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In Episode 153, I converse with International Master Carlos Perdomo. Carlos is a winner of three GA State Championships, and has been ranked one of the top three highest rated players in Georgia continuously since 2002.  Under his leadership, the Emory University Chess Team defeated Duke, Yale, and Stanford in 2004.  He is the Founder of Chess Atlanta , which increases the chess presence in the metro Atlanta area via school programs, group classes, camps and more. 

We speak about collaborative chess promotion, the recent 1st All-Ivy Invitational, his native country Columbia, the benefits of team tournaments, tips for improvement, the United States' top youth players, his experience playing in the 2018 World Blitz Championship, the return to Over-the-Board  tournaments and more. 

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Grandmaster Ron Henley is an American grandmaster, writer, narrator, video producer,  and former financial funding trader. He now acts as the Chess Program Director at Miami Country Day School  and acts as Special Consultant to Ultra High Net Worth Individuals and Family Offices, as founder of RWH Advisors.

In our longest podcast episode to date, we talk about an array of subjects, ranging from tributes to Michael Hoffer, Oscar Maldonaldo, Gildardo Garcia and William Lombardy to an outlook on Magnus Carlsen to working as a second of Former World Champion Anatoly Karpov to his weekly Twitch show on Thursdays from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM EST. 

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Julie Bruns has worked in learning and development for over 20 years and considers herself a lifelong learner.  She has a passion for teaching others what's possible and loves connecting with people to share tips on how to enrich their lives, no matter where they are.  Life and work can be wonderful, and she's here to show you how!

We speak about her new book Peace, Possibilities and Perspective: 8 Secrets to Serenity and Satisfaction in Your Life and Career , self -realization, mastermind groups, the importance of gratitude, positive thinking, accountability, applications of chess in employee engagement and more. 

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Brandon Gidicsin is in charge of business development for the Stamford, CT Junkluggers location and helps homes and offices with sustainable disposal services in  Westchester, Putnam County, New York, and Western Connecticut.

He is also a team leader of "Rise Together and Raise", raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. He is involved with LLS because they are helping eradicate forms of cancer, such as Hodgkins Lymphoma, the one his father passed away from. Consider supporting the cause here. 

We speak about the power of networking, the benefits or organization, his fundraising efforts, upcoming events, the importance of giving back and more. 

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Nigel Davies is a FIDE Senior Trainer (2021), International Chess Grandmaster (1993), former British Rapidplay & British U21 Champion (1988 & 1979), trainer at all levels (beginner to Grandmaster), winner of 15 international tournaments, author of 17 books, presenter of 45 chess DVDs, online publisher (The Chess Improver) and founder of Tiger Chess.

We talk about England's breakway from COVID-19 lockdown, his childhood rivalry with our previous podcast guest Grandmaster Nigel Short,  his progression to grandmaster, the importance of self-honesty, the character traits of Grandmaster Lajos Portisch,  career plans in and outside of the chess world, his inspiration to become an author, his thoughts on unorthodox openings, paralells between chess and thai chi and more. 

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In Episode 148, I converse with Phiona Mutesi,  who represented Uganda at four Women's Chess Olympiads, and is one of the first titled female players in Ugandan chess history. Mutesi is the subject of a 2012 book and a 2016 film called Queen of Katwe. She is the founder of the Phiona Mutesi Foundation. 

We speak about her upbringing in Uganda, dynamics between girls and boys in chess, a compare and contrast of she and Elizabeth Harmon of the Queen's Gambit, her life in the United States,  her plans after her upcoming graduation and more. 

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In Episode 147, I converse with 147th Episode with Cristhian Ortiz Elizarbe, Human Capital Senior Consultant at Deloitte Perú. Cristhian is an experienced human capital professional with a demonstrated history of working in the management consulting industry in HR projects for local and multinational companies in Retail, Banking, Engineering, Marketing, Pharmaceutical, Foreign Trade and Metal-Mechanical Sectors. For the last 6 years he was worked for Deloitte Peru. He is the founder of the non-profit Learn and Share English, which has 200 volunteers all over South America that teach English.  He was the captain of the 3rd place team in the first FIDE Corporate Chess Championship. 

We speak about the chess scene in Peru, applications of chess in HR, benefits of corporate chess classes, the recruitment of a corporate team, the importance of giving back to the community and more. 

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In Podcast Episode 146, I converse  with Adam Raoof, Founder of The Chess Circuit and Ben Graff, Journalist and Author of "The Greenbecker Gambit". See my recent appearance on their podcast here.

We discuss the transition from corporate life to entrepreneurship a compare and contrast of The Greenbecker Gambit and Queen's Gambit,  chess PR, the return to over the board chess the persona of perennial British Champion Michael Adams and more. 

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Christopher Hunt is the Managing Director of Zone Capital Partners, LLC, which is a financial holding company which also has an active practice consulting with private and public companies that are under $ 500 million in market capitalization.

He is all the co-founder of Acclarity Advisors, which helps public and private companies enhance press and analyst coverage, broaden shareholder base, contribute to growth of valuation, market capitalization, enhance liquidity, and maintain a bankable image of you as an essential component on any exchange.

We speak about career changes to find one's passion, the importance of giving back during the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual work environments, competition vs. collaboration his upcoming virtual Acclarity Conference on April 22-23 , in which I will be giving a presentation entitled "A QUEENS GAMBIT: Can chess give you an edge In business?". 

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In Episode 144 I converse with Victor Mikhalevski,  an Israeli chess grandmaster who lives in Beersheba. As of March 2010 his Elo rating was 2611, making him the #7 player in Israel and the 171st-highest rated player in the world. His peak rating to date was 2632, which he reached on 1 January 2008. He won the Israeli Chess Championship in 2014 and 2021. 

We speak about his recent victory, winning the 2021 Israeli Championship earlier this month, his upbringing in Belarus, his family's Aliyah process (moving to Israel), the rise of Beersheba as a chess city, his keys to chess success, the art of enjoyment, overcoming setbacks, the return of Over the Board chess, coaching some of the the world's talented young players and more.