you're ableto almost tell after reading
chapter one, that you're almostable to tell like, oh, there's
something coming up in thisposition.
This is like a critical moment.
I'm hoping that you're able torecognize that crucial moments

(45:40):
in the game and that you startgetting the hints of you know
what moves you should go for,because it's a dynamic position.
You should do something dynamicand from then on you can think
about candidate moves and thingslike that.
So it's almost like setting upthe base for the rest of the
course.

Daniel (45:58):
I see, I see, and I just want to clarify, because I
think this will be helpful forpeople listening and from
understanding your course, youknow you even have a chapter
called intuition versus concreteplay.
Yes, my understanding is thatintuition would just be
something automatic, like Idon't think.
My impression is that youwouldn't choose to say let me,
let me ask my intuition yes, butit's just things just stand out

(46:21):
to you through intuition.
Is that right?

Thalia (46:22):
yes yes, okay there are going to be moves that just
stand out to you in a position Icould show you like a random,
random game and like a move,will most likely jump up to to
your mind, and that's the firstthing that you're thinking about
.
So that's your intuition, andthat's why we always talk about
being able to train it, and overtime it becomes more and more

(46:45):
accurate and when it comes toconcrete play, it requires a lot
of very specific calculationwhere either the line, the line,
either works or it doesn't,like there is no in between, and
you're basically making all ofyour decisions with proof, with
proof, and this proof is usuallycalculation.

(47:06):
And and something that I callback in the course a lot of
times is that calculation andintuition go hand in hand.
Why?
Because you need the intuitionto guide you in those moments
where you can't calculate,because you can't calculate
forever, you're going to run outof energy, you're going to run
out of time.
It's not very practical, right?
So, keeping that balancebetween accuracy and

(47:28):
practicality and for that youneed your intuition to guide you
in certain moments provide anevaluation for the position that
you're thinking about, and youneed the calculation just to
verify that everything iscorrect.
So, looking at examples in thissecond chapter, where we have
players that are very intuitive,they love making the sacrifices

(47:52):
, you know, just based on theirunderstanding of the game, which
is incredible because they'reworld champions.
So you have people like Tal,who love doing the sacrifices
Maybe he hasn't seen the end ofthe variation, but he trusts
that it's going to work.
And then you have people likeCasparo, for example, who has a

(48:13):
bunch of incredible games wherehe's able to calculate
everything out.
He's just a machine, basically,and he's able to calculate this
very deep variations andbasically it's almost showing
you what's out there.
And if a type of sacrifice or atype of play or even one
specific player you know becomesmemorable to you and to your

(48:38):
style, it can work as a guide aswell if you, if you want to if
you want to keep learning aboutthem in the future or that
specific type of sacrificialstyle.
So it's almost trying tobasically, yeah, just show you
what's out there and try to seeif you can familiarize yourself

(48:59):
with one of the different typesof sacrifices.

Daniel (49:02):
I see.
So, yeah, a couple of thingsabout that.
First, I like the idea slashrecommendation that you just had
to find a player who'sattacking style that you like or
just a player you like andmaybe look at their games where
they go on the attack and win.
I don't think I've heard thatbefore.
That can just be a great way tojust develop attacking
intuition.
That's new to me.

(49:24):
I like that.
I like that a lot.
And then also the games thatyou selected for your course.
Did you choose them, at leastin part, because they represent
common attacking patterns?

