The Chess Angle is sponsored by Chessable. Check out a list of our favorite courses! Fide Master Carsten Hansen is a prolific writer who has authored an astounding 46 chess books and is a #1 best selling author on Amazon. Recently published books include The Anti-Alapin Gambit  and The Chess Wizardry of Wotawa, co-authored with Cyrus Lakdawala. Carsten is also an active chess coach and trainer. In addition, he is working to achieve an IM title, and does all this while holding down a full-time day job, so his work ethic is quite impressive. In this episode, Carsten offers some outstanding insight on the opening phase of the game for amateur players. Some of our talking points include:

• Carsten's quest to achieve an IM title
• How club players should approach openings
• How to beat higher-rated opponents
• Should you play gambits?
• A full assessment of Neal's opening repertoire
• Theory vs. themes
• Dealing with nerves and avoiding time pressure
• Carsten's chess coaching philosophy
• The one glaring weakness with many opening courses 

Links for FM Carsten Hansen:

• Website
• Amazon Author Page
• Twitter
• Chessable

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