Author: Misha Tenenbaum

This week on Chess Journeys, I spoke to Phil. We had a great chat about the ups and downs of ratings. Phil began his journey with a quick rating jump to 1790 but then crashed back down to his floor over many months. But like a phoenix he has risen from the ashes and recently…

This week on Chess Journeys, I spoke to David. David is turning 70 soon, but he’s still working hard on improving his chess. We talked about his training program which focuses on following Noel Studer’s courses and advice. David’s a big fan of Chessmood as well. We spent time discussing chess in schools, girls in…

This week on Chess Journeys, I spoke to Matthew. He’s a 21 year old college student that has seen massive ratings success in the last 1.5 years, gaining 700 points. Matthew credits much of his success to playing a lot of chess and opening study. He’s spent a lot of time with Chessable both memorizing…

This week on Chess Journeys, I spoke to Marcus. He has made a lot of progress the last few years, gaining 400 rating points. Marcus spent a lot of the time talking about how he uses chess to improve his life. Marcus focused on emotional regulation issues, and how chess is a vehicle for improving…

This week on Chess Journeys, I spoke to Kyle. He’s a newer chess player that is enjoying the journey. He began as a social chess player, but he has moved into more serious tournament chess. We talked about his improvement strategy, which focuses on puzzle rush survival and playing 3 rapid games per day. We…

This week on Chess Journeys, I spoke to Alex. He’s an NM striving for even greater heights. We talked about his childhood run from 693-2300! Alex discussed his current goals (GM), and how he plans to reach them. Alex also discussed his suggestions and resources for adult improvement. I hope you enjoy episode 200! My…

This week on Chess Journeys, I spoke to Stjepan, the creator of the Hanging Pawns Youtube channel. We talked about his journey and joy of prepping for opponents. We discussed the origin, goals, and success of his Youtube channel. We also talked about his study plan and his advice for improving players, which is annotating…

This week on Chess Journeys, I spoke to Justin. His story is an interesting one full of quitting due to lofty expectations and a recent rebirth based on more process based goals. We talked about the Chess Dojo and using their heat map to motivate study. We discussed Justin’s tournament disappointments. We spent quite a…

This week on Chess Journeys, I spoke to Brad. He has made tremendous improvement rising from 1550 to 1964 in 3 years! We talked about a variety of topics such as coaching, tournaments, and handling bad tournaments. We talked about the value of tactics training and playing regularly. Brad also suggested changing openings occasionally to…

This week on Chess Journeys, I spoke to Brian. We talked about his rapid rise from 700-1100 USCF in 4 months. He has been playing the role of the underrated kid at age 52! Brian is a big fan of the Chess Dojo, so, in many ways, this was an unpaid advertisement for their wonderful…