Chess improvement as an adult is harder than it should be. Plus, the journey can sometimes feel too stressful and serious. This show aims to fix that by 1) interviewing experts who can offer clarity on the best ways to improve; and 2) giving you a heap of fun with “chess entertainment” shows that discuss chess culture, events, movies, etc. Most episodes feature a guest, but sometimes I'll do a solo show on a topic. This is all brought to you by me, Daniel Lona. I’m a dedicated chess amateur and the owner of Adult Chess Academy. After listening to this podcast, I want you to have a clearer idea of how to improve, and have a more fun, dynamic chess experience. Please follow the show so you don’t miss an episode!
WGM Jennifer Shahade: Her New Tactics Book, Appearing on Jeopardy, & Leaving US Chess
076 Jennifer Shahade returns to the podcast! 2023 was a major one for her, and we discuss the major milestones of her year.If you’re not familiar, Jennifer is a 2-time US Women’s Chess Champion, author of 4 chess books (including the recent hit Chess Queens), and a long-time advocate of making the chess community a better place for women and girls.In this episode, we talk about:A recent, fun chess experience she’s had on Jeopardy.Her new tactics book, Play Like a Champion, that features well-known women chess players (and why the book helps if you’ve only been doing online tactics.)The challenges she’s faced by stepping down as head of the US Chess Women and leaving US Chess.A peek into Jen’s next book, Thinking Sideways.More From Jen:Book: Play Like a ChampionBook: Chess QueensWebsiteTwitterFacebookInstagram>> Join my official FREE club for The Chess Experience on Chess.com<< (PROMOTION)
Essential Chess Tips From 6 Books By NM Dan Heisman
075 NM Dan Heisman is a world-renowned chess coach and author. He’s on the verge of publishing his thirteenth, and perhaps final, chess improvement book. In this episode, we take a retrospective of some of Dan’s best books and offer improvement advice relevant to each book.It’s an honor to celebrate Dan’s amazing multi-decade career as a chess author and his third appearance on the podcast.Some tips we discuss:Surprising advice from Dan on the #1 principle that should guide your study plan.How to avoid a common mistake club players make when choosing annotated game books.Three key categories of what to study to improve your chess - and how much time to focus on each one.Later this year (2024), Dan will publish a book based on his ongoing “Chess Tip of the Day” series that he’s posted daily for years on Twitter. Look for that soon!In the meantime, here are links to all of Dan’s fantastic books, his YouTube channel, and his website.More From Dan Heisman:Dan’s WebsiteDan’s YouTube ChannelDan’s BooksDan’s TwitterDan’s guide to annotated game books (scroll down to “Game Collections”)>> Join my official FREE club for The Chess Experience on Chess.com<< (PROMOTION)
Elevating Your Chess With Great Women Players w/ WIM Luciana Morales
074 Many great women players deserve more attention. Consider that even the games of women's world champions are rarely studied. This shouldn't be the case any longer since their chess is instructive, and their personal lives are rich and inspired.Thankfully, WIM Luciana Morales (along with co-author NM Bryan Tillis) shines a light on the first five women world champions in a new and unique course.Not only does it contain a hefty dose of chess improvement lessons for club players...But it’s also an important work that brings more attention to women and their impact on the chess community.In this interview, we dive into the surprising stories & lessons of these great women world champions, as well as some behind-the-scenes making of Luciana’s course. We also discuss Luciana’s unique upbringing as a rising talent in Peru.More From LucianaLuciana’s course: Queens of the Chess BoardLuciana’s Twitter>> Join my official FREE club for The Chess Experience on Chess.com<< (PROMOTION)
Positional Play for Club Players with FM Nate Solon
A second visit to the pod from chess coach & author, FM Nate Solon! In recent years, Nate has become a well-known chess educator.He’s co-authored the highly-praised book, Evaluate Like a Grandmaster. In 2023, he released his first Chessable course on the Reti opening for White. Plus, Nate regularly publishes a popular e-newsletter on improvement advice called, Zwischenzug. (Links to all these are below!)In this interview, we discuss:Preparation and performance lessons learned from Nate’s victory at the adults-only, classical tournament, called ALTO, at the Charlotte Chess Center.Why should you study positional play as a club player when everything is supposedly tactics and more tactics?How does playing the Reti (1.Nf3) - Nate’s new course! - give a club player a helpful advantage over 1.e4?More From Nate:Nate’s e-newsletter on chess improvement: ZwischenzugNate’s new Chessable opening course: Reti (1.Nf3)Nate’s book: Evaluate Like a GrandmasterNate’s Twitter>> Join my official FREE club for The Chess Experience on Chess.com<< (PROMOTION)
Make It Club-Player Friendly: Elite Events & Courses with WIM Fiona Steil-Antoni
