Listen to Episodes! - The Perpetual Chess Podcast

The 2025 FIDE World Cup has been as dramatic as ever.

Fresh off her third consecutive (and fourth overall) U.S.

GM Andy Soltis is a U.S.

The Adult Improver Series⁠ returns with a fascinating story that highlights the broad appeal of chess.

Stjepan Tomić has built a sizable following through his beloved Hanging Pawns YouTube Channel, but good old-fashioned chess books remain his true passion.

Despite an impressive chess résumé as one of the U.S.’s top women players, Tatev Abrahamyan has had moments when she questioned whether or not it was all worth it.

The FIDE Grand Swiss always seems to deliver drama, and this year’s edition was no exception.

North Carolina–based trainer and author GM Elshan Moradiabadi has won over 25 tournaments and was the 2001 National Champion of his native Iran.

As you may have heard, GM Hikaru Nakamura made a surprise appearance at the Louisiana State Championship, as part of fulfilling FIDE’s World Championship qualification criteria.

ChessDojo’s GM Jesse Kraai is always one of my favorite people to talk chess with, yet somehow it had been five years since his last visit to the pod.

NM Max Farberov is a 27-year-old chess instructor, Chessable author, and online speed-chess specialist with a Chess.com blitz rating north of 2600.

At 57 years old, Tennessee-based Grandmaster and Author, Alex Fishbein, has built an impressive chess résumé, with 12 state-championship titles across four states and multiple appearances in U.S.

IM Greg Shahade was the very first guest of Perpetual Chess and has remained a frequent and insightful contributor ever since.

Nicholas Sloan is a Wisconsin-based Network Engineer, a dad of 4, and an extremely motivated chess improver.

Dr.

Opening expert, Twitch streamer, former Team Magnus member, and longtime friend of the pod, GM Jan Gustafsson is back for another fun and far-reaching interview!

GM Johan Hellsten returns to Perpetual Chess for a deep dive into one of the most overlooked yet essential chess skills: defense.

In just a few years, 24-year-old Australian Twitch streamer Hannah Sayce went from playing casual online games during lockdown, to earning the Woman Candidate Master (WCM) title and competing in international tournaments.

GM Alexandr Fier is five- time champion of Brazil and nine- time chess Olympian.

This week’s guest is Samuel Sonning, a Swedish computer scientist, former Google engineer, and founder of NoctieAI—a user-friendly chess platform featuring rating tests and bots designed to play like humans.

In this memorable episode of Perpetual Chess, we welcome back Tony Ballard, who spent 26 years incarcerated and credits chess with helping him change the course of his life.

This two-part episode of Perpetual Chess features two of the most impactful figures in American chess education: Coach Jay Stallings and Adam Weissbarth.

In this inspiring and relatable installment of the Adult Improver Series, we meet Torkil Jara Bårdsgjerde, a 39-year-old father of two, from Norway who discovered competitive chess after a bit of playful banter with a workplace rival.

IM Alex Ostrovskiy is a former Scholastic National Champion, New York State Champion, and accomplished coach who has earned one GM norm, and reached a peak USCF rating of 2560.

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Dr.

NM Dana Mackenzie is a former math professor turned science writer who has maintained a passion for chess throughout his life and career changes.He is a USCF Life Master and was the 2 time state champion of North Carolina.

GM Mihail Marin is a prolific and popular author, trainer, and 3-time Romanian national champion.

GM Susan Polgar is a World Chess Hall of Famer and former Women’s World Champion.

The Adult Improver series returns to Perpetual Chess to welcome Omar Mills (a/k/a ChessvonDoom) to the podcast.

IM Danny Rensch is a former child prodigy turned Chief Chess Officer of Chess.com, the largest chess website in the world.

GM Noël Studer is a two time Swiss National Champion turned blogger, course creator and chess trainer.

Oleksandr Prokhorov is a Lviv, Ukraine-based chess organizer, trainer, FIDE arbiter and Twitch streamer.

IM Willy Hendriks is an award-winning chess author, historian and chess trainer.

GM Wojciech Moranda is a high-level trainer, author and 2600+ rated player who has worked with the Polish youth national team and IM Levy Rozman among many other students.

FM Nate Solon is a data scientist, Chessable author, New in Chess Magazine columnist and the creator of the popular and insightful newsletter, Zwischenzug.

WGM Dina Belenkaya is a Russian-born and schooled chess champion who is now based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

This week’s podcast is a discussion among friends.

Nikolaos Ntirlis is a correspondence chess champion, and computer engineer who has become well known in the chess world for his vast opening expertise.

Dr.

The Perpetual Chess Adult Improver Series returns to welcome back a guest who has continued to make steady rating progress.

35-year old GM Alex Lenderman was a World Youth Champion and has won the World Open among many other chess accomplishments, but he had never previously had the chance to play in the FIDE World Rapid & Blitz.

Photo by FM Mike Klein for Chess.com IM Malcolm Pein is an institution in British chess who has played nearly every role imaginable in helping to grow the game.

Photo in thumbnail via Charlotte Chess Center 31-year-old GM-elect Mark Heimann is an accomplished research scientist by day, and avid powerlifter, who has recently been making headlines in the U.S. chess scene during his work vacation time.

David MacEnulty is an award-winning author and chess teacher who coached for many years at CES 70 school in the Bronx.

In the chess world, the holiday season means its almost time for one of the most entertaining tournaments of the year- The FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championship.

Just one day after the match's unforgettable conclusion, I am honored to be joined by lead Chess.com Commentator and popular YouTuber, GM Daniel Naroditsky.

GM Jon Ludvig Hammer is 3-time Norwegian Champion, popular commentator and highly-reviewed Chessable author.

An utterly unpredictable and entertaining World Championship match continues, and I am joined by popular YouTuber, Streamer, and Chessable Author, IM Andras Toth to discuss it.

Tension continues to escalate at the 2024 FIDE World Championship, as the match is now tied after 9 rounds.