The Chess Circuit

IN THIS EPISODE

I chat to Goru Arvind from the Fiji Chess Federation.  We talked on Zoom (which explains why I am describing my chess-themed backdrop) and covered all sorts of topics and the upshot of that is a) I am moving to Fiji and b) I am joining their Olympiad Team!  We are also planning a Cornwall - Fiji chess match on Tornelo.com, and that is just the beginning...

MENTIONED DURING THE CHAT

Ben Graff (author of The Greenbecker Gambit) and I talk about the recently released Netflix series The Queen's Gambit (released 23 October) based on the book by Walter Tevis. Please give us some suggestions for our next binge watch / review!

https://www.netflix.com/search?q=queens&jbv=80234304

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https://anchor.fm/thechesscircuit

MENTIONED IN THE PODCAST

The Greenbecker Gambit, by Ben Graff ([email protected]) - https://theconradpress.com/product/the-greenbecker-gambit/

Chess Improvement, by Peter Wells and Barry Hymer - https://www.crownhouse.co.uk/publications/chess-improvement

If you’re a premium subscriber to my Newsletter, imaginatively titled The Chess Circuit, you can suggest guests and topics for future episodes and enjoy many more yet-to-be-conceived perks.

Today my guest is Andrew Horne, who is a well-known streamer (as ChessHeroes) and chess coach from South Africa.  We talk about;

THANKS!

MENTIONED DURING THE CHAT

- Chess Heroes - https://www.twitch.tv/chessheroes

- 2020chess a league for students (and now for all!) - https://2020chess.com/

Ben Graff and Adam Raoof discuss the 1983 novel by Walter Tevis and the release of the forthcoming drama on Netflix!

PLOT SPOILER ALERT!

Based on the novel by Walter Tevis, the Netflix limited series drama THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT is a coming-of-age story that explores the true cost of genius.

Abandoned and entrusted to a Kentucky orphanage in the late 1950s, a young Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy)  discovers an astonishing talent for chess while developing an addiction to tranquilizers provided by the state as a sedative for the children. Haunted by her personal demons and fuelled by a cocktail of narcotics and obsession, Beth transforms into an impressively skilled and glamorous outcast while determined to conquer the traditional boundaries established in the male-dominated world of competitive chess.

The series is directed and written by two-time Academy Award nominee Scott Frank and executive produced by Frank, William Horberg and Allan Scott, who also co-created the series.

THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT stars Anya Taylor-Joy, Marielle Heller, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Moses Ingram, Harry Melling and Bill Camp.

In this episode my guest is Tom Quilter, who is quite well known as a player on the tournament circuit and is also the creator of a great website for kids preparing for exams called Pinpoint Learning.  He is also a great advocate for Chess960 (otherwise known as Fischer Random chess).  We talk about how Chess960 might be the future of chess, whether the pandemic is actually a great opportunity for changing the way we think about what we are doing, playing ultimate frisbee in Hawaii, addictive personalities, losing weight by running, the Digital Nomad future, why car auctions have taken off online and much more!

I particularly like the calming sound of wood pigeons in the background!

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If you’re a premium subscriber to my Newsletter, imaginatively titled The Chess Circuit, you can suggest guests and topics for future episodes and enjoy many more yet-to-be-conceived perks.

MENTIONED DURING THE CHAT

- Pinpoint Learning - www.pinpointlearning.co.uk - excellent software for kids to prepare for their exams

- Chess960, AKA Fischer Random Chess - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fischer_random_chess

Let me know if I've missed anything and I will update this page!

David Cordover bounced back from the pandemic by creating a totally unique platform, www.tornelo.com, where people could organise and play chess tournaments.  Six months later Tornelo is now seeing events with 1000+ participants and recently hosted the prestigious ECU European Youth Championships.

The oldest of 5 children, David was born in London and lived in 15 countries before settling in Australia. He briefly attended Melbourne High School, leaving half-way through Year 10 to pursue his passion for chess.

If you’re a premium subscriber to my Newsletter, imaginatively titled The Chess Circuit, you can suggest guests and topics for future episodes and enjoy many more yet-to-be-conceived perks.

Today my guest is Oxford student, programmer, concert pianist and martial arts expert Aloysius Lip, who in his spare time has created some groundbreaking tournament management software called ScorchChess, which could be the next big thing if Magnus Carlsen sees it and buys it for PlayChess.  He is also a fan of hyperbullet, which is like bullet chess, only hyper.

I talked to Aloysius after his work had just won the English Chess Federation award for Online Contribution to Chess (Joint Winners) – Aloysius Lip (Scorch Chess) & 4NCL Online.

If you’re a premium subscriber to my Newsletter, imaginatively titled The Chess Circuit, you can suggest guests and topics for future episodes and enjoy many more yet-to-be-conceived perks.

MENTIONED DURING THE CHAT

- ScorchChess - https://scorchapp.co.uk/ - excellent management software for leagues

- European Chess Union - https://www.europechess.org/

- ScorchChess Social Media - https://www.facebook.com/scorchchess and https://twitter.com/scorchchess

- Four Nations Chess League - 4NCL - http://www.4ncl.co.uk/ - UK premier national team chess competition

- Tornelo - www.tornelo.com 

Let me know if I've missed anything and I will update this page!

One of the things I've been asked to do for The Chess Circuit is provide an audio version of some of the articles. That might seem quite tricky when it comes to annotating chess games, but we'll have a go. For some of the book reviews and other articles. It's going to be simple. Isn't it?

Chess For Life - https://matthewsadler.me.uk/chess-for-life/

Matthew Sadler's website - https://matthewsadler.me.uk/

Matthew's YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0pQR9jhWhWRhAA9v49kurw

IN THIS EPISODE

I chat to author Ben Graff. We cover what's been going on at the World Chess Olympiad, writing his novel The Greenbecker Gambit, and what chess might look like after lockdown.

If you’re a premium subscriber to my Newsletter, imaginatively titled The Chess Circuit, you can suggest guests and topics for future episodes and enjoy many more yet-to-be-conceived perks.

MENTIONED DURING THE CHAT

The Greenbecker Gambit - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Greenbecker-Gambit-Ben-Graff/

FIDE - The World Chess Federation - www.fide.com

Ben Graff radio interview - https://sndup.net/296m

Four Nations Chess League - 4NCL - http://www.4ncl.co.uk/ - UK premier national team chess competition

Let me know if I've missed anything and I will update this page!

I chat to Peter Hornsby of www.2020chess.com, the innovative student team chess tournament that has gone global during the pandemic!  We cover making chess commentary accessible to all, cheating in chess, what his plans are post-pandemic and more.

Apologies for the poor sound quality at my end!  It's a learning curve and the next podcast will be much more professional...

If you’re a premium subscriber to my Newsletter, imaginatively titled The Chess Circuit, you can suggest guests and topics for future episodes and enjoy many more yet-to-be-conceived perks.

MENTIONED DURING THE CHAT

Scorchchess - https://scorchapp.co.uk/ - excellent management software for leagues

Four Nations Chess League - 4NCL - http://www.4ncl.co.uk/ - UK premier national team chess competition