072 She’s been making a splash in the chess world. Not only is WIM Fiona Steil-Antoni a regular commentator for top-level tournaments...she’s also become a key commentator for Hikaru’s Twitch channel while he competes at the Candidates and other key events.Plus, this year she’s created video instruction for two Chessable courses. One is for the Scotch opening. The other covers tactics. Both courses are aimed at us: club players.This speaks to her strength of making complex chess easy to understand for adult improvers.Fiona has also had a rich competitive history. She’s represented her country, Luxembourg, in every Chess Olympiad since 2002 and has earned the title of Woman International Master.In this episode, we discuss:A behind-the-scenes look at attending the FIDE Grand SwissWhy is the Scotch opening ideal for club players?How many openings should a club player learn before it becomes harmful to improvement?Which players have the best chances in the 2024 Candidates tournament? To Win A Giveaway of Fiona's Course, follow me here on Twitter.More From Fiona:Fiona’s two Chessable courses: Starting Out: The Scotch & 1001 Chess Exercises for BeginnersTwitch channelYouTube channelTwitterInstagram >> Join my official FREE club for The Chess Experience on Chess.com<< (PROMOTION)
Podcast Crossover: NM Ben Johnson on His New Book: Perpetual Chess Improvement
Not many chess resources are aimed directly at helping the adult improver. But the superb new book by well-known chess podcast host, Ben Johnson, does exactly that. Released this fall, it’s called Perpetual Chess Improvement.The book covers a broad range of topics for not only boosting your chess abilities but also answering difficult questions like: “Do you need to study endgames?” “How should you approach rating plateaus?”Ben’s book is pure gold for us adult improvers. Each page is chock full of helpful guidance, and it’s as easy to read as a page-turning novel.In this interview, we discuss:Why engaging with the chess community is just as vital as improvement for our chess experience.Is consistent study & play an overemphasized trait for our chess journey?Ben’s dream guests who have yet to appear on his show (other than Magnus!)More From Ben:Ben’s Book: Perpetual Chess ImprovementBen’s Podcast: The Perpetual Chess PodcastBen’s Twitter>>Join my official FREE Club for The Chess Experience on Chess.com<< (PROMOTION)
Update on Podcast - We'll Be Back!
This is a brief 1-minute update on the state of the podcast. Don't worry - we'll return soon!
A Rapid Rise to 2000 with Adult Improver Kamryn Hellman
070 A small number of chess players make remarkably quick progress. Perhaps even fewer of those are adults. Which is why the achievements of this week’s guest, Kamryn Hellman, are so remarkable.She started playing chess for the first time as an adult. And, in just a little over a year, Kamryn rose to a 2000 Rapid rating on Chess.com. Because progress this fast is rarely seen by adults, we explore her journey and how she achieved it.We discuss:Her top three “difference makers” for reaching a 2000 Chess.com rating in fifteen monthsWhy competing in OTB classical tournaments was such a powerful factor in her improvementWas her approach to be a tactics machine or was there room for studying strategy and positional chess? More from Kamryn: YouTube TwitchTwitter
IM Dean Ippolito - Tales of a Premier Chess Coach & How To Manage Rating Deflation
For two decades, IM Dean Ippolito has been one of America’s top coaches. Throughout his career, he’s coached several scholastic talents to national titles. Plus, he’s authored six chess books. Dean’s own chess journey is just as impressive. He was a rising child star and competed professionally for a few years after high school.Today, he runs a successful coaching business called Dean of Chess Academy, which offers online classes and camps.In this episode, we also discuss the scourge of adult improvers who compete at OTB tournaments: rating deflation.We discuss what it is, how it affects adult club players like yourself, and some advice that Dean offers on how to deal with it.Finally, we talk about Dean’s new book, Tricks, Traps, and Tips in the Chess Opening. The book offers a unique (and much more fun!) approach to learning opening ideas and principles.More From Dean: Dean’s websiteDean’s TwitterDean’s new book, Tricks, Traps & Tips in the Chess Opening>>Join my official FREE Club for The Chess Experience on Chess.com<< (PROMOTION)
FM Mike Klein: Building the Next Generation of Chess Players
068 You may know him as best as “Fun Master” Mike, the face of ChessKid. For the past decade, Mike has been the Chief Chess Officer of ChessKid, the scholastic version of Chess.com. His mission has been to make the game fun and accessible for an ever-growing audience of young chess players.While my show primarily focuses on adult improvers, I’m always interested in how we grow this great game of ours, and reaching kids is a big part of that.And who better to discuss this subject than with Mike Klein!?Plus, if you’re a parent, Mike offers some great advice on how you can your kids’ school involved in teaching chess.We also discuss: Which top youth player he thinks has the best chance to stay in the game and make an impact for many years to come.The highlights of Mike’s journalism career, including which former world champ he would’ve loved to interview.His game and experiences with Josh Waitzkin, of Searching For Bobby Fischer fame.More From Mike:TwitterChessKid.comChess Grant for Schools Through ChessKid>>Join my official FREE Club for The Chess Experience on Chess.com<< (PROMOTION)
