Podcast

NIC Podcast #93: GM Erwin l'Ami

NIC Podcast #93: GM Erwin l'Ami

Today’s guest is an old friend of the New In Chess Podcast, Dutch grandmaster Erwin l’Ami. Erwin was Dutch Champion in 2022, and among his other notable results are his victories in the 2015 Reykjavik Open and in the Rabat Blitz that same year, where he was even too quick for specialists like Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Alexey Shirov.While Erwin continues to love playing competitive chess in tournaments and club leagues, he has expanded his chess activities in various chess directions over the past years. He’s been working as a trainer for stars such as Veselin Topalov and Anish Giri, and he’s been producing training courses and writing books.It’s in his capacity as a writer that I have invited Erwin this time, as together with Dutch GM Paul van der Sterren, he has just authored a new book on Max Euwe, who sensationally robbed Alexander Alekhine of his world title back in 1935. The title of the book is Max Euwe World Champion!, with an exclam, and it looks in detail at the brief reign of175

NIC Podcast #92: IM John Donaldson

NIC Podcast #92: IM John Donaldson

In today’s episode of the New In Chess podcast, I talk to International Master and prolific chess author John Donaldson. The first time John appeared on the podcast, I had invited him as the captain of the American team on the eve of the 2024 Budapest Olympiad. John has been the captain of the American team for many years and Budapest was his 15th Olympiad, a truly impressive number!This time I have invited John to talk about his latest book on what may safely be called his hero, Bobby Fischer. John has written a lot about Fischer and in 2022 he published his magnum opus Bobby Fischer and His World, a thick book of 644 pages bringing together an enormous amount of material about the 11th World Champion.Now he has  published a new book that is similar in appearance to Bobby Fischer and His World, and is called Inside the Mind of Bobby Fischer. In a voluminous book of 400 pages, John revisits everything he could find that Fischer has written as a chess analyst. Which means that he not only175

NIC Podcast #91: GM Anish Giri

NIC Podcast #91: GM Anish Giri

Today’s podcast once again reaches you from Paphos, in Cyprus, where at the luxurious Cap Saint Georges hotel the Candidates tournament has come to an end after two weeks of excitement and captivating chess. My guest is Anish Giri, one of the main protagonists in this gruelling battle to determine the challenger of World Champion Gukesh later this year. Anish was one of the pretournament favourites and one of the absolute stars of the 2026 Candidates, but in the end he, too, had to bow to the exceptional performance of the winner, twenty-year-old Javokhir Sindarov from Uzbekistan.Anish finished in second place, one and a half points behind Sindarov’s phenomenal 10 out of 14, but one full point ahead of third place Fabiano Caruana, another clear pretournament favourite.Of course, finishing second in such an elite field is a marvellous result – and it comes with a consolation prize of 130,000 euros - but it’s also the cruellest of results in a cutthroat competition where only first place175

NIC Podcast #90: GM Boris Gelfand

NIC Podcast #90: GM Boris Gelfand

Today’s podcast reaches you from Paphos, in Cyprus, on a rest day of the Candidates tournament, after ten of the fourteen rounds have been played. My guest is Boris Gelfand.  For many years, Boris was one of the best players in the world and even if he plays less today, he remains a formidable opponent. Boris is here in Cyprus as an honorary guest and I am glad that he accepted my invitation to talk not only about this Candidates tournament, but also about his own rich experience in the world championship cycle. Boris has successfully played in the Candidates, won Interzonals and a World Cup and was the Challenger of Vishy Anand in the World Championship match in Moscow in 2012. We sat down for our talk at the venue of the Candidates, the luxurious five-star Cap St. Georges Hotel in Paphos on the west coast of Cyprus. The big question here is whether the tournament is still exciting or whether we already know the winner. With four rounds to go it looks like Uzbek star Javokhir Sindarov175

NIC Podcast #89: GM Jacob Aagaard

NIC Podcast #89: GM Jacob Aagaard

My guest in this week’s episode is an old friend of the New In Chess Podcast, Jacob Aagaard. Jacob is a man of many trades and it’s not easy to fully describe all his activities in the chess world without running the risk that you’re forgetting something. So, let’s try. Jacob is a grandmaster who occasionally still feels the lure of competitive chess, and he is a prolific and successful writer, who has authored more than twenty books.Besides a writer, Jacob is also a publisher of chess books, and a top coach who has worked with big names such as Boris Gelfand, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Sam Shankland and many other prominent names that we know or names that are supposed to remain a secret.You may also know Jacob from the online Killer Chess Training courses and the Killer Chess Training camps he organizes in Spain.And as if this is not enough - and as this is the New In Chess Podcast - we should not forget to mention that Jacob is the owner and head of the New In Chess publishing group. A group175

NIC Podcast #88: GM Judit Polgár

NIC Podcast #88: GM Judit Polgár

In this week’s episode of the New In Chess podcast, I talk to none other than Judit Polgar.  Of course, the 'Queen of Chess’ needs no introduction, but then that’s something I have said about many guests - before proceeding to introduce them anyway. Let’s stick to that routine, even if there is every reason to say that this guest really does not need an introduction.Judit Polgar is rightly seen as the greatest female chess player of all time. She not only topped the women’s world rankings for a quarter of a century – I repeat, a quarter of a century, that is 25 years - but she also is the only woman ever to make it to the overall world top 10. Think about it: over the course of her career, Judit defeated no fewer than 11 current or former World Champions in rapid or classical chess.Judit became a grandmaster at the age of 15 years and 4 months, breaking Bobby Fischer’s old record and becoming the youngest grandmaster in the world at the time. Her life has been filled with records, firsts175

