Category: Blog

This week on Chess Journeys, I spoke with Hooman. He’s a medical student that got into chess as a stress reliever. Hooman has seen massive rating gains in a short period. We talked about his improvement journey which is mostly instructional videos, playing a lot of rapid games, and some Chessable work. He talked about…

This week on Chess Journeys, I spoke with Joe. We talked a lot about his years long struggle to break through the beginner levels of chess. He felt frustrated by his lack of progress. We talked about his 5 step plan for improvement that has resulted in a lot of ratings success. His process focused…

This week on Chess Journeys, I spoke with John. He’s a 47 year old pastor trying to juggle life, family, and chess improvement. He spoke about his journey and resources that he found most useful. John highlighted Chess Tactics from Scratch and the Polgar mates book as two helpful resources. We also discussed a variety…

This week on Chess Journeys, I spoke with Shannon. During the last 20 years, he’s picked up chess a few times. However, in the last year, at 50, he’s improved about 400 points. We talked about the different sources he uses, the importance of openings in his improvement, and the impact of being 50 on…

This week on Chess Journeys, I spoke with CM Sandro, otherwise known as LionChess. We focused on his chess journey, pursuing the FM title, and his coaching journey. Sandro credits most of his improvement to the small habit of 5 intense puzzles a day and one rapid game. Especially intriguing is his coaching approach which…

This week on Chess Journeys, I spoke with Kamryn, otherwise known as Kamryn Heidi on Youtube and Twitch. We talked about her journey since out last chat (ep. 73). Kamryn has continued to see ratings gains in blitz, bullet, and USCF. We also discussed our experiences at the National Open in Las Vegas last weekend.…

This week on Chess Journeys, I spoke with Omar, otherwise known as ChessVonDoom. We talked about his journey/addiction with playing chess. We discussed a wide range of issues from obsession, coaching, chess celebrity, thoughts of quitting chess, and chess commentary. It was a wide ranging episode with Omar’s positivity on full display. Use this link…

This week on Chess Journeys, I spoke with Jay Garrison about his meteoric rise from 1901 to 1907 in just 2 years! It was a great conversation about the pains of the pits of despair. Over a 2 year span, Jay hit his floor of 1700 twice, and he reflected on the pains it caused.…

This week on Chess Journeys, I spoke with Dylan. He’s a high school teacher, parent, and dedicated chess improver. In a few years, Dylan has gained a lot of ELO on Lichess. But we talked about his comparably low USCF rating. Dylan talked about resources that helped him on his journey such as Naroditsky, Chess…

This week on Chess Journeys, I spoke with Ingvar. He’s the assistant tournament director of the Reykjavik Open, FIDE trainer, and FIDE arbiter. We talked about his massive jumps in the early 2000’s and his quest to reach IM today. Ingvar recommended three books that he credits for a quick 300 point jump, especially Secrets…