New In Chess Podcast

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with Indian chess star Tania Sachdev.

Tania Sachdev is a two-time Indian Women’s Champion and she was a member of the Indian Women’s team that wrote history at the Budapest Olympiad last year, where they won the gold medals.

Probably most chess fans will know her as one of the most popular online chess commentators in the world. Armed with both the broad knowledge and deep insights of the professional, and the unbridled enthusiasm of the true chess lover, Tania can entertain and speak to audiences of all levels.

Interviewed by Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam, Tania Sachdev speaks about her family background, the unwavering support she got from her parents and the unforgettable peaks in her chess career. Naturally, she also speaks about her second career as a commentator that was launched when she was invited to be on the commentary team during the World Championship match between Vishy Anand and Magnus Carlsen in Chennai in 2013.

What is it that she loves in commentating? Why is she such a wonderful duo with Peter Leko? Why should the players engage more with the media? How can we capture the emotional moments in chess even better? Which are her favourite places on this earth and what has food go to do with it?

Tania loves talking and sharing stories and memories. You don’t want to miss them.

Enjoy this week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast!

Timestamps:

0:00 – Intro

2:31 – Welcome Tania!

3:08 – Why Delhi means so much to Tania

5:55 – Getting to travel for her career

8:08 – Tania’s family background

11:02 – Falling in love with chess and entering competitions

16:48 – How did people react to Tania’s strong performances as a young girl?

19:10 – Tania’s oldest chess friends

21:45 – Did Tania have many doubts about pursuing chess professionally?

25:26 – Winning the Women’s Olympiad with India last year

30:23 – AD BREAK

30:55 – Tania’s commentating career

39:30 – How does Tania commentate boring games?

43:42 – The viral Magnus-Gukesh moment at Norway chess

45:32 – Gukesh’s crushing loss to Fabiano Caruana in Norway

48:30 – The evolution of online chess commentary and chess media

56:20 – Tania asks Dirk Jan about chess journalism back in the day versus now

58:40 – What would Tania like to see in terms of improving chess broadcasts?

1:01:41 – AD BREAK

1:02:41 – Tania advocates for the use of heartrate monitors during big tournaments

1:04:27 – Tania’s incredible commentating chemistry with Peter Leko

1:07:25 – Tania’s part in the Freestyle movement

1:15:15 – Tania recommends some Bollywood music to Dirk Jan

1:16:30 – Outro

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with American chess player and businessman James Altucher.  

James Altucher is an investor, a venture capitalist and a firm believer in AI and cryptocurrency. He’s also a bestselling author – you may know his book Choose Yourself – and he has a popular podcast with 50 thousand subscribers, The James Altucher Show. In his podcast, he dives into the world of entrepreneurship, personal development and out-of-the-box thinking. Or, as he puts it himself, he interviews the world’s peak performers in every area of life. 

James has been writing a column for New In Chess Magazine for the past four years, in which he describes his struggle to regain his old chess strength after he returned to our game following a ‘sabbatical’ of more than twenty years. His articles are witty, perceptive and full of humour and insights.

The interview, conducted by Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam, took place on the day when James was to be a co-commentator next to five-time World Champion Vishy Anand in the Norway Chess studio, a privilege he was thrilled about. With his contagious enthusiasm, he spoke about Anand and the other chess greats he has encountered, from Kasparov, Judit Polgar and Hikaru Nakamura to the legendary Sammy Reshevsky. 

Enjoy this week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast!

0:00 – Intro

1:47 – Welcome James!

3:24 – Where does James’s natural curiosity come from?

5:00 – How James became obsessed with chess

9:15 – James’s memory of the late and great Samuel Reshevsky

10:25 – Did James ever aspire to a pro chess career?

12:52 – James’s hiatus from chess

16:05 – Does chess skill translate into other areas of life?

18:49 – What is James’s biggest achievement in business?

21:11 – James’s writing

30:36 – AD BREAK

31:09 – How The Queen’s Gambit got James back into chess

33:40 – The challenges of improving your chess at a later age

46:24 – What does James find special about chess players?

