IM Greg Shahade is the commissioner of the PRO Chess League. Along with his sister Jennifer (who was on my podcast a few months ago!), Greg was a talented junior player in his youth who has worked on growing chess in the United States for his entire career, both as an educator and as an organizer of chess events. Among many other achievements, he has one GM norm, and was awarded the Samford Fellowship in 1999. He also founded the New York Masters and the U.S. Chess League (the predecessor to the PRO Chess League).

This week on 64; A Chess Podcast, IM Shahade joined me for a laid-back discussion on Game 9 of the World Chess Championship, the growth of chess online and in the United States, and how chess can take advantage of this watershed moment it's having re: interest and place in culture. I'm grateful that Greg could join this podcast on such short notice, and I hope we do it again! I had a lot of fun recording this one, and am looking forward to the rest of this World Chess Championship.

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We talked about...

• Game Nine -- Nepo's colossal blunder, chess psychology, and the cursed press conferences throughout the World Championship

• We dive into the more recent history of U.S. chess. I reveal a new project that I've started working on, and Greg shares some thoughts and stories of Garry Kasparov

• I ask a bunch of questions about PRO Chess League: most importantly, do I have a shot at making it on a team? We also talk about creating better, more welcoming environments at OTB tournaments and chess clubs

• Greg talks about looking forward to the possible Firouzja-Carlsen matchup, the general difficulty of playing in a tournament like the Candidates, and preview the FIDE Grand Prix

• As always, another edition of Aimchess Instant Insights

Thanks as always to Aimchess for sponsoring the podcast -- use code "DAVID30" to get 30% off of your first month with Aimchess!

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Thanks again to IM Greg Shahade for coming on the podcast -- follow him on Twitter here!