Photo of IM Jeremy Silman in 1988 via his website
Legendary chess author IM Jeremy Silman valued his chess friendships highly, and referred to his inner circle as his chess ‘“posse.” This week, two members of that posse, IMsJohn Donaldson and IM Cyrus Lakdawala join me to share stories and biographical details about their friend. As one might expect from Silman’s books, they recall a friend who was funny, empathetic, extremely strong as a chess player, and a brilliant writer and gifted public speaker. John and Cyrus both begin with their first recollections of meeting Jeremy in 1981, and they take us through his chess life and his journey from a chess nomad to a devoted husband, cat dad, and one of the most successful chess authors of all time. Thanks to John and Cyrus for helping us all learn more about Jeremy’s life. Timestamps of topics discussed are below. .
Click here to Download the Episode
Noteworthy obituaries of IM Silman:-
https://new.uschess.org/news/im-jeremy-silman-1954-2023
https://www.chess.com/news/view/jeremy-silman-1954-2023
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/26/books/jeremy-silman-dead.html
Fred Wilson’s old interviews with IM Jeremy Silman will be posted to the Perpetual Chess YouTube channel by the end of the week.
Interview #1-
Interview #2 coming soon.
01:30- John and Cyrus share their first memories of meeting IM Jeremy Silman, both in 1981.
Mentioned; Chuck Johnson
07:00- John and Cyrus describe Silman’s “hippie days.”
12;00- How did Jeremy get his start in chess?
Mentioned: IM John Grefe, Dennis Waterman, IM Jack Peters, Bob Long, and
Silman’s article describing his ‘posse’-
https://www.chess.com/article/view/chess-books-and-youth-vs-old-age
22;00- Cyrus discusses the legacy of How to Reassess Your Chess, as well as Jeremy’s unique insight into a need for literature addressing club players.
26;00- Why did The Complete Book of Chess Strategy sell so well? How did his other books do?
33;00- John and Cyrus discuss Jeremy’s abilities as a speaker, and the success of the series he did for “Great Courses”
Mentioned: https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/how-to-play-chess-lessons-from-an-international-master
38;00- Did financial success change Jeremy? John also discusses some of Jeremy’s students.
Mentioned: von Frankenstein, Allan Horn, Brady Anderson, NM Vanessa West
43;00- Could Jeremy have been a GM?
Mentioned: Ken West?, IM Jack Peters, IM Douglas Root
50:00- John and Cyrus discuss the challenges of fe as a chess author and how chess content has changed.
1:13:00- John discusses the health challenges Jeremy faced late in life.
1:16:00- What jobs did Jeremy have outside of chess?
1:21:00- John discusses Jeremy’s love for chess books, and for Japan!
Mentioned: The Games of Tigran Petrosian by Shekhtman
1:26:00- Should we care about analytical mistakes?
Mentioned: Vitiugov vs. Robson 2013
1:31:00- Favorite Silman stories
Thanks so much to John and Cyrus for sharing their memories of IM Silman