Prolific author and book reviewer FM Carsten Hansen returns to Perpetual Chess to talk chess improvement, chess publishing, and to provide a rundown of standout recent chess books. We start with a listener question about plateauing in tactics training. How do we know if we’re just hitting a speed bump, or if we’ve reached our ceiling? From there, we dive deep into chess books, sharing recommendations with both a biographical and improvement focus. Lastly, we discuss Chess Openings for Dummies and Carsten’s many other book projects. I still don’t know how Carsten puts out so much chess material, but it’s always fun to hear about it.
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2:00 – Welcome
Prior FM Carsten Hansen interviews: Episodes 84, 206, Book Recap #30
4:00 –Carsten joins: Patreon mailbag question: tactics plateaus and adult improvement
Mentioned: The Chess Wizardy of Wotowa
12:00 – Carsten’s own chess goals and IM aspirations
19:00 – Carsten’s favorite chess books of the past few years
Mentioned:
The Stories, Games and Intrigue of Capablanca and Alekhine
Gideon Stahlberg: An Epoch in Swedish Chess
Alexander Alekhine: The Russian Sphinx
IM Cyrus Lakdawala: Becoming an IM
Converting an Extra Pawn in Chess
Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual: 6th Edition
Endgame study books by GM Jan Timman and IM Yochanan Afek
29:00 – Carsten discusses his newest project with FM James Eade, Chess Openings for Dummies
Download the Chess for Dummies bonus content here:
41:00- Carsten’s other projects:
Mentioned:
Carsten’s Newly Edited Capablanca books:
Coming soon: The Canal and Prins Gambits
Inside the Mind of Bobby Fischer
53:00 – Closing thoughts and wrap-up
Thanks to Carsten for rejoining me! Here is how to keep up with him:
Website:
https://www.winningquicklyatchess.com/
Email- carstenchess at gmail dot com