Thalia (49:37):
Yes, I tried to choose games that, first of all, you
know have some sort offamiliarity already with players
.
I chose games from worldchampions.
Most likely, if somebody isstudying the course, they
already know about previousworld champions or maybe they
have seen some of these famousgames.
But at the same time I don'tknow exactly how it happened,

(50:01):
but when we got to the topic ofbuilding attacking intuition,
okay, what does that mean?
I already had like a fewdifferent games or positions in
mind that I knew I wanted toshowcase, and I think that
connected with the fact that, asmentioned, I have been working

(50:23):
as a chess instructor since 2019.
As a chess instructor since2019.
I already had a bunch ofmaterial in mind that I have
been almost wanting to get outthere for a while, and this
course kind of brought thatperfect opportunity.
And then, as I was trying topiece the chapters and outline
my ideas, I realized, wow, somuch of this connects and I

(50:45):
think that's good.
I think that's a good sign thatthe course makes sense.
So even now, even afterreleasing the course, I'm
looking at some positions fromgames that I have had.
I'm looking at some positionsfrom games in top tournaments
that I'm seeing every day gamesfrom friends that they sent to

(51:07):
me and they're like oh, I playedthis game, I had this cool
sacrifice.
I start to like see a lot ofresemblance in, or, you know,
like a common idea in, a lot ofthese games and it's just very
interesting how that works.
Again, calling it back topattern recognition and all that
, I already have a few ideas.
I don't know if I'm doinganother course in the future,

(51:29):
but I already have ideas in mindand it's just yeah, I think
it's just something that is sopractical for everybody,
regardless of your level, to beable to look at a lot of these
examples and try to not justlearn them and learn the most,

(51:50):
but to also implement them inyour games afterwards.

Daniel (51:55):
Yeah, when I think of you know like a course on
building attacking intuition oranything on attacking, I'm going
to like knock this conventionalwisdom down maybe a little bit
so to support doing your course.
What I typically often hear isyou know, like at club players,
work on tactics.
You know maybe a little bit onstrategy, a little bit on
openings, a little bit on endgames, things like that, and

(52:17):
it's rarely advocated to developyour attacking skills as like a
bucket of something to work onregularly.
But I kind of wish it was Onebecause I just think, like you
said, I think it's probably amajority of chess players who
enjoy you know that attackingprocess and learning how to
become better attackers.
But also I wonder if maybe it'sa little undervalued because it
seems like there's a lot ofinstances where you're going to

(52:39):
have to, you know, look fortactics.
You know a lot of calculation,which are the things that we
should be working on tactics andcalculation.
So it's just not reallypresented as such like, oh, do
that through studying how toattack.
But yeah, I'm just wondering ifyou would make the case for
that for club players assomething to at least
semi-regularly work on?

Thalia (52:58):
Yes, for sure, and, as mentioned, it's something that
is difficult to put into wordsor something that people think
it just comes naturally.
When I was younger, people werejust telling me that I'll
understand what intuition iswith more experience in the
future, and part of that is true.
One of the big tips that Iprovide in the course is going

(53:18):
back and analyzing your owngames, but with a very specific
focus into the critical moments,and try to remember how you
made the decision in the game.
Were you influenced by theamount of time that you had in
the clock?
Were you influenced because ofsome external elements?
Did you choose a specificvariation because you were

(53:39):
scared of another?
You know, try to like reallyunderstand what was going on
during the game and try to learnfrom it in a deeper way.
So those general tips I thinkare fantastic, especially for
club players.
As mentioned, intuition andcalculation go hand in hand.
So working on tactics is very,very crucial, and not just that.

(54:03):
Like beyond tactics iscalculation, which is a little
bit less obvious, I guess,because for tactics it's usually
like forcing, moves, checks,captures and threats, but
calculation almost goes a stepbeyond that, and even at the
high level, it's not easy tomake decisions at the board,

(54:24):
right.
So you just want to make surethat you have all of your
equipment almost ready for whenthat specific moment comes.
You can think of your intuition, as you know, like a tool or
part of your equipment for whenyou're playing chess.
So I just want to make surethat with the course, players
are able to sharpen that andutilize it in games better.

Daniel (54:47):
You also hinted at the possibility of doing a second
course, and this kind of bringsus into the territory where I'd
like to finish our discussion,which is future stuff for you.
Now, I know you just finished awhole course, so you probably
want a little breather, a littlebit, a little bit, but that
said, it would be exciting to domore, of course, for you and
for the people interested inyour work.
Where are you right now with it?