How To Maximize Your Time For Chess Improvement w/ GM Noël Studer
067 How should you spend your chess time if you want to improve? The problem for adult improvers isn’t always about having too little time or energy to get better. Often, the challenge is knowing how to use that time effectively. That’s where GM Noël Studer comes in to help us. A former Swiss chess champion, and the youngest GM ever from Switzlerland, Noël is now helping chess improvers fine-tune their study programs.The result?Better progress without having to spend countless hours each day studying or playing.In this interview, Noël discusses: How the One-Third Rule can simplify your study process and give you greater progress without any additional demands on your time.The surprising reason you can improve at openings with less study time instead of more.How to keep your energy high before going into an OTB tournament with a simple training strategy used by professional athletes.More From Noël:E-Book: The Art of Chess TrainingCourse: Next Level TrainingWebsiteBlogTwitter>>Join my official FREE Club for The Chess Experience on Chess.com<< (PROMOTION)
South Africa's Chess Star: WIM Jesse February
This week features South Africa’s most charismatic chess streamer and commentator: WIM Jesse February. Jesse has had an impressive tournament career that’s still going strong as she works toward the WGM title. Some of her accomplishments include representing the South African Women’s Team in three Chess Olympiads. Plus, she's a two-time winner of the South African Women’s Chess Championship.We chat about Jesse’s incredible and recent experience doing commentary for the inaugural Global Chess League tournament - a unique mixed-team event that featured some of the world’s best men and women players.And we talk about what Jesse feels she needs to work on to get the WGM title, her best advice from years of coaching, and whether she can give up bullet at 3am.More From Jesse: Twitch channelYouTube channelTwitterInstagramTikTok>>Join my official FREE Club for The Chess Experience on Chess.com<< (PROMOTION)
On the Rise: Streamer & Adult Improver, WCM Alexandra Prado
065 WCM Alexandra Prado is a strong amateur player with a fast-rising chess Twitch channel. Rated 1859 FIDE, she has a renewed interest in competing in OTB classical. Plus, she’s aiming for the Woman FIDE Master (WFM) title. On that goal, she’s getting coaching help from Chess Dojo’s IM Kostya Kavutskiy, which we discuss in this episode.We also chat about her chess life in Bolivia, what has helped her improve the most as a player, and her unexpected opportunity to play in-person blitz against Andrea Botez.----I NEED YOUR HELP: Want to have a say in my upcoming chess membership? Please fill out this super-short survey about what features you want most.----More From Alexandra:Twitch ChannelInstagramTwitterYouTubeWebsiteGames against Andrea BotezLesson with IM Kostya Kavutskiy>>Join my official FREE Club for The Chess Experience on Chess.com<< (PROMOTION)
A Reenergized Tournament Career with WGM Anna Zatonskih
064 For the past two decades, WGM Anna Zatonskih has been a powerhouse among women chess players in America. She is a 4-time US Women’s champion (06’, 08’, 09’, and 11’.) Plus, she’s been a member of every US Women’s team for the Chess Olympiad since 2004.And while she has struggled a bit competitively in recent years, Anna just achieved an incredible first-place victory at the prestigious Cairn’s Cup in St. Louis in June of 2023.This event gathered some of the world’s best female chess players, including former World Champion GM Alexandra Kosteniuk.Not only did Anna win the event - she did so with no losses.This has renewed the fire for Anna’s competitive careerIn this interview, we discuss highlights from the tournament, what she learned from the event, and her goal of proving that “age is just a number.” >>Join my official FREE Club for The Chess Experience on Chess.com<< (PROMOTION)
A Trio of Talents: Grandmaster, Educator, & Commentator w/ GM Daniel King
In the best possible way, Daniel King is a “triple threat” of chess: A GM professional competitor who’s played against some of the world’s best…A commentator who delivers GM-level analysis that’s easily accessible for us club players… And an educator who’s served up a library of phenomenal books, courses, and videos that’ll sharpen our chess skills.Not enough?He’s also a skilled and passionate musician who regularly plays in bands.Daniel launched his chess life with an exciting competitive career. He earned his IM title in ‘82, his GM title in ‘89, and scored some notable achievements like placing 4th in the British Championship in ‘87.In the early 90s, he launched a career as a chess commentator. Later, he published countless books, DVDs, and online courses.These days, Daniel runs his popular YouTube channel, Power Play Chess. There you can find top-notch, insightful commentary on the biggest chess events.In this interview, we discuss:A few thrilling stories of Daniel defeating some of the world’s best as a professional player.Daniel’s favorite moments as a commentator covering World Champion Garry Kasparov. Why you shouldn’t be afraid to play the Open Sicilian as White (and how to get excited if your opponent plays an anti-Sicilian.)More From Daniel King:Daniel’s YouTube ChannelDaniel’s Chessable CoursesDaniel’s BooksDaniel’s WebsiteDaniel’s TwitterBook: How To Win At Chess