Episodes

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 include the following & more: Beginners should focus on these THREE things The FOUR characteristics all good players possess How to handle opponents who play aggressively Why the 2000 Kasparov-Kramnik match changed James' approach permanently A sample chess study regimen James' ...

🎯 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? Is rating deflation real? Leave a voicemail message! 🎙 📧 If you have a question or topic idea for a future episode, e-mail us at info@thechessangle.com. 🎯 Our Links: Website Twitter (X) YouTube Buy Me a Coffee

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 with an increment? What about bullet chess? In this episode, Neal shares the results of an informal online chess experiment where he played several blitz games at various time controls. Referenced: Simple Chess (Amazon) Winning Chess Strategies (Amazon) Ep. 113: Stop Dropping P...

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 opponent's apparent threat is worse than it is. As a result, you bang out an unnecessary (and weakening) defensive move. Sound familiar? You just played a "panic move." This week we take a look at this common chess ailment. Game Referenced: 1900 vs. Neal (G/90;d10) 1. d4 e6 2...

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 processes that are highly instructive, while the ideas in Grandmaster games are often esoteric and difficult to process. Simply put, amateur games are ripe with instructional value. This week's episode is a review of The World's Most Instructive Amateur Game Book (Amazon) by NM ...

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, somewhat accurate, or misguided? This week, we take a look at the pros and cons of common chess study activities. We cover: Offense-only exercises Playing vs. studying: What's the correct ratio? Analyzing with a chess engine Opening study: How much is required? Scaffolding GM game...

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 easy-to-learn, theoretically sound system-opening for White after 1. Nf3 or 1. e4. It can be played against any Black defense, but is particularly effective against the French, Sicilian, and Caro-Kann. Referenced: Why Play the King's Indian Attack? How to Play the King's Indi...

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 Content Writer for chess.com. Mr. Pinhata's 7 Hot Takes: Stalemate Being A Draw Is Awesome Chess.com Should Come With A Doomsday Device Online Chess Is Better Than Over-The-Board People Who Play 1+0 Bullet Are Not OK 1.d4 Is Better Than 1.e4 The London Is The Best Chess Ope...

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 twice early on Useless one-move attacks Bishop vs. Knight Game Referenced: Neal vs. 1697 (G/90;d10) 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 e6 3. e3 b6 4. h3 Bb7 5. Nf3 d6 6. Be2 Be7 7. O-O O-O 8. Nbd2 Nbd7 9. c3 Re8 10. a4 a5 11. Qc2 Rc8 12. Qd1 h6 13. Re1 Bf8 14. Bh2 e5 15. dxe5 dxe5 16. Nc4 Bxf3...

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 more idealistic than realistic The Pirc Defense (1. e4 d6) Play in the center Queen's Indian Defense Exchange sequences Rook and pawn endings The OTB thought process Game Referenced: 1831 vs. Neal (G/90;d10) 1. d4 e6 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Nc3 ...

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 Common causes of time-trouble (and how to avoid it) The dangers of perfectionism and obsessing over the "best" move An interesting trick you can use to get your opponent into time trouble Referenced: Ep. 16: "Chess for Tigers" Ep. 29: "The Seven Deadly Chess Sins" Ches...

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 into the Listener Mailbag. Game Referenced: Neal vs. 1490 (G/90;d10) 1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 Bf5 3. e3 e6 4. Bd3 Bd6 5. Bg3 Nf6 6. Bxf5 exf5 7. Qf3 Qd7 8. Bxd6 Qxd6 9. c3 Qd7 10. Qe2 O-O 11. Nf3 Nc6 12. O-O Rfe8 13. Qc2 Qd6 14. Qxf5 Ne7 15. Qc2 Ng6 16. Nbd2 Ng4 17. Rae1 Re6 18. h3 Nf...

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 you won't stop coughing Our thoughts on caffeine consumption as a chess player Preparing for OTB play 📧 If you have a question or topic idea for a future episode, e-mail us at info@thechessangle.com. 🎯 Our Links: Website Twitter (X) YouTube Buy Me a Coffee

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: Ep. #40: Tournament Strategy feat. GM John Emms Ep. #53: NM Rob Guevara on Why He Declines All Draw Offers Ep. #57: GM Alex Lenderman on Adult Improvement, Chess Cheating, & More The Complete Book of Chess Strategy (Amazon) The Survival Guide to Competitive Chess (Amazon) ...

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, content creator, and FIDE Press Officer. In this jam-packed episode, he provides thoughtful insight on the challenges of improving at chess as an adult and why there's not always a positive correlation between chess study and tournament results. Michael also details his experi...

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. 🎯 Our Links: Website Twitter (X) YouTube Patreon Buy Me a Coffee

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 rules and procedures. Amateur players of all levels should find this episode both informative and entertaining! Special thanks to Pat Barron, friend of the pod and fellow TD from Pennsylvania whose correspondence was the basis of this episode. 📧 If you have a question or topic ...

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 blog is instruction rich and formed the basis of our conversation. Max shared his thoughts on why many adult players have trouble improving, including the erroneous thought processes and approaches that hinder progress. As a reminder, you can become a Patreon member of The C...

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 - Rushing against odd opening moves 3 - Neglecting development/premature attacks 4 - Misplaying castling 5 - Rook posing 6 - Too much French pastry 7 - Trading down to a losing King and pawn ending 8 - Trying too hard to win 9 - Being cavalier against lower-rated opponen...