The Chess Experience

032 Another chess journey update from your favorite podcast host! Every few months, I serve up a solo show that offers my latest insights and struggles, all from my hard-working path toward improvement. No matter your rating, you’ll find some snackable morsels of chess wisdom (even if it comes from my failures!) Highlights you can expect: Is King safety a chess problem or a psychological problem?...

031 Making chess simple for club players isn’t easy. But GM Alex Colovic has a special ability to do just that. It’s why his opening courses are known for simple, clear instruction...  How Alex is able to simplify opening theory is one of the key points we discuss in this episode. The other great topic we discuss is that Alex strived for years in his 30s to earn the GM title - a rare feat at that...

030 To some, chess is just a game. But it can also be a valuable tool for giving us powerful life lessons. And these lessons can teach us how to achieve our goals better. Or improve our career. Sometimes, though, those insights aren’t always obvious to us... So, we need a little help or awareness in uncovering them. That’s what today’s guest, FM Alisa Melekhina, explains in my conversation with he...

029  Eric Rosen is perhaps best known for off-beat openings and stalemate traps. But don’t underestimate his incredible coaching skills. In this interview, Eric offers powerful advice in answering questions from my Twitter followers on improving as adults. Before we get into the heart of sharpening your chess skills... The episode first covers Eric’s career as one of the world’s top chess streamer...

028 Bruce Pandolfini is arguably America’s greatest chess coach. His impact on growing the game throughout the world is immeasurable. Bruce is the author of dozens of superb chess books. All are great, and many are still must-reads for beginners and club players. He’s been the coach for such top players as Fabiano Caruana and Josh Waitzkin. Bruce has also been the consultant for the most popular c...

027 If you've studied chess, then you know development is vital. Yet there’s more to this principle than just the obvious “get your pieces out.” Even titled players can struggle with effective development… Which means club players should always be working on this nuanced skill. To help, this episode discusses the subject at length with WGM Ekaterina Atalik. Katya (for short) is the European W...

026 How do you ensure chess improvement? The old magic pill would be nice, but we know that doesn’t exist. The next best thing? Put energy and work into five key areas… This may not guarantee improvement, but doing them will give you the best fighting chance to see results. And, hey, given the mysterious ways of chess improvement, that’s sometimes the best we can do. So, what are the key areas? FM...

025 There are several ways to #GrowTheGame. One is through helping folks play better. Another is to find ways to make chess more appealing and accessible for everyone - regardless of where you live or your skill level. This week’s guest, Nigarhan (or Naycir, as she’s known online), has chosen to make the second option her mission. A fellow adult improver and amateur player herself… Nigarhan has be...

024 The 2022 Candidates was a wild ride. Predictions were shattered. A dominant performance surprised many. And the looming question of “Does second place matter?” hung in the air. For the first time, The Chess Experience is reviewing a world-class tournament! To help discuss the highlights (and lowlights) of the event, along with some lessons that can help club players… I interviewed WIM Fiona St...

A brief 2-minute update about the next episode (coming later this week) which reviews the Candidates. And a little message of motivation to keep striving with your chess!

023 Adult improvers, ironically, have limited time to improve. Which is why it’s so helpful to know the answer to this question: “Of all the mistakes we make, which ones are the most important to fix?” That’s what today’s episode is about… Identifying the key mistakes made at the board by adult improvers (most of whom are club players) and finding solutions to them.  To help, I’ve brought back for...

022 If you’re over 30, you might wonder: “Will aging affect my chess improvement? Should I adjust my program any differently due to my age?” These are compelling but often difficult questions to answer...  On the one hand, we want to be optimistic and aim for whatever chess goal we desire, without concern over biology getting in the way...  And, yet, biology is real.  Athletes understand this - bo...

021 This week’s format is different. Every few months, I’ll create a solo episode where I update you on my own chess journey: The top challenges I’m having, the best insights I’ve gained, and the latest wisdom my coaches, Andras Toth & Dan Heisman, have offered me. I’ll try to frame it in ways that benefit you, so that you get a heap of value from listening.  This week’s topics: Why I no longe...