(55:08):
Do you think it would be like avolume two of this or something
else?

Thalia (55:11):
I would love to do another course Also, because a
lot of I have a bunch of friendswho purchased the course or
they're telling me about it andthen they're telling me about
how they try to implement theseideas for their games.
And I'm looking at their gamesand I'm like, wow, this could
make like wonderful examples foranother course, if it happens

(55:34):
in the future.
As of right now, I don't haveany specific plan, but one
exciting thing is that thiscourse that I have building your
attacking intuition it's I'mworking on making a Spanish
translation.
So, yes, it's going to be thesame course, the same ideas,
just I need to record theSpanish version.

(55:57):
And I feel like this is such awonderful opportunity because,
once again, I'm just able toconnect more with the Hispanic
side of chess, with my roots, mychess culture, and many friends
and family that have been ableto see me grow to.
The player that I am today willbe able to look at this course
and understand what I'm sayingand what I'm trying to explain.

(56:20):
Maybe a lot of my old coachesare going to hear me speak and
they're going to say, wow.
Like you know, this issomething that I used to say,
because a lot of the knowledgethat I have comes from other
incredible players.
So that's just a wonderfulopportunity again being able to,
you know, embrace my culture ina new way.
So I'm really looking forwardto translating the course, but

(56:43):
that's kind of the only planthat I have for right now.

Daniel (56:46):
Continuing our discussion of, like what you're
working on for the future.
You're also working to earn theIM title.

Thalia (56:52):
Yes.

Daniel (56:53):
Yeah, can you just describe what goes into that
goal for you right now?

Thalia (56:58):
Yes.
So obviously it's not an easytask fighting for this IM title.
For the most part in the lastfew years, I've been trying to
find balance, as I wasmentioning at the beginning of
the interview, because I canhave tournaments where I have an
outstanding performance andthen I can also have tournaments
where it looks like I don'tknow how to play chess.

(57:19):
So for the past few years, I'vebeen trying to find this
balance and kind of like thisdeeper understanding of how I am
doing, how I am performing atthis specific moment, and try to
find consistency in the waythat I have been able to improve
my rating and my understandingof chess through the years.
I got my first and onlyInternational Master Norm back

(57:44):
in 2021.
I played this tournament, thisnorm tournament, in Mexico City,
and it was a wonderfulopportunity.
I was honestly a little bitsurprised with making that I am
norm because I had neverachieved something like that
before.
So it was very, very surprising.
And over the years I have beenclose, I haven't gotten another

(58:07):
norm, but I've had some reallygreat performance in tournaments
.
But at the same time, it'sreally rigorous because you have
two options Either you make anorm at an international open
event where you know there areplayers from all over the world.
There are some very, very strongplayers and in general, when I

(58:31):
go into a tournament, I preferbeing the underdog, kind of, for
having a lot of players to playagainst that are much higher
rated.
I just find it more fun, which,you know.
It's nice, but at the same timeit's very difficult, right?
And then, on the other hand,you have closed norm events,
which require a lot ofpreparation beforehand because,

(58:52):
you know, since it's only asmall group of players, you need
to really do a lot of work withopenings and see if something
works specifically against acertain opponent, and it's just
a very rigorous journey.
But at the same time, I'm veryhappy that I have been able to
like achieve some of these goalsthat that I'm mentioning and

(59:13):
I'm still in my in my pursuitfor for the I am title.
I don't know if I'll be happyand with myself and like done
with, done with with myambitions after that.
Probably not, but yeah for sureit's something that I'm looking
forward to every year, tryingto get closer to the IEM title.

Daniel (59:34):
Is that what most of your coaching is focused on,
like I mean the coaching thatyou receive, rather working
towards things that will helpyou bridge that gap to get the
IEM title.

