The Chess Lounge

This week in The Chess Lounge, Dr. Cassidy R Sugimoto introduces her book, Equity for Women in Science and discusses how these lessons can apply to the chess world. She relates the shocking information that many disciplines in sciences have not reached gender parity which means that we are still far away from equity for women in science. Elaynah and Dylan look for lessons on how to apply this important work to the gender imbalance in the chess world. This fascinating conversation has many lessons to learn from history, funding, institutional changes needed, whether women's titles are useful, and many more topics.

A special midweek bonus Chess Lounge episode brings you a side event of the 2024 FIDE Candidates Tournament in Toronto, CAN. Summer showed her film King Chess followed by talk with streamer Nemo (WGM Qiyu Zhou), former Women's World Champion GM Alexandra Kosteniuk and 5x World Champion Viswanathan Anand. They raised funds for the Sickkids Hospital in Toronto. Topics discussed were what got Kosteniuk and Vishy into chess, modern chess and engines, the rise of Indian chess, Women's Candidates, chess 960, the elo gap between men and women, and many other topics! 

This week in the Lounge, Elaynah and Summer talk to a podcasting legend, National Master Ben Johnson from the Perpetual Chess Podcast! They talk about his show, creating 450 episodes, chess tactics, getting good, growing in New Jersey with the Shahades, networking in New York City, rock climbing, skateboarding, poker and more. Sit back, relax and see what it takes to be a top content creator in the chess world!

Episode Rating: ALL AGES (The Chess Lounge is for 13+ so parental discretion is advised)

The Chess Sharkz step into the lounge for an absolutely RAUCOUS episode that explores the comedic and serious of the chess world. The Chess Sharkz are a twitch streaming duo comprised of GM Kayden Troff and reality star Tony Padron. Topics discussed are the differences between EU & American tournaments, Kayden & Tony's Background, One big Secret Kayden has, Tony's experience of being Mexican in Utah, the formation of the ChessSharkz, The Charlotte Chess Center, and much more! 

Episode Rating: ALL AGES (The Chess Lounge is for 13+ so parental discretion is advised)

Elaynah and Dylan return home from an AMAZING trip in Vegas and a two week hiatus. This episode is worth the wait as they bring on Daniel Lona from The Chess Experience podcast. Daniel is a talented copywriter, fitness guru and podcaster. We talked about what got him into chess, Searching for Bobby Fischer, training with IM Andras Toth, what it's like starting a podcast, platforming women, how to help women in chess and more! 

BRILLIANT GAME MENTIONED - Short - Timman - Tilburg 1991

Elaynah and Dylan talk about a few of the different identities that exist in the chess world. Are you an attacking player? Do you have a title or want one? Are you famous? From playstyle to titles to jobs to gender and sexuality, there are many identities that inhabit the minds of chess players. We put on our sunglasses indoors and relax in the lounge to explore a few of key identities that chess players project to the world. 

Episode Rating: The Chess Lounge is for 13+ so parental discretion is advised

Solveig's Video - https://x.com/sjakksnakk/status/1795125916416303548

Sjakksnakk (Norwegian Podcast) - https://x.com/sjakksnakk

Morphy Game Mentioned - https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1238130

Elaynah and Dylan are back in the Lounge with another SPICY episode continuing the controversies from last week with LGBTQ+ topics and the Safety of Women in chess. We discuss the seeming lack of LGBTQ people "out" in the chess community, Trans issues in FIDE, the courage of 2x US Women's champ Jennifer Shahade, abuse by prominent a prominent GM in the US community, another dirt bag, how 10 minute games on chess.com are not rapid, and other silliness. Sit back relax and have fun. Despite how tough these topics can be, listen and give them the time they deserve!

Episode Rating: 13+ (The Chess Lounge is for 13+ so parental discretion is advised) 

TRIGGER WARNING -  This episode contains mentions of sexuality, harassment and sexual abuse

Links mentioned:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/alejandro-ramirez-jennifer-shahade-chess-allegations-622263b8

https://www.chess.com/news/view/jennifer-shahade-leaves-us-chess

https://jenshahade.substack.com/p/lessons-from-whistleblowing

Elaynah and Dylan step into the lounge with some SPICY, controversial topics in the chess world. They discuss a few silly topics followed by some hard hitting journalistic content (well if twitter count as journalism). The topics covered: Are pawns people, the eval bar, cheating in chess, the Neimann - Carlsen scandal, naked chess as a solution for cheating, Kramnik accusing everyone, the World Championship costs - is it too much? Come in, find a comfy seat, pull up a chess board and prepare to have some fun. This is only part 1 so tune in next week for more!

Episode Rating: 13+ (The Chess Lounge is for 13+ so parental discretion is advised) 

TRIGGER WARNING -  this episode contains hypothetical mentions of nudity, including some likely, very unattractive chess players 

Links mentioned:

Grandmaster Denes Boros steps into the lounge to survey the current state of research on the mind, body and chess connection. Denes is a profession chess player, coach at the St. Louis Chess Club and founder of the twitch channel  Chess Weeb. Dylan and Elaynah talk to Denes about many different topics: debunking the notion that chess burns 6,000 calories per game, the important of sleep and dreaming in chess, the importance of community, the popularity and influx of new players in recent years and more! If you enjoy the show please follow and share with your friends. 

Episode Rating: ALL AGES (The Chess Lounge is for 13+ so parental discretion is advised)