This weeks episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with International Master Thomas Willemze. Thomas is one of New In Chess’s most prolific authors, with a varied body of work that includes opening books, puzzle books, endgame books, and strategy books. His two latest works, “What Would You Play” and “World Chess Champion Strategy for Club Players”, have received positive reviews for their high-quality analysis and educational approach, which aims to simulate over-the-board situations as much as possible.

In addition to his authorship, Thomas has had 30 years of experience as a coach and draws heavily from his coaching experience when structuring his material. Perhaps surprisingly, he has found that a game does not have to be played at grandmaster level to be educational. “What Would You Play” draws lessons from games played at all levels, including by a very young Magnus Carlsen, popular online streamer and influencer Alexandra Botez, and Thomas himself.

Interviewed by Alex Polak, Thomas talks about chess post-COVID, gives his view on what it takes to become a better player, and previews his future publications with New In Chess.

Thomas's most recent work "What Would You Play" is available on the New In Chess website: https://www.newinchess.com/what-would-you-play 

To purchase "World Chess Champion Strategy for Club Players", visit https://www.newinchess.com/world-chess-champion-strategy-training-for-club-players 
 

This weeks episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with grandmaster Loek van Wely. “King Loek” is an 8-time Dutch champion, and, at 51, has remained active as a player while expanding his activities as a trainer and organiser. He reached his peak in 2001, making it into the world top 10 with a rating of 2714. As a coach, Van Wely has worked with stars like Gata Kamsky, Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov, and more recently with the Italian national team and Dutch GM Max Warmerdam. He can also look back on a political career, as a senator in the Dutch First Chamber from 2019 to 2023.

Interviewed by Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam, Loek talks about his career highlights, his political years and his adventures as a second for the prodigious Gata Kamsky (and his father Rustam!), as well as the demanding Vladimir Kramnik. He also gives his take on the way chess preparation has evolved, and who he expects to do well in the upcoming Candidates tournament.

00:00:00 – Intro

00:01:16 – 01:40 Being excited about the podcast

00:01:41 – 02:52 Playing in the German cup, experiencing some fatigue

00:02:53 – 04:40 His fondest (chess) career memories

00:04:41 – 05:24 Turning his prize money into a BMW 5-series , crashing it

00:05:25 – 07:54 Winning numerous open tournaments, eight Dutch championships

07:55 – 10:30 Getting deported from the United States for having the wrong visa

10:31 – 12:00 When and why he got the nickname King Loek, being one of the first online chess players

12:01 – 14:00 His character, challenging himself, rivalries with other players

14:01 – 16:55 Dirk Jan witnessing his bloody football matches with Magnus in Wijk aan Zee

16:56 – 18:02 Loek’s love of placing bets

18:03 – 23:56 His remarkable career switch into politics

23:57 – 27:27 Joining the controversial Forum For Democracy party, leaving because of the weird conspiracy theories of some of its members

27:28 – 30:15 Where does Loek stand politically?

30:16 – 32:14 Similarities and differences between chess and politics

32:15 – 34:31 Does Loek have any regrets about his political career?

34:32 – 35:04 AD BREAK

35:05 – 40:51 Being a second for Gata Kamsky in preparation for the latter’s 1996 World Championship match against Anatoly Karpov, Gata’s crazy father Rustam

40:52 – 45:52 Seconding for Kramnik and Topalov, Loek’s expertise with early engines such as Rybka and Fritz

45:53 – 53:30 His predictions for the 2024 Candidates tournament, the evolution of engine analysis and preparation, not seeing Pragg’s potential early on

53:31 – Outro

This week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast features a narration of a chapter from The Essential Sosonko, a collection of chess portraits written by legendary grandmaster and chess author Genna Sosonko.

In today's reading, Sosonko takes us along the path of his own personal history against the background of the geopolitical situation in Europe and Russia in the second half of the 20th century, and provides insight into the reasons why he took up the pen to write his chronicles. 

"The Essential Sosonko" is available in full 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 Dutch grandmaster Sergey Tiviakov.

A talented player in his youth, Sergey studied under former World Champion Vasily Smyslov along the likes of Vladimir Kramnik. After the fall of the Soviet Union, he won the U-18 world title and later emigrated to the Netherlands, where he would win multiple national championships as well as a European Championship in 2008. Sergey's dominance in tournament play culminated in a baffling 110-game unbeaten streak, a feat surpassed by only some of the greatest players of all time.

Sergey's book, “Rock Solid Chess”, has got unanimous praise from critics, including the very best players in the world, for its novel insights. Sergey describes his chapter on opposite-coloured bishops as a personal favourite. Additionally, the book takes a different approach to engine analysis: where some annotators would be happy to call a -0.05 evaluation a dead draw, “Rock Solid Chess” tries to look beyond the horizon of the silicon brain to find hidden winning chances in “drawn” positions.

Together with Remmelt Otten, Sergey discusses his writings, his playing career, and his life in The Netherlands.  