Thalia (59:42):
Yes, I think for the most part, though, the coaching
that I'm receiving focuses onthe specific tournament that I
have ahead of me that moment intime, but as a whole, it really
does a lot for my pursuit forthe IM title, and every year

(01:00:07):
there are just new things thatI'm trying to improve, new
things that I'm trying toperfect with my chess, so it all
really adds up to improving mygame as a whole.
For example, last year I think Iended 2023 with like decent
yeah, all of 2023, I had likedecent, decent performances, and

(01:00:28):
then the last two tournamentsof the year dropped my rating
quite a lot.
So I started 2024 with 2184FIDE and I finished 2024 with
2318.
I want to say so it's alsoabout finding that balance,
because it's not good to, in myopinion I don't know, I don't

(01:00:50):
enjoy it when I have like reallygreat performances but also
really bad performances.
So it's about finding thatbalance.
I'm happy with how my 2024 wentbecause of that and it was just
consistent growth, and I haveto thank my coaches a lot for
that, because they are able toput up with me.

(01:01:11):
Basically, so, yeah, ittime jobat the St Louis Chess Club, my
undergrad studies at St Louis.
University, these tournamentsthat can either be in St Louis

(01:01:34):
or on the other side of theworld, my family, everything.

Daniel (01:01:37):
So it's all about trying to find that balance, for me
yeah, absolutely Well, and thatalso serves as a great segue to
my last question for you aboutall of this.
You're doing a bachelor'sprogram in your last year of it,
yes.
So two questions for you onthat.
One is just so people knowwhat's your degree in.
And then, how do you see chessfitting into your life after you

(01:02:00):
graduate?

Thalia (01:02:01):
Yeah, so I am in the St Louis University Scheifert
School of Business and I'm doinga career in sports business and
I'm hoping that in the future Ican use all of my knowledge and
leadership management to bringthem into chess one way or
another.
I already have, as mentioned,like a few different projects

(01:02:24):
with chess part-time jobs orworking on courses or giving
lectures and things like thatbut maybe in some future I can
have my own organization or Ican be part of a different
organization, and if one day Ifinally have the peace and quiet
to do this, I would love tohave some sort of organization

(01:02:47):
that promotes chess throughoutLatin America and especially
Cuba.
I feel like chess isunderappreciated in these
countries and a lot of times thevery talented players are not
able to get the resources thatthey need to continue with their
chess career.
So if I'm able to spread thebeauty of chess through Latin

(01:03:09):
America, I think it would bewonderful and, at least to me,
it would be super, supermeaningful.
So I think that having a degreein sports business and having
also that general understandingof business as a whole and all
of the skills that it provides,it's just something that can
help me out in life, for for abunch of, in a bunch of

(01:03:31):
different fields.
So I'm hoping that I can havemy own yeah, my own
organizations in the future ormy own projects involving
revolving around chess, but alsofor life in general.
I think it's important,important to have a lot of these
skills.

Daniel (01:03:52):
Yeah, that's all great work and stuff that you have
planned for the future.
I love it.
I love hearing all that you'replanning to do in the coming
years for yourself.
It's all very exciting and,yeah, I'll definitely enjoy
watching your career unfold,talia, everything you've done so
far is already inspiring, soI'm sure it'll continue to be.
That's like the main part of ofour interview, and then, with
my guests, I always close with aseries of fun, faster, rapid

(01:04:13):
questions just to finish ourdiscussion.
My first question for you inthis segment yes, knights or
bishops?
oh, bishops nice, what's yourfavorite time control?

Thalia (01:04:26):
I prefer longer time controls.
Actually, I played in BO inJuly of last year and the time
control was two hours for 40moves, then an extra 15 minutes,
then an extra 15 minutes, amove 60.
And that was insane.

(01:04:46):
My longest game was eight hours, but it was so much fun.
I love that.
So I think that's my favoritetime control that you haven't
heard that one before.

