New In Chess Podcast

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with Hungarian grandmaster Peter Leko.Reaching you from Budapest, Hungary, Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam talks to Peter about the Total Chess Pilot being held there, in the magnificent Anantara hotel, with 24 of the world’s best players taking part, including Magnus Carlsen. Next year will see the Total Chess World Championship, with four tournaments in cities around the world, to determine who will be the 2027 Total Chess World Champion. The new format, a mix of blitz, rapid and fast classical chess, is tested in a spectacular pilot in Budapest.Peter Leko is the only Hungarian to ever play a match for the World Championship and a legend in many other ways. Besides being one of the greatest players his country has ever produced, Peter is one of the most popular commentators around. And he is the second of German star Vincent Keymer, one of the participants in the Total Chess Pilot.With his contagious enthusiasm and his wide knowledge of anything connected with chess, Peter talks about the new format and its challenges. And much more. You don’t want to miss his fond memories of his meetings with Bobby Fischer. Have a listen and have fun!  0:00 – Intro1:50 – The pilot of the Total Chess Championship3:50 – What does Peter think about the Total Chess concept?12:50 – Is the “fast classical” format too fast to be called classical?17:10 – Coaching Vincent Keymer in this novel format28:12 – AD BREAK28:46 – Why coaches always have to be positive31:10 – How does Peter channel his own ambitiousness into Vincent’s play?34:50 – How far is Vincent from fulfilling his potential as a player?41:39 – Peter’s post-playing career: does he get nostalgic?54:35 – Peter’s meeting with Bobby Fischer1:05:50 – Peter will be commentating on the World Championship with Peter Svidler!1:07:15 – Who will win the match?1:09:08 – Outro 

This week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with American grandmaster Joel Benjamin.Joel is a three-time US Champion, who can look back on a long and successful career. At the age of 13 he made headlines for the first time as he became an International Master, breaking Bobby Fischer’s record, who had been the youngest US master up till that moment. Joel is also a successful and prolific chess writer. Today's interview discusses his latest book, "Bobby Fischer’s Best Games, The Lasting Legacy of the American World Champion." On the New In Chess website the book is described as ‘A modern reappraisal of Bobby Fischer’s greatest games. With engine-aided insight and personal perspective, this book highlights the clarity, technique, and huge impact of Fischer’s chess.’Interviewed by Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam, you will get a taste of the way Joel Benjamin approached his subject by listening to this podcast, full of great stories and fond memories. Don’t miss it!0:00 – Intro 2:20 – How Joel started writing his Bobby Fischer book5:58 – Getting into chess because of Fischer  9:28 – What was Joel most surprised to learn about Fischer while writing the book?11:40 – Why the US never produced “the next Bobby Fischer”14:29 – How was Joel influenced by Fischer as a player?17:30 – What Joel thinks would have happened in a Fischer – Karpov match20:55 – Fischer’s endgame skills22:35 – Fischer’s love of bishops24:53 – AD BREAK25:25 – Joel’s background as a historian27:43 – Joel’s “must read” Fischer books30:39 – Fischer’s need for clarity32:25 – Growing up without chess technology35:30 – Kids don’t read books39:25 – Fischer’s personality and personal life outside of chess41:05 – Why Americans are reluctant to write about Fischer’s flaws43:50 – AD BREAK46:35 – Joel’s take on the eternal GOAT debate50:50 – Joel current playing career52:44 – Did Joel enjoy writing the book?55:38 – What is Fischer’s current standing in American chess?58:02 – Outro 

This week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with Dutch grandmaster Anish Giri.Anish barely needs an introduction. He is one of the world’s strongest and most popular chess grandmasters, he’s the top board of the national team of the Netherlands and he is a contributing editor to New In Chess Magazine (and, of course, he is much more, such as a great chess influencer and instructor with his own YouTube channel and his own instructional platform ChessMonitor.com). Anish has just returned from the Olympiad, where 206 teams competed in the Open Section, and an amazing 189 teams in the Women’s section. As you may have seen or heard the Women’s section was won by China and the Open section ended in a triumph for Uzbekistan. Besides the chess on the board, there was also a huge chess political contest, as FIDE, the international chess federation, elected a new President. Timur Turlov, a billionaire businessman from Kazakhstan will be FIDE’s president for the coming four years.Speaking to Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam from his home in The Hague, Anish answered my questions about the impressive winners from Uzbekistan, the special character of the Olympiad, the performances of the most prominent stars (What was Gukesh doing on Board 4 of the Indian team? What should we think of yet another exceptional result of Yagiz Erdogmus?), and much more. Such as his meetings with all three candidates in the presidential elections and his take on the new president Timur Turlov.If you know Anish, you know that you should not miss this episode!0:00 – Intro2:35 – Anish explains what makes the Chess Olympiad a unique event 6:10 – The varying degrees to which different chess federations support their players10:44 – The Global Chess League15:35 – The Dutch team’s performance at the Olympiad20:25 – Jorden losing out on winning a board gold medal22:14 – AD BREAK23:12 – The winners of the Olympiad: Uzbekistan28:52 – Gukesh playing fourth board for India32:45 – Ding’s performance for China34:40 – The US team’s performance37:20 – Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus’s performance43:40 – AD BREAK44:12 – The FIDE presidential elections1:03:02 - Outro

