New In Chess Podcast

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. This week features the second part of Genna’s story about Dutch grandmaster Max Euwe (1901-1981). Machgielis “Max” Euwe was the fifth World Chess Champion, a title he held from 1935 until 1937. After retiring as a player, he would later serve as FIDE president starting in 1970. In this capacity, he presided over the famous Fischer-Spassky of 1972 and had to navigate many other chess “situations” of the time, such as the defection of Viktor Korchnoi from the USSR and attempts by Soviet officials to remove him from power. Genna, a fellow native of The Netherlands, met Max Euwe around the time of the 1972 World Championship match, and the two remained in touch until Euwe’s death in 1981. Genna’s story paints a picture of Max Euwe as a player, friend and historical chess figure all at once. Three weeks ago, Part 1 of Euwe’s story focused on his later career as a chess administrator, including the 1972 World Championship match. This week, Genna delves into Max Euwe, the chess player. A hardcopy of "The Essential Sosonko" is available for purchase on the New In Chess website: https://www.newinchess.com/the-essential-sosonko 

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with French grandmaster Joel Lautier.Joel has had a rich chess career: he became the youngest Junior World Champion in history in 1988, holds a lifetime positive score against Garry Kasparov and is, along with Vasily Ivanchuk, the only grandmaster of his generation to have defeated all world champions of his time: Karpov, Kasparov, Kramnik, Khalifman, Anand, Ponomariov, Kasimdzhanov and Topalov. He was also one of Kramnik’s seconds when the Russion sensationally defeated Kasparov for the world title in 2000. Despite his successful chess career, Joel came to the conclusion that he was hungry for new challenges and opted for a career change, going into investment banking.In a lively conversation with Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam, Lautier speaks about his chess career as well as his career as an investment banker, including the shocking moment in 2022 when the US State Department unjustly put him on the sanctions list after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a dramatic and painful error that was corrected about a year later.0:00 – Intro 2:10 – Welcome Joel! 3:05 – Becoming the youngest Junior World Champion in history in 1988 4:24 – Meeting his great influence, Bobby Fischer, in 1992 8:52 – Realising upon meeting Fischer that he did not want to remain in chess forever 10:42 – Dropping out of school at 16 to pursue chess, Joel’s father’s influence 13:05 – Joel’s experience being coached by Lev Polugaevsky 16:25 – Joel’s positive score against Kasparov 20:41 – Joel’s spectacular three-queen game against Kasparov 23:49 – The legendary Linnares 1994 tournament 26:23 – AD BREAK 27:02 – Joel’s victory over Kasparov in Amsterdam 1995 33:16 – Joel’s experience as a second for Kramnik in 2000 40:18 – The evening of Kramnik’s victory 42:17 – Joel’s visit to Fischer with Spasski in 1992 47:01 – The start of Joel’s business career and move to Russia 52:48 – AD BREAK 53:47 – Continued business career and eventual move to Barcelona 59:53 – Being incorrectly put on (and later taken off) an American sanctions list after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 1:06:49 – AD BREAK 1:07:42 – Will Joel be compensated by the American government for their mistake? 1:08:09 – Joel’s talented 13-year old daughter Naomi, whose paintings are displayed at various exhibitions in Europe 1:14:26 – Outro

This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with Dutch grandmaster Loek van Wely. Loek was the captain of the winning team, the Triveni Continental Kings, at the recent Tech Mahindra Global Chess League in London.Loek van Wely can look back on a rich career as a player. He won the Dutch championship 8 times and had his career peak in 2001, when he made it to the world top 10 with a rating of 2714. Besides his achievements on the chess board, Loek is a renowned coach, who has worked with stars like Gata Kamsky, Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov. In more recent years he’s been coaching the Italian national team and Dutch grandmaster Max Warmerdam.If you are new to the Global Chess League, Loek will fill you in as he speaks about the strategies, the players that made the difference and the pros and cons of the remarkable time control (20 minutes per player per game, no increment) that almost inevitably led to wild time scrambles. In a lively conversation with Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam, Loek talks about the innovative format of the Global Chess League and the impact it may have on the chess world. In passing he reveals his ambitions as a coach and gives his take on Vladimir Kramnik’s anti-cheating crusade that continues to fuel heated and widespread discussions online.0:00 – Intro 2:59 – Loek explains how the Global Chess League works 6:00 – Is there a limit to every team’s financial means? 7:18 – Magnus and Ding’s participation 8:58 – Wei Yi’s participation in Loek’s team and the “point system” 13:43 – How does Loek deal with situations where teammates have strained relationships, such as between Alexandra Kosteniuk and Valentina Gunina? 17:29 – AD BREAK 18:27 – The format and length of the event 20:27 – The controversial 20+0 time control and Alireza Firouzja’s performance 24:10 – Does the Global Chess League change the chess world? 26:38 – Are the organisers happy with the way the Global Chess League has taken off? 28:27 – What considerations go into Loek’s selection of his players? 30:04 – The bidding process on players like Ian Nepomniachtchi and Hikaru Nakamura 33:25 – AD BREAK 34:04 – Magnus’s participation? 36:35 – Does the Global Chess League, operated by India, foreshadow Indian dominance on the chess organisation circuit? 40:46 – What does Loek bring to the table as a coach? 43:26 – Does Loek’s own playing strength and activity as a player help him as a coach? 45:35 – What were the crucial moments that contributed to Loek’s team’s victory this year? 47:24 – What did Loek do to make Wei Yi feel comfortable as part of the team? 49:36 – AD BREAK 50:25 – How does Loek see his future in coaching and beyond? 53:56 – Is it always a coach’s dream to work with young talent? 56:30 – Vladimir Kramnik’s controversial cheating allegations 1:05:40 – 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. Subject of this week’s episode is Dutch grandmaster Max Euwe (1901-1981). Machgielis “Max” Euwe was the fifth World Chess Champion, a title he held from 1935 until 1937. After retiring as a player, he would later serve as FIDE president starting in 1970. In this capacity, he presided over the famous Fischer-Spassky of 1972 and had to navigate many other chess “situations” of the time, such as the defection of Viktor Korchnoi from the USSR and attempts by Soviet officials to remove him from power. Genna, a fellow native of The Netherlands, met Max Euwe around the time of the 1972 World Championship match, and the two remained in touch until Euwe’s death in 1981. Over four decades later, Genna’s story paints a picture of Max Euwe as both a friend and a historical chess figure.