49:38 – Having chess superstars on his podcast

53:25 – Hikaru Nakamura’s entrepreneurial talent

58:11 – AD BREAK

59:11 – Robert Greene, the laws of power, and James’s next book

1:02:38 – James’s own tournament and writing for New In Chess

1:05:12 – Commentating alongside Vishy Anand

1:05:58 – Outro

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features a narration from “The Essential Sosonko”, a collection of chess portraits and stories authored by chess grandmaster Genna Sosonko. The subject of this week’s episode is Soviet chess player and coach Vladimir Zak.

Vladimir Gregorievich Zak (1913-1994) was the head coach of the Leningrad Pioneers' Palace, a premier chess institution in the Soviet Union, for forty years. He was known for his classical approach to chess, which emphasised self-analysis and disciplined study. His stall of pupils included several future grandmasters, including Boris Spassky, Viktor Korchnoi, Gata Kamsky, and of course, Genna Sosonko himself.

Despite his limited playing strength, Vladimir Zak has an enduring legacy as a teacher of chess. Genna explains why: a good teacher explains, a great teacher inspires. And Vladimir Zak was a great teacher. 

"The Essential Sosonko" is available for purchase on the New In Chess website: https://www.newinchess.com/the-essential-sosonko-hardcover 

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with Czech grandmaster David Navara. For more than 20 years, David Navara has been the leading chess player of the Czech Republic. Thirteen times he won the national championship. In 2015, he was ranked number 14 in the world, with a peak rating of 2751.

I (Dirk Jan) spoke to David last week, in Prague, the city where he was born 40 years ago and where he still lives. Over the years, we met on many occasions, but for some inexplicable reason we never sat down for a proper interview.

Now we did and to begin with we returned to our first meeting, in 2001 at the European Team Championship in Leon, in the north of Spain, where 16-year-old David was one of the stars as he scored an impressive 7 out of 9. Even if we’d only just met, he kindly showed me three of his games, giving me a first taste of his phenomenal talent.

After this nice memory, David talked with great openness about his upbringing, his loving parents, the crises in his life, his Asperger and the comfort that he finds in religion.

Finally, we spoke about something that has been troubling him for many months now. How he was dragged into Vladimir Kramnik’s troubling crusade against cheating. Although Kramnik claims that he never accused David of any misbehaviour, he did include him in a list of seemingly suspect results. This greatly upset and angered David, who contacted FIDE, explained why in his view Kramnik’s insinuations were ridiculous and insulting, and urged them to undertake action against Kramnik.

So far, nothing has happened. Apart from a short message of support, FIDE’s reaction has been deafening silence.

We sincerely hope they will listen to this podcast and do what they should have done months ago: listen to one of their finest members and care about his well-being.

0:00 – Intro

2:43 – Welcome David!

3:05 – DJ’s first meeting with David in 2001

5:30 – David’s interest in foreign languages

8:05 – Where does David’s politeness come from?

10:15 – How does David cope with his Asperger's?

13:25 – The importance of religion in David’s life

19:05 – Despite his self-proclaimed laziness, how has David achieved such success in chess?

25:12 – Being the #1 Czech player for over 20 years

26:15 – David’s relationship with Thai Dai Van Nguyen

30:22 – How stressful is chess for David?

32:08 – AD BREAK

33:06 – Cheating allegations made by Vladimir Kramnik

46:56 – What did the allegations do to David?

52:05 – What does David expect from FIDE in this situation?

56:15 – AD BREAK

56:55 – Reaction from FIDE

1:10:15 – When is David’s next tournament?

This week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with Dutch grandmaster Jan Timman.

A living chess legend, "The Best of the West" needs no introduction. As one of the world's leading players during the late Soviet era, Jan played and befriended a number of legendary players. Today's conversation centres specifically on two of his late colleagues, both of whom passed away recently: the former World Champion, Boris Spassky, and the father of Icelandic chess, Fridrik Olafsson. 

Interviewed by Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam in his own chess library, old chess books and paraphernilia scattered around the area, Jan fondly rememers the lives and careers of his two late friends. 