This week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with Dutch grandmaster Paul van der Sterren. Paul is a two-time Dutch Champion and between 1982 and 2000, he represented the Netherlands at eight Olympiads. Arguably his most memorable feat on the chess board was his second place in the impressively strong 1993 Biel Interzonal that earned him a spot in the Candidates matches of the World Championship cycle. The match he lost to Gata Kamsky could hardly be called a failure, as Kamsky was at the peak of his powers at the time and defeated none other than Vishy Anand in the next stage of the Candidates.When Paul ended his professional career in 2001, he became even more active as a writer than he had already been. Besides books on chess openings, he wrote a stunning autobiography that was first published in Dutch in 2011 and was translated into English in 2023. That book, entitled In Black and White, won the ECF Book of the Year Award, and is in my opinion easily the most deep-digging autobiography in chess literature. For its frankness and deep soul-searching the book might also have been entitled Open, if that title had not already been taken by Andre Agassi.Paul also wrote, together with fellow Dutch grandmaster Erwin l’Ami, "Max Euwe, World Champion!", a reappraisal of the fifth World Champion. It’s a marvellous book that argues convincingly, both in Paul’s compelling story and in Erwin’s annotated games, that the Dutchman fully deserves his place in the gallery of World Champions.Another reason is, that rumour has it that the same authors are preparing a book on another Dutch great, Hein Donner. A book in which they hope to give an honest answer to the question how strong the legendary Donner, who we mainly know from his brilliant writings, really was.So, if you want to hear great stories about these two giants of Dutch chess, don’t miss this episode of the New In Chess Podcast. You could not hope for a better expert to guide you than Paul van der Sterren.0:00 – Intro 2:25 – Paul’s life as retired chess professional8:50 – Dealing with the highs and lows of being a full-time chess player12:30 – Paul’s autobiography, “In Black and White”16:22 – Paul’s Max Euwe biography, co-authored with GM Erwin l’Ami20:05 – Why Paul considers himself too old to analyse games21:23 – Paul’s interest in the “human behind the player”23:10 – What did Paul find out about Max Euwe, the human being?25:10 – Why Alekhine was a dishonest man27:25 – AD BREAK28:00 – Has Euwe’s legacy been impacted by his own modesty and humility?31:25 – Max Euwe’s double life as a teacher and chess player35:55 – When Paul personally met Max Euwe as a young player41:45 – Hein Donner51:11 – AD BREAK52:10 – Paul’s personal experience with Donner59:20 – Being asked by Euwe to revise his earlier works1:05:03 - Outro

This week's episode of the New In Chess podcast features an interview with Icelandic grandmaster Margeir Petursson.Margeir first became a national celebrity in Iceland as a chess player. He won the Icelandic championship twice, in 1986 and 1987, and had further successes at home and abroad, winning classics such as the Hastings Premier in 1986 and dozens of strong Opens around the world. He was also a member of the legendary Icelandic national team that finished 5th at the Dubai Olympiad in 1986 and 6th at the Manila Olympiad in 1992. The ‘Golden Team’ that he played on together with Johann Hjartarson, Helgi Olafsson and Jon Arnason.While many still saw him first and foremost as a chess player, Margeir also embarked on a banking career and founded his own bank, MP Bank (indeed, Margeir Petursson bank!). He became internationally known as the owner of the only Icelandic bank that did not collapse in the big Icelandic banking crisis in 2008. Those turbulent days were far from the last time that he had to operate in chaos and crisis. In the following years, Margeir switched his activities to Ukraine where he acquired Bank Lviv, and faced entirely new challenges, particularly when the country was invaded by Russia and became a nation at war.  Enjoy this week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast!0:00 – Intro2:14 – Margeir’s memory of Reykjavik 1972 9:06 – How Margeir developed his passion for chess21:46 – AD BREAK23:27 – Margeir’s decision to pursue chess while working as a banker28:30 – How did Margeir work on his chess?35:04 – Why Fischer “pushed” Margeir out of chess38:50 – Margeir’s banking career 42:40 – How Margeir ended up in Ukraine49:55 – AD BREAK50:54 – Did Margeir’s skill in chess translate to his banking career?1:05:37 – Outro