GM Pontus Carlsson is a Grandmaster, trainer, entrepreneur, and the founder of the non-profit Business Meets Chess & Kids. Pontus is always forthright and entertaining, and in his third visit to the podcast, we  caught up on chess topics including: 

• The unique stress of being World Chess Champion, and Pontus’ thoughts on the upcoming match 
• Pontus’ advice for helping to remember openings
• Will Pontus be following the Hans-Magnus speed chess championship match? What happened the first time Pontus encountered an 8 year old Magnus Carlsen (no relation) at a Scandinavian championship event? 
• The positives and negatives of the FIDE World Rapid & Blitz occurring in New York this year

We also discussed online chess cheating, the upcoming Olympiad, and an online chess charity event which Pontus will be organizing this weekend, called Chess 2 Change. This is a fun event for amateurs to play in, meet successful chess and business personalities, and is potentially life-changing for the young chess talents who participate in the event. GM Maurice Ashley will be broadcasting this year’s edition on August 25. As is often the case, we covered a wide range of chess stories, so you can check the show notes for timestamps of topics of interest. 

Information for the Chess 2 Change event on August 25 is here:

https://businessmeetschessandkids.com/chess-to-change/

Pontus prior interviews: 

Episode 29

Episode 101

02:00- We chat about rating deflation as Pontus reflects on a recent tournament in Bratislava 

7:00- What is Pontus’ current day job?

10:00- Online chess cheating

14:00- The first time Pontus encountered an 8 year old Magnus Carlsen

18:00- The stress of being World Chess Champion 

20:30- Pontus’ thoughts on the Ding-Gukesh match

24:00- The Olympiad

Mentioned: GM Nils Grandelius, GM Erik Blomqvist, GM Tiger Hillarp Persson, IM Martin Lokander 

29:00- Pontus’ advice for remembering openings 

34- Chess improvement advice for adults 

38:00- Famous “touch-move” controversies involving Hikaru Nakamura and Garry Kasparov 

42:00- The challenges of professional chess for those below the top 10

48:00- More on the upcoming Hans-Magnus match

Watch GM Hans NIemann’s recent interview here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFBAuihQYgw

51:00- World Rapid and Blitz will be in New York

Mentioned: FIDE Press Release here:

https://www.fide.com/news/3070

1:04:00- Pontus discusses his upcoming charity event, Chess 2 Change

Mentioned: The Gift of Chess, Chess in Slums 

1:30:00- Thanks again to Pontus for rejoining the podcast! You can find all of the information you need about chess to change below:

Business Meets Chess & Kids

https://businessmeetschessandkids.com/

Chess 2 Change

https://businessmeetschessandkids.com/chess-to-change/

The Twitch Channel where the Charity Tournament will be Broadcasted

https://www.twitch.tv/chess2change

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