New In Chess Podcast

This week’s episode of the New In Chess podcast features an interview with Atle Grønn, the author of Games and Goals, The Fascinating Chess and Football Careers of Simen Agdestein.

Atle Grønn is Professor of Slavic linguistics at the University of Oslo, but he is also a strong chess player - an International Master - and has written several books on chess. In Norway, he is a familiar face on television as chess expert in the live broadcasts of big chess events by NRK.

Games and Goals is the biography of Simen Agdestein, who not only was the greatest Norwegian chess player before Magnus Carlsen appeared on the scene, but who also - and this can safely be called spectacular - had a successful football career. Agdestein won the Norwegian Chess Championship nine times, while as a footballer he played for the Norwegian national team eight times.

Interviewed by Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam, Atle Grønn talks about his new book, the most remarkable double career of Simen Agdestein, the unique approach of ‘the Norwegian school of chess’, Magnus Carlsen, chess biographies in general and much more.

Games and Goals is available for purchase on the New In Chess website: https://www.newinchess.com/games-and-goals

0:00 – Intro

2:18 – Why did Atle decide to write the book?

3:51 – How involved was Simen in the writing process?

5:42 – Finding out new things about Simen’s life and childhood

12:50 – How would Atle characterise Simen’s influence on Norwegian chess?

15:46 – Simen’s father

17:11 – Simen’s insistence on privacy as a young player

20:20 – The pressures of combining professional chess and football

26:35 – Could Simen have gone further in chess?

27:56 – Simen’s influence on Magnus

32:26 – AD BREAK

32:58 – What is Simen’s legacy in Norwegian football?

37:02 – How did Simen deal with his career-ending football injury?

38:32 – Discovering Magnus and the “Norwegian school of chess”

43:02 – Simen’s competitive nature

45:24 – Which other chess biographies inspired Atle to write this one?

51:21 – Which other biographies would Atle recommend?

57:12 – Will Atle write Magnus’s biography?

1:00:42 – Outro

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features not one, but to esteemed guests. Women International Master Natasha Regan and Matt Ball are longtime collaborators, having recently co-authored “Zwischenzug!”, a book about a concept that will be familiar to many but, according to its authors, is missed exceedingly often in modern (online) chess. The zwischenzug, also known as the in-between move, intermediary move, or intermezzo, occurs regularly in chess at all levels, from amateur games to the last World Championship match between Ding Liren and Ian Nepomniachtchi.

Interviewed by Remmelt Otten, Regan and Ball expand on the concept of the zwischenzug and draw parallels with various other strategy games, like go and shogi, and introduce concepts from those games that may even be interesting for chess players to learn. "Zwischenzug!" will be available on the New In Chess website soon:

https://www.newinchess.com/zwischenzug

00:06 – Intro

02:14 – How Matt and Natasha met

02:53 – Why name the course “Zwischenzug”?

04:09 – How did the idea to write the book come about?

05:13 – How does one become an official FIDE coach?

07:05 – Why should people buy the book instead of using some online course?

08:33 – How should a student use the book?

09:43 – How the online "pre-move" makes people forget about in-between moves

11:25 – The beauty of the zwischenzug move

12:48 – How common are zwischenzugs?

14:01 – The unbelievable amount of zwischenzugs that occurred in the Ding-Nepo match

16:10 – Natasha and Matt coming up with new phrases to describe specific zwischenzug situations

18:29 – AD BREAK

19:11 – Matt gives the listener a visualisation exercise

22:34 – Natasha's affinity for abstract games such as go and shogi

25:39 – Natasha carrying over phrases from go into chess

25:57 – “Tenuki"

27:10 – “Aji”

30:50 – Natasha and Matt's participation in the European Senior Team Championship, using Puzzle Rush in preparation

36:12 – What books do Natasha and Matt recommend for chess improvement?

38:14 – Outro

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with American FIDE master and chess author Charles Hertan. Charles’s latest work “The Real Paul Morphy” focuses on the life and career of one of the most enigmatic figures in chess history.

Paul Morphy (1837-1884) learned chess at a young age and quickly made a name for himself as a prodigious talent. Known for his brilliant, aggressive style and deep understanding of the game, Morphy quickly vanquished all opposition in the United States. At one point, he travelled from his native New Orleans to Europe to seek stronger opposition, but to no avail. When a match with Howard Staunton did not materialise, Morphy, age 22, returned to the United States and promptly retired from chess to start a legal career. He would repeatedly decline invitations to return to competitive chess, even as his law practice failed to pick up steam. In his later years, Morphy developed severe mental illness and died at the young age of 47. His short but brilliant career would earn him the nickname “The Pride and Sorrow of Chess”, which has stuck to this day.

Charles Hertan is not only good at chess and writing, he has also worked as a psychotherapist, which informs much of his understanding of Morphy’s eccentric mind. Interviewed by Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam, Charles takes us deeper into his writing process and gives his assessment of Paul Morphy as a chess player and human.

“The Real Paul Morphy” is now available for purchase on the New In Chess website: https://www.newinchess.com/the-real-paul-morphy

Timestamps

0:00 – Intro

1:43 – How did the concept for “The Real Paul Morphy” come about?

2:55 – How good was Morphy in Charles’s estimation?

5:00 – Morphy’s incredible natural talent

10:25 – Morphy’s dominance in the US and first European tournaments

13:01 – AD BREAK

13:53 – Morphy’s gentle personality

17:19 – Why did the match with Howard Staunton fall through, according to Charles?

19:20 – The difficult character of Howard Staunton

24:11 – Frederick Milnes Edge

29:03 – AD BREAK

30:26 – Morphy’s mental illness, comparison with Fischer

35:40 – Morphy’s later years as a psychotic

38:15 – The women’s shoes myth

40:41 – Can we draw a connection between Morphy’s brilliance and madness?

44:00 – Morphy’s disdain for chess as a hobby worthy of pursuing as an occupation

49:40 – AD BREAK

50:12 – Charles’s desire to keep Morphy’s legacy alive

55:20 – The “romantic” label, Charles’s assessment of Morphy, Staunton and Anderssen

58:10 – Morphy’s influence on the game, Wilhelm Steinitz

1:00:10 – Will Charles write about Pillsbury next?

1:02:20 – Outro

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.

As the title of his autobiography, Chess Is My Life, hints at, Korchnoi’s drive, passion and obsession for the game of chess were as strong as they had always been. He simply lived for chess: his energetic spirit never aged, he was often one of the last to leave the playing hall, and during his analysis sessions he worked tirelessly to get to the bottom of things, after one goal and one goal only: the truth.

"The Essential Sosonko" is available in its entirety on the New In Chess website: https://www.newinchess.com/the-essential-sosonko

This week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast features a narration of a chapter from The Essential Sosonko, a collection of chess portraits written by legendary grandmaster and chess author Genna Sosonko.

In today's reading, Sosonko takes us along the path of his own personal history against the background of the geopolitical situation in Europe and Russia in the second half of the 20th century, and provides insight into the reasons why he took up the pen to write his chronicles.

"The Essential Sosonko" is available in full on the New In Chess website: https://www.newinchess.com/the-essential-sosonko-hardcover