In this week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast, Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam talks to one of the greatest champions of our game, none other than the First Lady of Chess, Judit Polgar. With the Olympiad in Judit’s home city Budapest around the corner, it’s hard to think of a better guest!
Of course, Judit Polgar needs no introduction, so let’s try anyway!
Judit Polgar is the strongest female chess player of all time. At the age of 15 years and four months, she broke Bobby Fischer’s record to become the youngest grandmaster in history. That was in 1991 when 15 was still incredibly young for a GM.
For more than two decades, Judit competed successfully with the very best and became the first and only woman ever to enter the world's top 10. In her career, she defeated eleven current or former World Champions in classical or rapid chess—yes, eleven!
Judit retired from professional chess in 2014 but continues to be one of the game's most loved ambassadors. She’s a welcome guest all around the world175
Vishnu Prasanna is an Indian chess grandmaster who has been coaching professionally since 2016. His individual, group and online camps have been attended by hundreds of Indian and international players, and helped cultivate some of India’s brightest young talents. First among them is of course upcoming world title challenger Gukesh D, whose ability as a young player was greatly fostered under Vishnu’s mentorship.
These days, Vishnu and his wife continue to own and operate their own chess school. Vishnu’s coaching methods emphasise consistency while also focusing on the psychological aspect of the game, thereby continuing to inspire young chess players in the city of Chennai and beyond.
Interviewed by his friend and our fresh host Jacob Aagaard, Vishnu goes in-depth on his life as a chess professional, the growth of Gukesh, and the city of Chennai.
Timestamps (Spotify)00:00 – Intro04:10 – Chennai as a chess city (CLIP)05:42 – The importance of Vishy Anand for the city of Chennai07:18175
José Raúl Capablanca is a fascinating figure whose life and career offer rich material for a captivating podcast. Born in 1888 in Havana, Cuba, Capablanca's journey from a child prodigy to one of the greatest chess players in history is filled with intrigue, brilliance, and a dash of charisma that sets him apart from his peers.
What makes Capablanca truly interesting is his natural talent for chess, evident from an early age. He learned the game by watching his father play and quickly became a sensation, winning the Cuban National Championship at 13 years old. His seemingly effortless style, often described as "chess perfection," earned him the nickname "The Human Chess Machine." This mastery peaked when he became the World Chess Champion in 1921 by defeating the legendary Emanuel Lasker, a title he held until 1927.
Capablanca's influence on chess theory is profound, particularly in the endgame. His clarity of thought and ability to simplify complex positions make his games a treasure175
These book reviews by Matthew Sadler were published in New In Chess magazine 2024#4
Three excellent books about Simen Agdestein, Mark Dvoretsky and Bobby Fischer each contained some amazing stories.by Matthew Sadler
One of the things that struck me when I started work after my professional chess career was how little energy I needed to work at a decent level compared to chess. Anything less than eight hours’ sleep and a chess disaster was looming, whereas I’ve worked off four hours’ sleep for most of my (single) life and rarely felt the effects. Even with plenty of rest, by the time I’d got halfway through a classical tournament, I could feel myself retreating into a narrow, ‘programmed’ state where I was capable of doing everything related to chess but nothing else. At a certain moment during a tournament, I couldn’t read novels anymore (tiredness made me too sensitive to bad things happening to the characters) and I became quite vulnerable to the effect of negative comments (which led175
This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features a narration from “The Essential Sosonko”, a collection of chess portraits based on personal stories authored by chess grandmaster Genna Sosonko.
This episode is about Lev Abramovich Polugaevsky, one of the strongest chess-players of the late 1960s and early 1970s. To a significant extent his successes can be attributed to his thorough opening preparation, which went even deeper than Botvinnik’s, and set the trend for the later generations of world elite players.
From a young age, Lev’s thinking was concrete, and his analysis “simply brilliant”, in the words of his good friend Vasily Smyslov. He obtained the Master title when he had already reached adulthood, but he never stopped becoming stronger until well in his forties. He peaked at 2645 and made it to third place on the ranks in July 1972.
A lifelong friend of the Sicilian Defence, among the works on his bibliography are two monographs on the opening. “Lyova” even came up with175
In this week’s New In Chess Podcast episode, Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam receives American coach and chess writer Charles Hertan to talk about his new book The Real Paul Morphy.
The Real Paul Morphy is not the first book by Charles Hertan that New In Chess published. In 2008, Hertan’s Forcing Chess Moves won the Chess Café Book of the Year Award and authored the successful Power Chess for Kids series.
The Real Paul Morphy (publication date 25 July) focuses on the life and games of the great American champion Paul Morphy (1837-1884), one of the biggest stars the game has ever seen.
Morphy dazzled the world for only a couple of years with his brilliant play before he withdrew from all chess competitions and tragically died at the young age of 47.
In his book, Hertan chronologically tells the story of Morphy’s life and his amazing chess career, interspersed by his most important games with fresh analysis.
Hertan uses his experience as a professional psychotherapist to shed new light on Morphy’s175
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