NIC Podcast #87: GM Jonathan Tisdall

NIC Podcast #87: GM Jonathan Tisdall

In this episode of the New In Chess podcast, I talk to Norwegian grandmaster Jonathan Tisdall. We look back on the Tata Steel Chess Tournament that ended last Sunday after more than two weeks of captivating chess. Both Jonathan and I were in Wijk aan Zee for the final rounds and witnessed how the Tata Steel Masters ended in a great victory for Nodirbek Abdusattorov. Finally, after several failed attempts, the 21-year-old star from Uzbekistan ended the ‘Wijk aan Zee’ curse that had plagued him in the past years. On more than one occasion, he had seen victory elude him on the final days. This time he remained in control till the very end and at long last won the tournament that he had dreamed of from when he was a kid. Finally, his photo will be included in the winners’ gallery of ‘the Wimbledon of Chess’. Jonathan Tisdall was born in the US from a Japanese mother and Irish father, and then - long story short - he emigrated to London and next to Norway, where he has been living for many175

NIC Podcast #86: GM Loek van Wely

NIC Podcast #86: GM Loek van Wely

On the final free day of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee, I invited Dutch grandmaster Loek van Wely to talk about the ten rounds of ‘the Wimbledon of Chess’ that have been played so far. Much to my delight, Loek - who is in Wijk aan Zee as the coach of Dutch grandmaster Max Warmerdam - accepted the invitation.With three rounds to go, Uzbekistan’s top player Nodirbek Abdusattorov is leading the Tata Steel Masters, half a point ahead of three pursuers: his countryman Javokhir Sindarov, Jorden van Foreest (winner in 2021) and Germany’s Matthias Bluebaum. In the Challengers, Azerbaijan’s biggest promise, Aydin Suleymanli is in the lead. He is being chased by Andy Woodward, MarcAndria Maurizzi and good old Vasyl Ivanchuk (56).The final three rounds promise an abundance of tension and excitement. Especially, as so far this year’s edition has seen a remarkable mix of gross errors, oversights and brilliant chess.We had a lot to discuss. Why have we seen so many mistakes? Should175

NIC Podcast #85: GM Peter Svidler

NIC Podcast #85: GM Peter Svidler

My guest in the first New In Chess Podcast of 2026 is Peter Svidler. It’s a special moment. Two years ago, Peter was my very first guest in the inaugural episode of the podcast and I am delighted that he’s returning. Peter can look back on an incredible career as a player and he is one of the most knowledgeable and versatile experts in the world of chess. He is a three-time Candidate for the World Championship, an eight-time champion of Russia, and a World Cup winner. Among his many further successes are five gold team medals at the Olympiad.Over the past years, as he began to play less, Peter has become one of the most popular and loved chess commentators in the world. In fact, it’s fair to say that he was one of the commentators that took chess broadcasts to a new level and did a lot for the professionalization of our game.  For all these reasons, Peter is a perfect guest at the start of 2026, as we look ahead to a well-filled chess year that no doubt will bring us many highlights.First175

NIC Podcast #84: GM Matthew Sadler

NIC Podcast #84: GM Matthew Sadler

In this week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast, my guest is English grandmaster Matthew Sadler. Matthew is a two-time British Champion, a streamer, a YouTuber, an expert in chess engines, and a very successful author.  From his books, I only have to mention Game Changer, co-authored with Natasha Regan, on AlphaZero’s groundbreaking chess strategies and the promise of AI, which was one of the most successful and talked about books of the past years. But I might also mention its sequel, The Silicon Road to Chess Improvement, and the book he wrote together with Steve Giddins, Re-engineering the Chess Classics.These days Matthew is an IT Consultant, but he makes no secret of the fact that he fills his spare time with as much chess as possible. And although the FIDE rating list no longer has him as an active player, his FIDE rating still hovers eerily close to 2700. In fact, Matthew might very well be the strongest amateur chess player in the world.And last but not least, Matthew is the175

NIC Podcast: GM Anatoly Lutikov

NIC Podcast: GM Anatoly Lutikov

This week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast features a narration from The Essential Sosonko, a collection of chess portraits and personal stories authored by chess grandmaster Ghenna Sosonko. The subject of this week's story is Russian grandmaster Anatoly Lutikov (1933-1989).   "Luka" is another lesser-known name in the Essential catalogue, but his story is no less interesting. Coming from a working-class background, Genna describes how "with his independent character, recklessness, and his entire manner of behaviour, he somehow did not fit in with the academic regime of tournaments on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and theoretical lessons on Fridays. His sole trainer became play itself."   Lutikov's recklessness translated to the chessboard, where he was an attacking player feared by everyone in the Soviet chess elite, and beyond. When a fifteen-year old American boy named Bobby Fischer visited Moscow for a series of blitz matches, he crushed several masters in a row before the "big175

NIC Podcast #82: GM Jan Timman

NIC Podcast #82: GM Jan Timman

In this week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast, my guest is Dutch grandmaster Jan Timman. Jan returns to the podcast to talk about his latest book, Timman’s Studies, an impressive volume of 455 pages in which he presents his collected endgame studies and explains how they originated.Of course, Jan Timman is primarily known as the most successful Dutch chess player of the past fifty years; a world-class player who won countless elite tournaments around the world and rose to second place in the world rankings, behind Anatoly Karpov, in 1982.However, in recent years, after Covid, Jan’s appearances as a player had become less frequent, and a few weeks ago he announced in an interview with Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad, that he has ended his active career as a player. Of course, he still follows chess closely – and he stresses that this is classical chess and not rapid chess, even if Magnus Carlsen plays, and certainly not Freestyle chess. As Honorary Editor, Jan also continues to write175