New In Chess Podcast

This week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast features a narration from "The Essential Sosonko", a collection of chess portraits based on personal stories authored by chess grandmaster Genna Sosonko. This episode is the first in a two-part story about late Soviet grandmaster Semyon Abramovich Furman (1920-1978). A late bloomer in chess, who became grandmaster at the age of 45(!), Furman graduall...

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features in interview with Indian grandmaster Viswanathan Anand. Commonly known as Vishy, Anand is one of the greatest and most popular world champions in the history of chess, as well as one of its most admired and respected ambassadors. Although no one could blame him if he decided to rest on his laurels, Vishy remains active as a player – and he i...

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with Indian chess star Tania Sachdev. Tania Sachdev is a two-time Indian Women’s Champion and she was a member of the Indian Women’s team that wrote history at the Budapest Olympiad last year, where they won the gold medals. Probably most chess fans will know her as one of the most popular online chess commentators in the world....

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with American chess player and businessman James Altucher.   James Altucher is an investor, a venture capitalist and a firm believer in AI and cryptocurrency. He’s also a bestselling author – you may know his book Choose Yourself – and he has a popular podcast with 50 thousand subscribers, The James Altucher Show. In his podcast...

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features a narration from “The Essential Sosonko”, a collection of chess portraits and stories authored by chess grandmaster Genna Sosonko. The subject of this week’s episode is Soviet chess player and coach Vladimir Zak. Vladimir Gregorievich Zak (1913-1994) was the head coach of the Leningrad Pioneers' Palace, a premier chess institution in the Sov...

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with Czech grandmaster David Navara. For more than 20 years, David Navara has been the leading chess player of the Czech Republic. Thirteen times he won the national championship. In 2015, he was ranked number 14 in the world, with a peak rating of 2751. I (Dirk Jan) spoke to David last week, in Prague, the city where he was bor...

This week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with Dutch grandmaster Jan Timman. A living chess legend, "The Best of the West" needs no introduction. As one of the world's leading players during the late Soviet era, Jan played and befriended a number of legendary players. Today's conversation centres specifically on two of his late colleagues, both of whom passed away recen...

This week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with American International Master Kostya Kavutskiy. Kostya is one of the three "senseis" (teachers) at the ChessDojo, an international chess training program that Kostya runs together with fellow Americans GM Jesse Kraai and IM David Pruess. As a player, he is currently embarking on a "European tour", which has included the rec...

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features a narration from “The Essential Sosonko”, a collection of chess portraits and stories authored by chess grandmaster Genna Sosonko. The subject of this week’s episode is Ukrainian grandmaster Efim Geller. Efim Petrovich Geller (1925-1998) was a two-time Soviet chess champion and a six-time Candidate for the World Chess Championship. During th...

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features a narration from “The Essential Sosonko”, a collection of chess portraits and stories authored by chess grandmaster Genna Sosonko. The subject of this week’s episode is Latvian grandmaster Mikhail Tal. This week's narration, which is the final part of a six-part series, examines the final phase of Tal's life. As his physical ailments mounted...

This week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with Dutch businessman and chess benefactor Bessel Kok. Bessel is one of the founders of SWIFT, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, which provides the main messaging network through which international payments are initiated. In the 1980's, Bessel organised the first SWIFT chess tournaments, which si...

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with Hungarian grandmaster Peter Leko. A world-class grandmaster and former prodigy, Peter now works as a coach and has achieved acclaim as one of the most popular online chess commentators. Peter Leko was extremely successful as a player. As a young kid of only 14 years, four months and 22 days, he became a grandmaster in 1994....

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features a narration from “The Essential Sosonko”, a collection of chess portraits and stories authored by chess grandmaster Genna Sosonko. The subject of this week’s episode is Latvian grandmaster Mikhail Tal. This week's narration, which is the fifth in a six-part series, chronicles the "second surge" of Tal's career, where he achieved over-the-boa...

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with Matthew Sadler, one of the most versatile chess lovers in the universe. In a lively conversation with Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam, the English grandmaster touches on a variety of subjects, spicing up his stories with fascinating observations, sound advice and not-to-be-missed reading tips. Matthew Sadler is a two-time British Ch...

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with Dutch grandmaster Loek van Wely. One of our return guests, Loek needs no introduction for our regular listeners. An eight-time Dutch national champion, Loek had his career peak in 2001, when he made it to the world top 10 with a rating of 2714. Besides his own achievements on the chess board, Loek is a successful coach, who...

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features the fourth part of a narration from “The Essential Sosonko”, a collection of chess portraits and stories authored by chess grandmaster Genna Sosonko. The subject of this week’s episode is Latvian grandmaster Mikhail Tal. With his fierce attacking style, “The Magician from Riga” dethroned reigning World Champion Botvinnik to claim the World C...

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with Dutch grandmaster Jorden van Foreest. On the eve of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee, Jorden talks to Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam about his preparation for ‘the Wimbledon of chess’ and his adventures in earlier editions of this world-class event. Most notably, the 2021 edition that Jorden sensationally won ahead o...

This week’s guest on the New In Chess Podcast is Jacob Aagaard. Jacob returns to the podcast after his last interview last year, in which he was interviewed about legendary Russian trainer Mark Dvoretsky, in his words ‘the biggest authority in my adult life’. This time host Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam invited him to talk about what 2025 will bring us (yes, Wijk aan Zee coming soon!) and to look back on...

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features the third part of a narration from “The Essential Sosonko”, a collection of chess portraits and stories authored by chess grandmaster Genna Sosonko. The subject of this week’s episode is Latvian grandmaster Mikhail Tal. With his fierce attacking style, “The Magician from Riga” dethroned reigning World Champion Botvinnik to claim the World Ch...

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with Peter Doggers. Peter is a chess journalist from The Netherlands and the director of News & Events for Chess.com. In his book, The Chess Revolution, Understanding the Power of an Ancient Game in the Digital Age, Peter writes about the historical and sociological importance of chess through the ages and, in the second part, a...

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features the second part of a narration from “The Essential Sosonko”, a collection of chess portraits and stories authored by chess grandmaster Genna Sosonko. The subject of this week’s episode is Latvian grandmaster Mikhail Tal. With his fierce attacking style, “The Magician from Riga” dethroned reigning World Champion Botvinnik to claim the World C...

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features a narration from “The Essential Sosonko”, a collection of chess portraits and stories authored by chess grandmaster Genna Sosonko. The subject of this week’s episode is Latvian grandmaster Mikhail Tal. With his fierce attacking style, “The Magician from Riga” dethroned reigning World Champion Botvinnik to claim the World Chess Championship i...

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with Russian grandmaster Daniil Dubov. Daniil, currently rated 2693, earned the grandmaster title in 2011, a few weeks before he turned 15. His biggest success to date was his win in the Rapid World Championship of 2018, ahead of Carlsen, Mamedyarov and Nakamura. Daniil is not only a perfect guest because of his perceptive views...

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features a narration from “The Essential Sosonko”, a collection of chess portraits based on personal stories authored by chess grandmaster Genna Sosonko. Subject of this week’s episode is Dutch grandmaster Max Euwe (1901-1981). This is the third part of Sosonko’s series on Euwe; Part 1 was covered in our October 19 episode, Part 2 on November 8. Mach...

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with Indian grandmaster Swayams Mishra. At the young age of 32, Swayams is already a decorated chess coach, having worked with the Indian national team for several years and coaching their women’s team to gold at this year’s Olympiad. His private coaching practice has also been successful: this year, his mentee Shreyas Royal bec...