Daniel (01:04:57):
No wait, was there an increment in that somewhere?

Thalia (01:04:59):
Yes, like 30 second increment from move one.

Daniel (01:05:01):
Okay, yeah, okay, very important yeah, but yeah long
time control.
Yeah, eight hours is probably,as an average, a little longer
than my preference, but I dolove the classical games.
What's your favorite opening toplay as white?

Thalia (01:05:16):
Oh, I think it's the four pawns against the king's
Indian.
I just think it's so fun.

Daniel (01:05:21):
What's your favorite opening to play as black?

Thalia (01:05:23):
The Neidorf Any line.
Basically, I just love theNeidorf.

Daniel (01:05:27):
Nice.
In one word, how would youdescribe your playing style?

Thalia (01:05:32):
Universal.
I guess I just try to followwhat's going on with the
position, try to go with theflow.
Yes, Maybe that's why I likeSpassky so much too.

Daniel (01:05:44):
What's one book you wish more chess players would read?

Thalia (01:05:48):
one book that I think helped me a lot was think like a
super gm by michael adams, andyeah, I read it last year.

Daniel (01:05:56):
I think it was amazing, so highly recommend we already
addressed this, but I will askit anyway, because it's part of
the segment.
Who is your favorite player ofall time?

Thalia (01:06:05):
bo Bobby Fischer for sure.

Daniel (01:06:08):
If you could play any great player of the past who is
no longer alive, who would it be?

Thalia (01:06:14):
Okay, so Bobby Fischer is like up there, but I think it
would be more meaningful toplay Capablanca, just because,
again, you know Cuban legend andI just, I don't know.
I would love to have aconversation with him if
possible.
Well, it's not possible, but Imean, I would love that it's
given the chance.

Daniel (01:06:35):
It's given the chance.
Yeah, If you could play any ofthe top players in the world
right now, who would it be?

Thalia (01:06:40):
It would be Magnus Carlsen.

Daniel (01:06:42):
And then my final question for you if a chess
genie existed and could grantyou one chess wish what would
you wish for?

Thalia (01:06:50):
I'm always so, so cautious with this genie
questions, because what if?
What if I use the wrong wordingand it punishes me for being
greedy or something?
So this genie?

Daniel (01:07:02):
questions.

Thalia (01:07:03):
It's a benevolent chess genie, I would say I don't know.
It's difficult because you knowyou have two sides.
You can just ask for a title,or you can ask for something a
little bit more vague.
Let's see.

Daniel (01:07:23):
Can I give you a little insight here?
Yeah, Can I give you a littleinsight here?
Yeah, so, because I try to makethe questions brief but at the
same time it doesn't have to belike granting you skill it could
be anything in chess.

Thalia (01:07:37):
I see, I think you know what I would want a genie to
grant me this wish of playingsomebody who, who is no longer
alive, like.
If I could, I I would make thegenie, make me play against
capablanca, if possible.

Daniel (01:07:55):
Nice, I love that, that's the first time I've had a
guest loop it back to aprevious answer.
That's great, I love it perfectanswer well, talia, it was
fantastic talking with you.
I really, really, reallyenjoyed it.
You're doing such great thingsin chess.
I mean, yeah, from justyourself as a player to you know
now, putting out courses andwanting to spread chess to other

(01:08:16):
areas of the world that maybedon't receive it as much as we'd
like to see.
All of that just absolutelyfantastic, and I'm so excited
for everything that you'll do inthe future.
I'm confident that I Am.
Title is just a matter of timefor you, thank you.
And yeah, and it was just anhonor, a real honor, to have you
on the show.
Thank you.

Thalia (01:08:33):
Yes, thank you so much for having me here today.

Daniel (01:08:38):
Thanks for listening.
This has been a production ofmy business, adult Chess Academy
, and that has a website withthe same name.
If you want to look for it, youcan also find me being way too
active on twitter by searchingmy username, lona underscore
chess see you next week.