Perpetual Chess is back for one more World Championship wrap-up (among other topics) with top Dutch player, trainer, and popular Chessable author, GM Erwin L’Ami. As the second to GM Anish Giri, and a former member of GM Veselin Topalov’s World Championship team, Erwin shares his general reflections on the Carlsen-Nepomniatchtchi match, as well as lots of insights about the opening choices of each player. We also talk about chess improvement. Erwin himself is gearing up to compete in the prestigious Tata Steel tournament in Wijk an Zee after a long layoff from OTB chess. He also answers some listener questions relating to how amateurs should approach openings. Lastly, I was quite interested to hear how chess engines and opening theory have changed, even in the time since Erwin last was a guest on Perpetual Chess, in 2020. There is always lots to learn from GM L’Ami, so please enjoy the conversation, and check out the relevant links and timestamps below if needed. 

Prior interview: Episode 186 with GM Erwin L’Ami 

0:00- Erwin shares his thoughts about the World Championship, especially the openings chosen. 

Mentioned: The games we discuss can be viewed here, Chessbase India interview with GM Peter Heine Nielsen and GM Vladimir Potkin, Sesse Engine 

30:00- There are always great new courses from Chessable including FM Kamil Plichta’s Lifetime Repertoires: Accelerated Dragon. Check out what else is new here:

https://www.chessable.com/courses/all/new/

30:30- Perpetual Chess is also brought to you in part by AImchess.com. Check out the site, and if you decide to subscribe use the code Perpetual30 to save 30%. 

31:30- How is Erwin preparing for the Challenger’s group of the upcoming Tata Steel Chess Tournament? 

Mentioned: More on the Dubov-Karjakin issue here. Perpetual Chess W.C. Pod with GM Jan Timman,  

44:00- How does Erwin work on his tactics? 

Mentioned: The Silicon Road to Chess Improvement, FM Frank Erwich’s 1001 Chess Exercises for Advanced Club Players

Silicon Road YouTube Channel, Kasparovchess World Championship Game Recaps 

49:00- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Chessmood.com. They offer a huge video library with instruction on every phase of the game. 

50:00- Patreon mailbag question: “Is 1. e4 still ‘best by test’?” 

Mentioned: Carlsen-Tari 2021 

55:00- Patreon mailbag question: Have super-engines recently refuted any openings? 

57:00- Patreon mailbag question: “Would having a second for a round robin event be of any use for a 2200 level player?”

1:02:00- Patreon mailbag question: ‘What approach and opening resources does Erwin recommend for club level players?”

1:05:30- How did IM Cor van Wijgerdan, co-creator of the Chess Steps Series come up with so many cool puzzles? 

Mentioned: Episode 142 with Han Schut, Episode 167 with IM Jop Delemarre

1:08:00- Are cloud-based engines taking over from heavy duty private machines? 

Mentioned: Chessify 

1:12:00- We wrap up with a bit more World Championship and Candidates Cycle talk 

Mentioned: FIDE Grand Prix 2022

1:18:00- Thanks so much to Erwin for sharing his insights. 

You can follow him on Twitter here. 

Keep up with his Chessable courses here. 

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