My book, Perpetual Chess Improvement, is now available from New in Chess (and should be shipping from Amazon any day now), so it was time to dedicate a podcast to discussing it in detail. Joining me for the discussion is longtime friend of the pod, cognitive scientist, author and USCF Master, Dr. Christopher Chabris. Christopher had a sneak peak at the book and shares his impressions of it and interviews me on the topics that interested him. . We discuss what I call “The Four Pillars of Chess Improvement,” how the project came about, and the key lessons I derived for improvement of my own chess game from writing it. Whether or not you are interested in reading the book, I hope you find this discussion of chess improvement worthwhile. Timestamps of topics discussed are below. 

03:00-Thanks to our presenting chess education sponsors, Chessable.com. You can check out what is new here:

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

And you can check out some of my favorites here:

https://go.chessable.com/perpetual-chess-podcast/

05:00- Book announcements 

Full info on book signings and ordering signed books here: 

https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/book?fbclid=IwAR0oy_PqpOhc-S7sP-mOZClmKZyhKwuWUbthSY8Um4qVp_YCJKYgL9HJiCA

07:30- Book discussion with Dr. Christopher Chabris 

14:00- What is the target audience for the book? 

17:00- The importance of playing serious games 

25:00- Why did I write several pages about IM Levy Rozman’s pursuit of the GM title? 

32:00- Why did I write a book? Did I ever want to quit this project?

42:00- How did I decide that “The Four Pillars of Chess Improvement” should be identified as these: 1) Play competitive games 2) Review them 3) Solve puzzles and 4) Find a Community?

53:00- What is my next project?

Mentioned: Episode 349 with Dr. Anique de Bruin 

1:01:00 Patreon mailbag: Advice for Solitaire chess 

Mentioned: GM Gregory Kaidanov, my video on How to Do Solitaire Chess on LiChess Studies:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8bpFF4nnPE

GM Daniel King’s How Good is Your Chess 

Chess Life magazine archive with Pandolfini’s Solitaire Chess:

https://new.uschess.org/chess-life-digital-archives

Also available as a book:

https://www.amazon.com/Solitaire-Chess-Bruce-Pandolfini/dp/0812936566

1:05:00- Patreon mailbag question:

“What are some scientifically proven ways to improve at chess? What about unproven ways that Ben thinks are effective?”

1:13:00- Patreon mailbag question: “Which piece of advice do I think will be most helpful for my own improvement?” 

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