Premier Chess: Conquer the Game; Master Your Life

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In Episode 223, I converse with Roy Strauss, President of Strauss Consulting Group, LLC.  Roy Strauss has a Bachelor of Arts in Management from The City College of New York and an Executive MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University. Strauss Consulting Group assists clients (start-up to fortune 500) in multiple industries to increase both their competitive edge and profitability by improving customer service and reducing costs.

They speak about cost savings, operations versus sales, growth, strategy in chess and business, preemptive actions and more. 

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In Podcast Episode 222, I have the pleasure of speaking with Grandmaster Magesh Chandran Panchanathan, Founder of Kings and Queens Chess Academy.  He was born in Madurai, India and moved to the the United States to get a Bachelors and Masters degrees from the Univiersity of Texas at Dallas. His playing highlights include winning the Asian Junior Chess Championship in Sri Lanka in 2003, sharing first place with Kamil Mitoń in the 33rd World Open, winning the 2012 Philadelphia Open and tying for first place with Sergei Azarov at the 2015 New Jersey Open tournament.

We speak about his development as a chess player in India and Texas, inspiration and guidance from Former World Champion Viswanathan Anand, openings study, a memory test, his experience visiting the 2022 Olympiad in Chennai, Indian prodigies and more. 

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In Episode 221, I converse with Brad Tanenbaum, MBA, Bilingual Copywriter and Branding Strategist, who I have known since we were both in high school. Since graduating from York Prep School, he earned a Bachelors degree in Communications with a specialization in Spanish from University at Albany, SUNY, moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and followed his passion to become a bilingual copywriter.  He got his MBA in Marketing and Finance from the University of Salvador. His specialies include:

➤ Conversion Copywriting
➤ B2B/B2C Marketing
➤ Content Creation
➤ Campaign Strategy
➤ Social Media Optimization
➤ Media Buying

We speak about the value of a good teacher, bilingual marketing, language immersion, global Judaism, resiliency against pushback, fundamentals of email marketing, storytelling, strategy in chess and business, masterminds and more.

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In Episode 220, I converse with Grandmaster Keith Arkell, 2014 European Senior Champion.  He won the English Chess Championship in 2008. In 2014 he was European Senior (50+) Champion, and, later in the year, tied for first in the World Senior (50+) Championship, but received the silver medal on tie-break. He is the author of Arkell's Odyssey and Arkell's Endings.

We speak about the humor of time, the lack of prizes in New York tournaments, playing chess in the United States versus abroad, Chess PR around the globe, his road to grandmaster, the importace of ambition rather than artificial barriers, common misconceptions about openings, the art of being well-rounded, the minority attack,  inspiration from Grandmaster Ulf Andersson, the endgame grind, the psychology of draw offers, the combination of theory and practical knowledge, maintaince of skill level as a senior, predictions on the 44th Chess Olympiad 2022 and more.

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In Episode 219, I interview National Expert Justin Morrison, Founder of Kid Chess, which teaches 4,000+  students each year in schools throughout Metro Atlanta. He started playing chess in high school and has over four decades of experience. He was the 3-time Georgia High School Champion from 1976 through 1978, High School Champion of Southeastern United States in 1976, and Georgia Junior Champion in 1978.

We speak about parallels between chess and basketball, resilience and safety during the COVID-19 pandemic, projections for the 2022-2023 school year and beyond, people skills, collaboration among chess companies, the Atlanta chess scence, professional development for chess coaches, the art of positive feedback, and more. 

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In Episode 218, I converse with Michael Fried, Partner at Berkman Bottger Newman & Schein, LLP. Since 1997, Fried has practiced Matrimonial and Family Law. He has engaged in numerous trials and hearings in New York County, Kings County, Nassau and Suffolk County and has had conducted countless depositions. He is a member of the New York State and Nassau County Bar Association Family Law Committee as well as a barrister in the Inns of Court. In March 2018, he was accepted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. See my recent apperance on his show 5 Minutes with Fried here.

We speak about the behnid the scenes of matrimonial law, planning for young couples, the importance of listening, litigation as a chess game, benefits of chess for attorneys, suggestions for aspiring attorneys and more. 

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In Episode 217, I converse with the legendary coach Grandmaster Jacob Aagaard, Co-owner of Quality Chess and Killer Chess Training.  He is the 2007 British Chess Champion and Scotland's third-highest rated player as of July 2021, with an Elo rating of 2477. In 2004, he took second place in the Scotish Chess Championship. In 2011, Aagaard was awarded the title of FIDE Senior Trainer. He has coached many strong grandmasters, including Former World Championship Candidate Boris Gelfand and my Brandeis University classmate Sam Shankland.

We speak about the Charlotte Chess Center, the Scotland chess scene, Michael Adams' classical style, grandmasters vs super grandmasters, chess PR , tactical improvement, his new book A Matter of Endgame Technique, and more. 

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In Episode 216, I converse with Paul Rubin, Founder and Executive Director at Camp Good Mourning!, a Long Island-based 501c3 nonprofit that provides FREE bereavement camp programs for Long Island children who are coping wit the death of a a parent and/or sibling. Paul Rubin has a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Arts from Hofstra University and a Masters in Science and Advanced Certificated in Counseling from LIU Post.

We speak about his thoughts on Searching for Bobby Fischer, impulse control, mindfulness, ways to get involved with Camp Good Mourning!, and more. 

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In Episode 215, I converse with Rebecca Solodovnik, Psychotherapist & Certified Management Specialist. She is the owner of mindfree me, which helps clients with anxiety, anger, body image, coping with health issues, depression, eating disorders, grief, self esteem, stress, trauma, PTSD, and workplace trauma. She previously held senior Human Resources positions at Lord & Taylor, INTERMIX, Michael Kors, Valentino, Versace and Chardan.

We speak about professional transitions, the universe, benefits of chess for employees, the inner child, artificial barriers, Queen's Gambit,  mindfulness, stigmas against psychotherapy and more. 

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In Episode 214, I converse with Kara Tatelbaum, Dancer, Choreographer, Coach and Author. After graduating from Tisch School of the Arts at NYU as a University Honors Scholar, Kara began her career as a professional dancer and choreographer, eventually starting her own modern dance company, Independentdancemaker at the age of twenty-one where she earned accolades from The New York Times, Dance Insider, The New Yorker, The Village Voice, and The New York Press. As an in-demand instructor, at one point she taught the most Pilates classes of any NYC Crunch instructor. She now does private pilates training and wellness + resilience coaching. She recently wrote Putting My Heels Down: A Memoir of Having a Dream and a Day Job. 

We speak about the founding of her dance company, the writing cycle, private and group pilates classes, mat vs. reformer, training vs. improvisation, dreams and more.