0:00 – Intro

1:20 – Jan’s first meeting with Boris Spassky

4:05 – Jan’s assessment of Spassky as a person

5:55 – Spassky’s interest in Russian politics and history

8:30 – Spassky’s relationship with Fischer

14:40 – When Spassky was the best player in the world

19:28 – When Spassky fell ill during a match

22:50 – AD BREAK

23:47 – The rivalry with Korchnoi

27:33 – Spassky’s life in the aftermath of the Fischer match

30:52 – Spassky’s game against Kasparov at Linnares 1988

34:05 – The chaotic last years of Spassky’s life

37:38 – Jan’s first meeting with Fridrik Olafsson

43:45 – How strong was Olafsson?

45:46 – Olafsson’s relationship with Fischer

48:30 – Jan tells a drinking story with Fridrik Olafsson

51:24 – AD BREAK

52:03 – Olafsson’s attitude and position within Icelandic society

This week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with American International Master Kostya Kavutskiy.

Kostya is one of the three "senseis" (teachers) at the ChessDojo, an international chess training program that Kostya runs together with fellow Americans GM Jesse Kraai and IM David Pruess. As a player, he is currently embarking on a "European tour", which has included the recent Reykjavik and Grenke tournaments. His next destination is Spain, where he will be attending the Killer Chess training camp organised by Jacob Aagaard.

Joining us from Hamurg, Germany, Kostya talks to Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam about the origins of the ChessDojo program, his GM ambitions, meeting Vasyl Ivanchuk and much more. Enjoy this week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast!

Timestamps:

0:00 – Intro

2:08 – Why Kostya prefers playing in Europe

4:00 – The philosophy behind the Chess Dojo

9:58 – How did Kostya transition from playing to teaching?

11:25 – Drawing inspiration from Mark Dvorestky

12:55 – The Dojo’s online training plan

16:20 – If a player outgrows his teacher, can the teacher still be of use?

18:00 – Running into Dojo fans around the world

21:35 – How Kostya finds his training material

23:00 – Why Kostya does not necessarily think new books are better than the older ones

28:10 – Meeting Vasil Ivanchuk in Reykjavik

37:08 – AD BREAK

38:05 – The value of post-mortem analysis

41:00 – What eleven hours of analysis with Vasil Ivanchuk feels like

49:00 – Grenke

50:50 – The future of freestyle chess

54:40 – Did Kostya analyse the freestyle games from Grenke?

57:00 – Kostya’s trip to Spain to train with Jacob Aagaard

58:20 – AD BREAK

59:00 – Kostya’s quest to become a grandmaster

1:01:50 – Has teaching made Kostya a better player?

1:05:10 – Kostya’s bet with Dirk Jan

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features a narration from “The Essential Sosonko”, a collection of chess portraits and stories authored by chess grandmaster Genna Sosonko. The subject of this week’s episode is Ukrainian grandmaster Efim Geller.

Efim Petrovich Geller (1925-1998) was a two-time Soviet chess champion and a six-time Candidate for the World Chess Championship. During the twenty-year period in which he was recognized as being a world top ten player, he faced ten different world champions, scoring victories against eight of them and even coming out with a positive overall score (+39-36=131). A natural attacking player who became more well-rounded as his career progressed, Geller was also known as an opening expert, contributing significantly to the emergence of the King's Indian Defence in top-level play. He was active as a coach, aiding future world champions Boris Spassky and Anatoly Karpov in their respective world championship match preparations. Genna, who ran into Geller several times over the years, paints a compelling portrait of the somewhat "underappreciated-by-history" grandmaster.

Enjoy this week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast!

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features a narration from “The Essential Sosonko”, a collection of chess portraits and stories authored by chess grandmaster Genna Sosonko. The subject of this week’s episode is Latvian grandmaster Mikhail Tal.

This week's narration, which is the final part of a six-part series, examines the final phase of Tal's life. As his physical ailments mounted, Tal never "slowed down" his hedonistic lifestyle. Money was tight in his final years, but he never stopped relying on chess for his income, ultimately living off simuls and exhibitions. However, this did not diminish the legendary, near-mythical status that he achieved during his heyday. 

