This week, Perpetual Chess features a different kind of guest, Joe Posnanski was twice- named the best sportswriter in America by the Associated Press. He is also a popular podcaster and best selling author of 6 books. I have been a huge fan of Joe’s writing for many years, so when he recently wrote about his enthusiasm for chess I couldn’t resist the opportunity to invite him to talk to us on Perpetual Chess. In our interview, Joe discusses the beginnings of his interest in chess (his dad was a USCF expert.) Joe then dives into topics including: the current state of his own chess game, why he has a "love-hate" relationship with the game, who his favorite chess YouTubers are, and the lessons that he has learned from his coach, FM Mikhail Perelshteyn. Whether in written word or on his Poscast, Joe is always entertaining and insightful, so it was a real thrill for me to talk chess with him! Please read on for more details and relevant links.
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0:00- Joe tells us about the evolution of his interest in chess over the years.
Mentioned: Read Joe’s recent blog post about chess here. Read his article about playing with NFL player Priest Holmes here. Read Joe’s famous, non-chess post about seeing Hamilton with his daughter, here.
13:00- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Chessable.com! Check out their latest offerings here:
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13:30- Joe is a big fan of chess YouTube. Who are Joe’s favorite chess YouTubers?
Mentioned: Agadmator’s YouTube Channel, Perpetual Chess Episode 160 with Agadmator, GM Hikaru Nakamura, IM Eric Rosen, IM Levy Rozman, Levy’s Guess the Elo playlist here, GM Simon Williams’ Jobava London Chessable Course here
25:45- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by AImchess.com. Check out their site, and if you decide to subscribe use the code Perpetual30 to save 30%.
26:30- We discuss the state of Joe’s own chess game. What are his strengths and weaknesses?
Mentioned: FM Mikhail Perelshteyn, GM Eugene Perelshteyn, How to Chess Episode with GM Eugene Perelshteyn here, Joe’s game that we are discussing can be found here
48:00- Joe’s most recent book is an excellent biography, The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini, Did he see any similarities between the magic and chess sub-cultures?
Mentioned: The Baseball 100
53:00- If Joe were to write a feature about chess, what would he write?