020 You may have first heard of WGM Irene Sukandar in 2021, when her popularity soared after defeating Dewa Kipas, a man who infamously cheated in an online game against IM Levy Rozman. But, in this interview, we discuss what I believe Irene should be what be most well-known for: 1) Growing the fame and respect of chess in her home country of Indonesia, and  2) Being an inspiration to chess player...

019 With so many hours put into our chess practice. The experience of a long-term rating decline or plateau can be frustrating. Even painful. Shouldn’t we see positive rating results if it’s been X number of months or years? Not always. But that doesn’t mean you’re not improving. Or that the tide won’t eventually turn. In this episode, Woman International Master and popular chess streamer, Anna-Ma...

018 You just finished a Rapid or Classical game. Now it’s time to pluck some hard-earned lessons from the experience. But wait: should you turn on the engine? Annotate the game with notes? Review it intensely for an hour or more?  Or maybe just glean one key lesson and call it a day? These issues and more are discussed in this episode with the phenomenal WGM Katerina Nemcova. First, we learn about...

017 Kostya is one of the co-founders of the incredible Chess Dojo. It's a channel and business designed to help chess improvers (most of whom are adults.) In this episode:  Why you should bother reading annotated game books. An answer to the age-old question: how many of the endless variations should you go over? Should you read an annotated game book more than once? A rarely talked about ben...

0016 Offering live commentary of world-class chess is no easy task. Your audience is often club-level players and beginners. So, you'll have to strike a balance between explaining obscure GM strategy… While also delivering fun commentary that keeps your viewers engaged… That’s what this week's guest, WGM Keti Tsatsalashvili, does all the time for  Chess.com and FIDE.  In this episode, we...

015 All chess players struggle to improve. But there are some mistakes made along the way that are unique to adults. Thankfully, there are easy solutions that’ll remove these roadblocks and get you back on the road to faster improvement… To help identify and fix these mistakes, I interview the straight-talking FM Peter Giannatos.  Peter is the founder of the Charlotte Chess Center, a powerhouse ch...

014 Today you get a 2-topic episode: 1) Adult chess improvement tips from WGM Jennifer Shahade; and 2) A discussion on her new book, Chess Queens , about the celebration & deeper understanding of women in chess. There’s hardly anyone who has done more to make this game more inclusive for women and girls than Jennifer... She’s a true inspiration in our community. Not only is she a 2-time US Wom...

013 There’s a small percentage of people who can inspire us to be better at chess. One of those rare folks is FM James Canty III. Few would bet money that a guy in his late 20s could go from National Master to Grandmaster. It’s almost never done. Why? Because, like us club players, he grapples with adult responsibilities that make improvement difficult: a full-time job, limited energy, and time. B...

012  There are nitty-gritty ways to improve: like focusing on tactics or endgame study. But what about big picture improvement skills? For discussion on that, I brought National Master, James Altucher, who is also a successful author and entrepreneur… James has written several business & personal development books… Most relevant is Skip the Line , which teaches you how to improve at a skill fa...

011 We all know chess is for everyone. Yet there are dramatically fewer women and girls in chess. It’s an issue we ought to tackle head-on so we can make the game more welcoming to women and girls. Thankfully, this week’s guest doesn’t just wonder how to solve the problem… Ingrid Gayle, the owner of Girl Boss Chess (GBC), is taking action every day to make chess a better community. How? GBC’s prim...

010 Choosing an opening is both exciting and terribly confusing. A new opening is a thrill in chess. But it’s hard to know which opening is best for YOU. What factors should you consider?  How long do you stick with an opening before trying something new? How many moves deep should you study?  In this episode, I interview someone who I consider to be one of the best opening and all-around chess in...

009  Does the chess community need to relax and have more fun with its game? Not long ago, "chess content" meant either a lesson to improve or an update on the latest elite tournaments. It was a very serious affair.  Nothing wrong with that.  But maybe chess players would like to have an experience that also includes some fun and humor? The past 5 years are proof they do with the boom in...