A hardcopy version of "The Essential Sosonko" is available for purchase on the New In Chess website:

https://www.newinchess.com/the-essential-sosonko 

This week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with Dutch businessman and chess benefactor Bessel Kok.

Bessel is one of the founders of SWIFT, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, which provides the main messaging network through which international payments are initiated. In the 1980's, Bessel organised the first SWIFT chess tournaments, which significantly raised the standards for chess professionalism. He befriended several of the world's strongest players, including Garry Kasparov. Together with them, he would go on to found the Grandmaster Association (GMA), an organisation aimed at creating "a high-quality environment for chess and to promote professional chess by grandmasters". Although the GMA would eventually disappear, Bessel kept his interest in chess while remaining active in other fields, such as film production and pro cycling. 

Interviewed by Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam during the Prague Chess Festival, Bessel retells the story of the origins of the GMA, his relationship with Kasparov, and numerous anecdotes involving the greatest chess players of all time. 

0:00 – Intro

2:44 – Welcome Bessel!

4:26 – How Bessel became involved in chess

8:42 – The first SWIFT tournament

13:45 – The origins of the Grandmaster Association (GMA)

19:50 – Lubomir Kavalek, dawn of a “golden era”

24:50 – Start of the conflict between GMA and FIDE

30:30 – Kasparov’s vision for the GMA

32:12 – AD BREAK

32:52 – Kasparov breaks away from the GMA

41:16 – Bessel’s appreciation for chess players

44:44 – Bessel’s favourite: Misha Tal

46:50 – Bessel tells a Bobby Fischer story

54:21 – AD BREAK

55:19 – The Magnus vs FIDE conflict

58:10 – Chess vs cycling

1:01:30 – Bessel’s candidacy for FIDE president

1:04:10 – Bessel doesn’t see a leader in the chess world

1:05:35 – Outro

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with Hungarian grandmaster Peter Leko. A world-class grandmaster and former prodigy, Peter now works as a coach and has achieved acclaim as one of the most popular online chess commentators.

Peter Leko was extremely successful as a player. As a young kid of only 14 years, four months and 22 days, he became a grandmaster in 1994. This achievement made him the youngest grandmaster in the world at the time, breaking the old record of Judit Polgar. Peter rapidly grew into a world-class player and ultimately challenged for the world title against Vladimir Kramnik in 2004. This proved to be both a high in Leko’s career and a traumatic moment, as he was leading by one point going into the last game and dramatically lost that game, allowing Kramnik to retain the title. In 2025, Peter is no longer an active player and devotes himself to commentary and coaching, with Vincent Keymer as his most notable pupil.

In a lively and engaging conversation with Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam, Peter speaks about his years as a chess prodigy, his greatest successes, the Kramnik match, freestyle and much more. Enjoy this week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast!

0:00 – Intro

2:45 – Welcome Peter!

4:04 – Difference between top level chess now versus in Peter’s prime

6:36 – Becoming the then-youngest grandmaster of all time at age 14, first encounters with Kasparov and Korchnoi

12:58 – Peter’s first Wijk aan Zee tournament in 1992, first games with Vishy Anand

16:48 – First big victories

20:51 – The “Adorjan years”

26:02 – Peter’s flawless memory

28:50 – Music

32:40 – How the Hungarian government persuaded Peter to play in the Olympiad

38:02 – Preparing for the Olympiad

47:19 – AD BREAK

47:50 – Peter’s World Championship match against Kramnik

57:15 – Aftermath of the Kramnik match

1:00:47 – Retirement

1:04:30 – Peter’s relationship with Vincent Keymer

1:09:00 – Commentary

1:14:21 – AD BREAK

1:15:14 – How does Peter prepare himself for commentary?

1:17:40 – Freestyle and Peter’s problem with FIDE time controls

1:24:30 – Peter’s relationship with Bobby Fischer

1:27:50 – Vincent Keymer’s fantastic Freestyle performance

1:30:00 – Why top players are gravitating towards Freestyle

1:39:27 – Outro