GM Max Illingworth is one of Australia’s top players and is the 2 time national Australian Champion among other distinctions. in recent years, Max has shifted his focus from competing to training. His work ethic has evident, as in the last years ce co-authored the book, Dismantling the Sicilian, contributes actively on Facebook chess forums, and has launched his own training site, Illingworth Chess Academy. In our interview, we dive deep into the topic of chess improvement, and Max provides a lot of good insights about how he became so strong at tournament chess, blitz chess, and even the chess variant called Crazyhouse! Please read on for all of the details and timestamps.
Click here to download the Episode
0:00- We begin by discussing Max’s approach to adapting the right mindset for chess.
Mentioned: Facebook Chess Endgame Studies and Composition Group, IM Cyrus Lakdawala, Chess Improvement: Its All in the Mindset,
8:30- Max discusses his affinity for a chess variant called Crazyhouse
10:30- What did Max do to raise his online blitz rating from 2800 to 2950?
13:50- What should non GMs do to improve their blitz ratings, and their games generally?
Mentioned: Max Illingworth interview with Bryan Castro:
http://www.betterchesstraining.com/2019/05/gm-max-illingworth.html
The Woodpecker Method , CT-Art
23:45-Perpetual Chess is proud to be brought to you in part by Chessable.com. Their latest offerings include, Lifetime Repertoires: The Queen’s Gambit Declined by GM Alex Colovic and The Psychology of Chess Tactics GM Darrel Johanson
24:30- Patreon mailbag question: “What advice do you have for one who wants to start solving endgame studies but finds most of them too difficult?”
Mentioned: Philip Stamma Endgame Studies, Say Chess’ Blindfold Endgame Trainer is here:
https://saychessblog.com/blindfold-endgame-puzzles/
31:00- Another mailbag question: “What advice does Max have for club players on how to learn to evaluate positions?”
Mentioned: Simple Chess, Podcast recapping Simple Chess
39:00- One more Patreon mailbag question: “How can one learn to assess one’s own strengths and weaknesses?”
Mentioned: Openingtree.com, Aimchess.com
42:30- What Chessbooks does Max recommend?
Mentioned: Logical Chess Move by Move, My System, Art of Attack in Chess, The Complete Chess Swindler by GM David Smerdon
47:30- Max tells the story of the moment that his competitive fire for chess was ignited.
Mentioned: GM Yasser Seirawan, GM Ian Rogers, GM Darryl Johansen, IM John Paul Wallace
52:30- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Chessmood.com!
Check out Chessmood’s blog is here:
https://chessmood.com/blog and check out their YouTube, featuring Lessons with a Grandmaster here:
https://www.youtube.com/c/ChessMood
53:00- Patreon question: “What advice does Max have for pursuing goals?”
Mentioned: Episode 215 with Vishnu Sreekumar
57:00- How has Max been impacted by legendary Australian players Cecil Purdy and GM Ian Rogers?
Mentioned: Chess Fundamentals by Jose Raoul Capablanca, IM Andras Toth, Van Perlo’s Endgame Tactics, IM Stephan Solomon
1:05:00- In closing, Max shares a few of his interests away from the board.?
1:09:00- Thanks to Max for joining the show! Here are the best ways to keep up with him.
Web page- Illingworth Chess Academy
Facebook- Max Illingworth | Facebook
If you would like to help support Perpetual Chess, you can do so here.