Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam

NIC Podcast #79: GM Ruslan Ponomariov

NIC Podcast #79: GM Ruslan Ponomariov

In this week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast, my guest is Ukrainian grandmaster Ruslan Ponomariov. Born in 1983, Ruslan embarked on his career as one of the most astonishing prodigies in chess history. When he was 12, he won the U18 European Championship, when he was 14, he was the youngest grandmaster in the world, the youngest ever at that time. When he was 18, Ruslan won the FIDE World Championship by defeating his countryman Vasyl Ivanchuk in the final of the 2002 knock-out World Championship.There are many excellent reasons to have Ruslan Ponomariov on the New In Chess podcast, but the main reason this time is the victory earlier this week of the Ukrainian national team, led by Ruslan, at the European Team Championships in Batumi. A victory that made his country proud in incredibly difficult times, as Ukraine continues to suffer day in day out after Russia’s brutal invasion three years ago.It's also a highly emotional moment that offers a brief moment of reprieve for the chess175

NIC Podcast #77 - GM Erwin l'Ami

NIC Podcast #77 - GM Erwin l'Ami

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with Dutch grandmaster Erwin l’Ami. Erwin has been a chess professional for some twenty years now. Among his most notable successes are victories in the Reykjavik Open in 2015 and in the Dutch Championship in 2022. And let me not forget to mention his win in the Rabat Blitz in 2015, ahead of speedsters like Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Alexei Shirov, if only for the fact that I had the privilege of watching this victory from a front row seat in the Moroccan capital. Erwin loves to play in tournaments – that remains his biggest passion - but his chess activities expand into other areas as well. He’s a prolific writer, has made popular courses for Chessable, and is a highly respected trainer. In that role, he has been on Veselin Topalov’s world championship team and has worked with Anish Giri for many years.I invited Erwin to the podcast to talk about his life in chess and to see where our conversation would lead us. Right175

NIC Podcast #70 - GM Viswanathan Anand

NIC Podcast #70 - GM Viswanathan Anand

My guest in this week’s episode is a very special one, it’s none other than five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand. Commonly known as Vishy Anand, he is one of the greatest and most popular champions in the history of our game and one of its most admired and respected ambassadors. Anand was the first ever Indian grandmaster, and look what happened in his wake, today there are 85 grandmasters in India, it’s truly unbelievable. Although no one could blame him if he decided to rest on his laurels, Vishy Anand remains active as a player – and he is still ranked number 13 in the world (2743), which is frankly incredible - but in the past years he has also taken on new roles. He is Deputy Vice-President of FIDE and he is a partner in the Westbridge Anand Chess Academy in Chennai, where the cream of the highly successful young Indian generation is training and, no doubt, many youngsters whose names we do not yet know.Vishy Anand joins us from Leon, in Spain, where he is playing in the invitational175

NIC Podcast #69 - WGM Tania Sachdev

NIC Podcast #69 - WGM Tania Sachdev

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with Indian chess star Tania Sachdev. Tania is a two-time Indian Women’s Champion, she was a member of the Indian Women’s team that wrote history when they won gold at the Budapest Olympiad last year, and she is one of the most popular chess commentators in the world. Relying on the broad knowledge and deep insights of the professional, and the unbridled enthusiasm of the true chess fan, Tania can entertain and speak to audiences of all levels.I interviewed Tania on the final day of Norway Chess, a couple of hours before the prizegiving and closing dinner. For close to two weeks, she had been working in the Chess.com studio in Stavanger alongside fellow commentators Jovanka Houska and David Howell, but, as I had hoped and expected, that did not stop her from being as energetic and passionate as ever as she answered my questions with a stream of stories, memories, observations and thoughts.We spoke about her family background175

NIC Podcast #68 - James Altucher

NIC Podcast #68 - James Altucher

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with James Altucher, an ardent chess lover and one of the most inquisitive and inspiring persons I have met in recent years. James Altucher is an investor, a venture capitalist and a firm believer in AI and crypto. He’s also a bestselling author – you may know his book Choose Yourself – and he has a popular podcast with 50 thousand subscribers, The James Altucher Show. In his podcast, he dives into the world of entrepreneurship, personal development and out-of-the-box thinking. Or, as he puts it himself, he interviews the world’s peak performers in every area of life. You will find a wealth of thought-provoking conversations at https://jamesaltuchershow.com/But the main reason why I invited James Altucher to the New In Chess Podcast, is the great column he has been writing for New In Chess Magazine for the past four years. In his column, he describes his struggle to regain his old chess strength after he returned to our175

NIC Podcast #66 - GM David Navara

NIC Podcast #66 - GM David Navara

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with Czech grandmaster David Navara. For more than 20 years, David Navara has been the leading chess player of the Czech Republic. Thirteen times he won the national championship. In 2015, he was ranked number 14 in the world, with a peak rating of 2751.I spoke to David last week, in Prague, the city where he was born 40 years ago and where he still lives. Over the years, we met on many occasions, but for some inexplicable reason we never sat down for a proper interview. Now we did and to begin with we returned to our first meeting, in 2001 at the European Team Championship in Leon, in the north of Spain, where 16-year-old David  was one of the stars as he scored an impressive 7 out of 9. Even if we’d only just met, he kindly showed me three of his games, giving me a first taste of his phenomenal talent.After this nice memory, David talked with great openness about his upbringing, his loving parents, the crises in his175

