Episodes

Beating or drawing higher-rated opponents stems from winning the psychological game, since attempting to outplay them based solely on chess skill usually fails. We also discuss the following: Stop doing THIS and your rating w...

James Nidds is a 58-year-old amateur player and LI Chess Club regular rated 1808 (US Chess) at the time of this recording. He offers a great deal of advice and perspective on chess improvement as an adult. Talking points incl...

🎯 Please SUBSCRIBE to our ! After much planning and preparation, you're excited to play in a 6-round weekend event, but find yourself 0-3 heading into round 4 and feeling frustrated and dejected. Should you finish out the tournament or...

🎯 Please SUBSCRIBE to our ! What are the qualifications to be a "good" chess player? This week's episode is a reaction to the Reddit post We cover the following and more: Should you tell your opponent he forgot to press his clock? How to play...

This week's offering is a dedicated Listener Mailbag episode. We cover the following and more: Using "inflection points" to improve Does using a chess engine "turn off your brain?" Should you study with an amateur chess coach...

This week's episode is a response to the Reddit post At the time of this recording, there were over 150 responses. The following concepts, among others, were frequently cited as being difficult to understand: Pawn play En passant Rook and pawn...

Most players agree that slower time controls are beneficial for chess growth, but what about blitz chess? Can online blitz chess help you improve? Are certain blitz time controls better than others? Should you always play wit...

Your opponent has a better position or plays a move that catches you by surprise. Rather than keep your composure while patiently analyzing, you become frustrated, despondent, and convince yourself your position and/or your o...

For club-level chess players and adult improvers, an argument can be made that amateur games are significantly more instructive than Grandmaster games. Amateur games feature themes, ideas, mistakes, and erroneous thought proc...

Developing tournament players are often told the following: study tons of Master games, drill tactics, review mate-in-one puzzles, and do not spend more than 10% of your study time on openings. Is this advice accurate, somewh...

Welcome to Season 8! Neal begins by discussing the state of the podcast and some harsh truths about chess improvement that are arguably not mentioned enough. The final segment is a discussion of the King's Indian Attack, an e...

This week's episode is our Season 7 Finale (Season 8 coming soon...). In this light, laid-back, rapid-fire episode, Neal reacts to the enjoyable chess.com article 7 Hot Takes That Are Just True by Pedro Pinhata, a Sr. Digital...

This week, Neal discusses another instructive tournament game. We cover the following and more: "Frustration" moves Attacking the fianchetto pawn structure When those h3/h6 pawn moves are good (or bad) Moving the same piece t...

This week, Neal begins by diving into the listener mailbag. This is followed by an instructive analysis of a recent OTB tournament game. We cover the following and more: A common piece of chess coaching advice that is often m...

Like it or not, the clock is just as much a part of tournament chess as the board and pieces. Poor clock management is a consistent problem for many players. We cover: Why clock management is essential for tournament success ...

You hang one pawn, then eight moves later you hang another, and then your opponent easily wins the game while you're still processing where you went wrong. This is all too common at the club level. In addition, Neal dives int...

National Master Nick Panico returns to the pod for some "chess coffee talk" and shares his insights from the tournament scene. We cover: Developing a tournament routine Playing while distracted What to do when the guy next to...

This week we take a deep dive into the psychology of draw offers for the club-level player. Strategically offering or accepting a draw can add quite a number of points to your rating. We break this down in detail. Referenced:...

This podcast recently crossed the half-a-million download mark! Thank you all for your support of The Chess Angle. This week's guest is International Master Michael Rahal. Michael is a professional trilingual chess coach, con...

This week's pod is an updated and revised version of Neal offers some practical time-saving hacks for busy adults with limited study time and argues that social media overload may harm your chess progress. If you're enjoying the pod,...

This week, Neal shares some tips, tricks, and harsh realities he learned from playing in chess tournaments over the years. 📧 If you have a question or topic idea for a future episode, e-mail us at info@thechessangle.com . 🎯 O...

This week, Neal puts on his tournament director hat to discuss rule violation scenarios using real examples from amateur chess tournaments. We also include common mishaps and misunderstandings at the club level regarding rule...

This week's guest is Australian Grandmaster Max Illingworth. Max is a coach, author, and blogger who has lots of experience working with adult chess improvers and a sincere interest in helping them get better. His chess.com b...

Welcome to Season 7! As a reminder, you can become a member of The Chess Angle. For just $2 a month, you can support the show while receiving a few perks including access to a members-only blog, Neal's personal episode notes/outlines, priority...