"Rock Solid Chess" is available in the New In Chess webshop: https://www.newinchess.com/rock-solid-chess 

Today’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features a narration of a chapter from The Essential Sosonko, written by grandmaster Genna Sosonko. Sosonko is a prolific author of chess books. His works are non-technical, instead chronicling his personal experiences and the lives of famous players of the past and present. 

Today's reading centres around Alexander Alekhine. In the first half of the 20th century, Alekhine twice became World Chess Champion, but these were hardly the only interesting events in his life. His turbulent relationship with alcohol, women, his competitors, and the Russian political establishment made him a controversial figure during his lifetime, as well as after his death under mysterious circumstances in 1946. 

Narrated by Nick Murphy, please enjoy today's episode of the New In Chess Podcast: Alexander Alekhine: The Paris Years.

The Essential Sosonko-collection is available in its entirety on the New In Chess website:

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

Today's episode of the New In Chess Podcast features in an interview with Grandmaster Nigel Short. Nigel Short is one of the greatest British chess players of all time and was became the first British player ever to challenge for a world championship title in 1993. He is also an avid traveller who has played many tournaments abroad, especially in India. Together with Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam, Nigel talks about his appreciation for Indian chess, Vishy Anand, and India's current status as an emerging chess superpower. 

Today’s episode of the New In Chess podcast features an interview with Grandmaster Ivan Sokolov. Ivan is a former Dutch and Yugoslav chess champion who holds victories over several former World Champions, including Kasparov, Kramnik and Anand. He has also been highly successful as a chess trainer, currently coaching the Romanian national team and having previously worked with the Iranian, United Arab Emirates, and Uzbek teams, the latter winning the 2022 Chennai Olympiad under his guidance. He is also a prolific author of chess books on a variety of technical topics. His most recent release, "Winning Chess Middlegames: An Essential Guide to 1.e4 Pawn Structures", is a sequel to the 2009 original, with stronger computer analysis and a heavier focus on open and half-open games.

Together with Remmelt Otten, Ivan discusses his playing and coaching career, his greatest victory, the careers of Alireza and Pragg, and much more.

Ivan's most recent release, "Winning Chess Middlegames: An Essential Guide to 1.e4 Pawn Structures", is available on the New In Chess website:

https://www.newinchess.com/winning-chess-middlegames-e4-structures  

Today’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features a narration of a chapter from The Essential Sosonko, written by grandmaster Genna Sosonko. Sosonko is a prolific author of chess books. His works are non-technical, instead chronicling his personal experiences and the lives of famous players he competed with. The Essential Sosonko is a collection of these player portraits.

Today's reading centres around Tony Miles. Miles, the first Englishman to achieve the grandmaster title, came close to reaching the pinnacle of the chess world in the 1970's and 1980's, scoring victories over former world champions such as Smyslov, Spassky and Tal. He was also seen as a controversial figure; he clashed with chess authorities and his fellow players, and famously beat then-World Champion Karpov with the move 1...a6, a decision that drew allegations of unsportsmanlike behaviour despite its success. While these incidents may have made Miles a divisive figure in the chess world, his life story is all the more interesting for it. Narrated by Nick Murphy, this episode of the New In Chess Podcast features Sosonko's first-hand account of the life and career of Tony Miles.

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

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

Today’s episode of the New In Chess podcast features an interview with Grandmaster Ramachandran Ramesh, also known as Ramesh RB or simply Ramesh. Ramesh is an award-winning chess coach, with pupils all around the world. He is also a popular chess author. His most recent title, Improve Your Chess Calculation, was published by New In Chess in 2022.

Ramesh is best known as the trainer of Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, popularly known as Pragg, and his sister Vaishali. Under Ramesh’s guidance, Pragg would eventually become, for a time, the highest-rated Indian player in the world, a position previously occupied by Vishy Anand for over three decades. But Ramesh’s influence on Indian chess extends beyond the performances of one player. As its number of grandmasters has grown from 1 in 1988 to 84 in 2024, Ramesh has played a continuous role in chess’s incredible rise in India.

Together with Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam, Ramesh talks about Pragg’s win over World Champion Ding Liren in Wijk aan Zee, his relationship with Vishy Anand, and his coaching philosophy.

Ramesh's work "Improve Your Chess Calculation" is available on the New In Chess website:

https://www.newinchess.com/improve-your-chess-calculation 

Davorin Kuljasevic is a Croation chess grandmaster and FIDE trainer with over 15 years of experience as a coach. In addition to training numerous grandmasters and coaching the Finland national team, he has collaborated with New In Chess to publish several instructive chess works, including the bestselling books "Beyond Material" and "How to Study Chess on Your Own". He discusses his latest book, "Ding Liren's Best Games: A Chess Biography of the World Champion", with New In Chess editor-in-chief Remmelt Otten. 

Davorin's books are available in the New In Chess webshop:

- "Ding Liren's Best Games: A Chess Biography of the World Champion":

 https://www.newinchess.com/ding-liren-best-chess-games

- "How to Study Chess on your Own":

https://www.newinchess.com/how-to-study-chess-on-your-own 

- "Beyond Material":

https://www.newinchess.com/beyond-material 

Davorin's coaching page can be accessed here:

https://lichess.org/coach/GrandmasterThinking