Bruce Pandolfini is a trailblazer for American chess who is well known as a top scholastic coach, prolific author, and consultant on landmark chess productions like the 1993 movie, Searching for Bobby Fischer, and the 2020 smash hit Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit. Bruce even served on the announcing team for PBS in the legendary 1972 Fischer vs. Spassky World Championship match. 

With such a resume, obviously Bruce has accumulated a treasure trove of stories, and perspective. In our interview, Bruce drew on his experience as an early coach of future GM Fabiano Caruana and IM Josh Waitzkin to discuss the nature of chess talent, and he told stories of a few of his interactions with Bobby Fischer as a New Yorker of the same generation. Bruce also opined on the growth of and future of chess, and discussed his involvement in The Queen’s Gambit,  both the novel and the series. Obviously,I found this to be an entertaining and informative interview, and I hope that you will as well. Please read on for more details and links related to all that we discussed. 

0:00- We begin by reliving some stories from Bruce’s youth in Brooklyn, and his interactions with chess legends like Bobby Fischer and GM Larry Evans. 

Mentioned: Caroline Marshall, Fabiano Caruana, Billy Wilder, Stanley Kubrick, Al Horowitz 

9:30- How did Bruce end up a part of the announcing team for PBS for the 1972 Fischer vs. Spassky “Match of the Century?” 

Mentioned: Shelby Lyman, Eugene Meyer, GM Edmar Mednis, Dustin Hoffman, GM Nicolas Rossolimo, IM Bernard Zuckerman. Bobby Fischer’s Outrageous Chess Moves, Here is the video of Bobby Fischer appearing on The Tonight Show in 1972- 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxvnEwvgfeI, Saul Bellow, Kurt Vonnegut 

22:00- Perpetual Chess is proud to be brought to you in part by Chessable.com. You can always check out what’s new there through this link: 

New Chess Courses Online - For All Levels in all - Chessable.com

23:00- Patreon mailbag question: “How does Bruce deal with students whose parents are challenging?“

Mentioned: Bill Goichberg

29:00- Does Bruce notice any traits in common amongst the top talents he has worked with such as  IM Josh Waitzkin and GM Fabiano Caruana? 

Carol Ann Caronia, Fred Waitzkin, Bonnie Waitzkin.  Lou Caruana, Robert Hess, GM Joel Benjamin, GM Miron Sher 

37:00- Another Patreon Mailbag question: “What are some of Bruce’s favorite chess books?” 

Mentioned: My 60 Memorable Games, Botvinnik: One Hundred Selected Chess Games, Alekhine’s My Best Games of Chess, Fred Reinfeld’s The Human Side of Chess, Irving Chernev, GM Andy Soltis  

39:00- Another question from a Patreon supporter: “How has Bruce’s chess improvement advice changed over the years?”

Mentioned: Shelby Lyman 

46:30- Bruce answers the question,  “How has the rise of chess on YouTube and Twitch impacted Bruce’s students?” 

Mentioned: Jose Raoul Capablanca, Wilhelm Steinitz 

52:00- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Chessmood.com. Check out their website and subscribe to their YouTube channel here: 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMBUU6aq2b07VtTAMO0xGTw

53:00- We talk about Bruce’s work on The Queen’s Gambit, both Walter Tevis’ novel and the series. 

Mentioned: John Hartmann interview with Bruce Pandolfini:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpfWu-OvAlg

Also Mentioned: Bill Horberg, Scott Frank, Anya Taylor Joy, Garry Kasparov’s talk with the US Chess Girl’s Group is here: 

https://www.kasparov.com/garry-kasparov-talks-to-us-chess-girls-group-about-the-queens-gambit/

Also Mentioned: Searching for Bobby Fischer, Lasker’s Manual of Chess, 

1:03:00- In closing, we discuss Bruce’s future projects, including whether he may ever write a memoir. Thanks so much to Bruce for joining the show! 

Mentioned: Kimberly Doo McVay

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