35-year old GM Alex Lenderman was a World Youth Champion and has won the World Open among many other chess accomplishments, but he had never previously had the chance to play in the FIDE World Rapid & Blitz. Since it took place in his hometown this year, Alex looked at the opportunity to compete in it as “a once in a lifetime opportunity.”  But since Alex is no longer a professional player and has been losing rating points in recent years he worried about how he would perform. In this interview, Alex takes us behind the scenes of his preparation (or lack thereof), how he adjusted his mindset as an amateur player, what he thought of the venue, and how he dealt with the inevitable ups and downs of two exhausting tournaments. This particular story has a happy ending, as after a decent showing in the World Rapid, Alex performed even better in the World Blitz, beating GMs Sam Shankland, Le Quang Liem and others en route to shared 14th place! Not bad for “an adult decliner,” as Alex called himself. Of course, Alex also touched on some of the recent controversies in the chess world, and discussed how much players knew about sagas like “jeans gate,” as they unfolded. It was a real treat to hear a top player's perspective on this drama-filled tournament. Timestamps of topics discussed are below. 

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Mentioned:

A LiChess study containing Alex’s games is here:

https://lichess.org/study/dcY6zUKo/5k02uMvC

And as always,  you can download all of the tournament’s games from Mark Crowther’s The Week in Chess:

https://theweekinchess.com/chessnews/events/world-rapid-blitz-championship-2024

0:02- GM Alex Lenderman joins! When did he know he would play these events? How did he prepare? 

0:06- Patreon mailbag questions: “What mindset did Alex take when playing higher-rated opponents like Nakamura and Abdusattorov? Is there any lesson amateur players might be able to take from this?”

Mentioned: Alex also shares his take on the key to a previous guest, GM-elect Mark Heimann’s, recent breakthrough.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-415-gm-elect-mark-heimann-on-his-unexpected-road/id1185023674?i=1000682215973

21:00- What were the conditions like for players? What was the atmosphere like in the waiting room in between rounds? 

24:00- We transition to discussing the World Blitz. 

41:00- How aware was Alex of controversies like “jeansgate” while playing in the tournament?

Mentioned: More information about Ivanchuk’s heartbreaking reaction to a tough loss vs. Naroditsky here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/1hq2dfz/ivanchuk_crying_out_loud_after_he_lost_his_game/?rdt=54420

55:00- Why does Alex think accuracy scores aren’t a great benchmark for identifying possible cheaters? 

1:10:00- We return to the topic of the recent controversies around Magnus. 

Mentioned: Dojo Talks with GM Jon Ludwig Hammer:

https://youtu.be/XDhXhCqVQzM?si=lBvuieUlsOJ9WAdx

1:15:00- Thanks to Alex for joining me! You can reach him via email at:

AlexLenderman33 at hotmail dot com 

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https://www.patreon.com/c/perpetualchess

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