Today’s episode of the New In Chess podcast features an interview with Grandmaster Ivan Sokolov.
Ivan is a former Dutch and Yugoslav chess champion who holds victories over several former World Champions, including Kramnik, Anand and Kasparov. He has also been highly successful as a chess trainer, currently coaching the Romanian national team and having previously worked with the Iranian, United Arab Emirates, and Uzbek teams, the latter winning the 2022 Chennai Olympiad under his guidance. He is also a prolific author of chess books on a variety of technical topics. His most recent release, "Winning Chess Middlegames: An Essential Guide to 1.e4 Pawn Structures", is a sequel to the 2009 original, with stronger computer analysis and a heavier focus on open and half-open games.
Together with Remmelt Otten, Ivan discusses his playing and coaching career, his greatest victory, the careers of Alireza and Pragg, and much more.
Timestamps:
00:00 - 02:30 Intro
02:30 - 05:14 His coaching career
05:15 - 06:21 The importance of youth and ambition
06:22 - 08:43 His greatest victory
08:44 - 10:42 Alireza's potential
10:43 - 11:34 Development of Pragg's playing style
11:35 - 16:18 The process of writing Winning Chess Middlegames Volume 2
16:19 - 17:46 Why there was such a long time gap between Volume 1 and Volume 2
17:47 - 18:25 AD BREAK
18:26 - 22:46 How Ivan decided what and what not to include in the book
22:47 - 24:46 Did writing the book improve Ivan's play?
24:47 - 27:06 The target audience of Winning Chess Middlegames
27:07 - 29:10 Ivan's individual coaching practice
29:11 - 30:00 Ivan's Chessable and Chessbase courses
30:01 - 32:19 Ivan's future books and the importance of computer analysis
32:20 - Outro