NIC Podcast #64 - IM Kostya Kavutskiy

NIC Podcast #64 - IM Kostya Kavutskiy

This week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with American International Master Kostya Kavutskiy. Kostya is one of the three "senseis" (teachers) at the ChessDojo, an international chess training program that Kostya runs together with fellow Americans GM Jesse Kraai and IM David Pruess. As a player, he is currently embarking on a "European tour", which has included the recent Reykjavik and Grenke tournaments. His next destination is Spain, where he will be attending the Killer Chess training camp organised by Jacob Aagaard. Joining us from Hamurg, Germany, Kostya talks to Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam about the origins of the ChessDojo program, his GM ambitions, meeting Vasyl Ivanchuk and much more. Enjoy this week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast! 0:00 – Intro 2:08 – Why Kostya prefers playing in Europe 4:00 – The philosophy behind the Chess Dojo 9:58 – How did Kostya transition from playing to teaching? 11:25 – Drawing inspiration from Mark Dvorestky 12:55 – The175

NIC Podcast #61 - Bessel Kok

NIC Podcast #61 - Bessel Kok

This week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with Dutch businessman and chess benefactor Bessel Kok. Bessel is one of the founders of SWIFT, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, which provides the main messaging network through which international payments are initiated. In the 1980's, Bessel organised the first SWIFT chess tournaments, which significantly raised the standards for chess professionalism. He befriended several of the world's strongest players, including Garry Kasparov. Together with them, he would go on to found the Grandmaster Association (GMA), an organisation aimed at creating "a high-quality environment for chess and to promote professional chess by grandmasters". Although the GMA would eventually disappear, Bessel kept his interest in chess while remaining active in other fields, such as film production and pro cycling.  Interviewed by Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam, Bessel retells the story of the origins of the GMA, his175

NIC Podcast #60 - GM Peter Leko

NIC Podcast #60 - GM Peter Leko

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with Hungarian grandmaster Peter Leko. A world-class grandmaster and former prodigy, Peter now works as a coach and has achieved acclaim as one of the most popular online chess commentators. Peter Leko was extremely successful as a player. As a young kid of only 14 years, four months and 22 days, he became a grandmaster in 1994. This achievement made him the youngest grandmaster in the world at the time, breaking the old record of Judit Polgar. Peter rapidly grew into a world-class player and ultimately challenged for the world title against Vladimir Kramnik in 2004. This proved to be both a high in Leko’s career and a traumatic moment, as he was leading by one point going into the last game and dramatically lost that game, allowing Kramnik to retain the title. In 2025, Peter is no longer an active player and devotes himself to commentary and coaching, with Vincent Keymer as his most notable pupil. In a lively and engaging175

NIC Podcast #58 - GM Matthew Sadler

NIC Podcast #58 - GM Matthew Sadler

This week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with English grandmaster Matthew Sadler.  Often called "the world's strongest amateur", Matthew is a former two-time British Chess Champion. He is also active as a streamer and author, and of course as the beloved book reviewer for New In Chess Magazine. In our last conversation with Matthew, we talked at length about "Game Changer", his critically acclaimed book about Google's AlphaZero chess engine. This time, we discuss even more recent developments in (computer) chess, such as the recent string of odds games played by Leela and the Freestyle "world championship".  Interviewed by Dirk Jan Ten Geuzendam, Matthew previews the year 2025, discusses his fascination with Leela, talks about some classic chess books, and even gives an interesting take on the stale-growing GOAT debate in chess, among many other things.  Timestamps: 0:00 – Intro 2:16 – Matthew’s fascination with recent odds games played by chess engine175

NIC Podcast #57 - GM Loek van Wely

NIC Podcast #57 - GM Loek van Wely

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with Dutch grandmaster Loek van Wely. One of our return guests, Loek needs no introduction for our regular listeners. An eight-time Dutch national champion, Loek had his career peak in 2001, when he made it to the world top 10 with a rating of 2714. Besides his own achievements on the chess board, Loek is a successful coach, who has worked with stars like Gata Kamsky, Vladimir Kramnik (2007), Veselin Topalov, and more recently the Italian national team and Dutch grandmaster Max Warmerdam.  With an incredible 25 appearances in the Masters group, Loek is the most experienced Tata Steel Chess Tournament player alive. Going back all the way to 1989, Loek has faced off with virtually every strong contemporary player at the event, from Viktor Korchnoi to the Polgar sisters as well as every World Champion of his era. Interviewed by Dirk Jan Ten Geuzendam, he looks back on the performances of several top players at this year’s175

NIC Podcast #55 - GM Jorden van Foreest

NIC Podcast #55 - GM Jorden van Foreest

This week’s guest on the New In Chess podcast is Dutch grandmaster Jorden van Foreest. On the eve of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee, Jorden van Foreest talks to Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam about his preparation for ‘the Wimbledon of chess’ and his adventures in earlier editions of this world-class event. Most notably, the 2021 edition that Jorden sensationally won ahead of a daunting field that included Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana and Anish Giri. As they look ahead to the 87th(!) edition of ‘Wijk aan Zee’, Jorden also gives his take on two news stories that got worldwide attention during the World Rapid & Blitz Championship in New York that he recently played in: ‘Jeansgate’, the scandal that erupted when Magnus Carlsen was fined for wearing jeans, and the controversial end of the Blitz championship, when Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi decided to share the title and the world chess federation FIDE went along in this breaking of the rules. Jorden was born into a175