Episodes

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...

This episode is our Season 6 finale. We'll be taking a short break and will return with Season 7 on April 14, 2024. This week, we discuss ten common reasons why players at the club level lose games: 1 - Non-processing 2 - Rus...

This week's guest, Tim Just, is a major figure in tournament directing and chess administration. He is a National TD, editor of the 5th-7th editions of the US Chess Rulebook , author, and columnist. When it comes to directing...

Nick Visel is a dedicated club player with a long term goal of achieving the title of National Master. He is well known in the adult improver community and is very popular on Twitter/X . You may be interested in subscribing t...

In this jam-packed episode, return guest Grandmaster Daniel Gormally discusses the upcoming : the players, controversies, history, and more. The winner of this event will challenge Ding Liren for the title of World Chess Champion. The Candidates...

Welcome to our 100th episode! Be sure to check out our . Same address, updated look. This week, we explore five universal responses for Black. These can be played against any first move by White. In this episode: Listener Mailbag 1…g6 (Modern...

Chess improvement can be overwhelming and daunting for beginners looking to reach the intermediate level and beyond. This is especially true for busy adults with limited study time. In the episode, we provide a general overvi...

The week, Neal dives into the listener mailbag to discuss the parallels between music and chess, handling losses, and dealing with frustration at the chessboard. This is followed by an open and candid discussion about mindset...

This week's guest is National Master Daniel Lowinger, a high school Chinese teacher who cut his teeth playing chess on the New York scene. Dan offers some thoughtful and philosophical ideas about amateur chess improvement, ti...

Our guest this week is English Grandmaster Daniel Gormally. Daniel is a professional chess player and coach who has written several books on the game. He is also the author of a 3-part Chessable series entitled Sharp Middlega...

This week we discuss how to analyze your chess games with an engine to increase learning, avoid mistakes, and explore your thought process. Neal addresses some listener mail and then reviews one of his OTB games where he was ...

Happy New Year! For our first episode of 2024, Neal answers some questions from our listener mailbag and shares his chess study plan for 2024. Chapters: (00:00) - Intro (01:20) - Neal's 2024 Study Plan (09:57) - Are YouTube V...

Happy Holidays! This week, Neal shares a brief holiday message. Thank you to everyone for supporting the show. We saw a major uptick in downloads in 2023. We'll be taking an extended holiday/end-of-year break and will resume ...

Many club-level players consistently have trouble facing 1. d4. This week, we explore why that is, and offer some practical and philosophical advice. Chapters: (00:00) - Intro (01:40) - 1. d4 General Thoughts (07:00) - Social...

The Botvinnik System is a solid opening choice for White that is easy to learn. We also discuss system openings generally and how they can benefit club players with limited study time. **Errata: In the episode at (23:31), it ...

This week we take a deep dive into some of the most common thematic mistakes that club players make on a regular basis. Most of them have to do with misguided tournament strategies and mishandling your opponent, rather than a...