New In Chess Podcast

This week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast features in interview with Norwegian grandmaster Simen Agdestein.

Today’s podcast reaches you from Oslo, where the 14th edition of Norway Chess started earlier this week and is in full swing now. Yesterday, while walking around at the venue, the spectacular Deichman library in the heart of the city, Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam ran into Simen Agdestein, Norway’s strongest grandmaster before Magnus Carlsen and Magnus’s first trainer.

Simen is famous for his remarkable double career. He was not only the country's best chess player for many years, he was also a gifted footballer who played on the national team of Norway on eight occasions.

Simen first appeared on the New In Chess podcast almost exactly two years ago, and talked about the book that Atle Grønn had written about his remarkable double career, Games and Goals.

And chess and football, as of late these two have been more connected it seems than ever. Many famous footballers claim that there passion for chess helps them on the pitch, and Norway’s biggest star, Erling Haaland, is one of the main investors in Norway Chess’s new venture, Total Chess, a new cycle of tournaments that will start with a pilot edition coming November and then see a first Total Chess World Championship consisting of four tournaments worldwide next year.

Simen is a natural storyteller, who always speaks his mind. About chess and about football. And much more. Don’t miss it!

0:00 – Intro

2:33 – How the growth of chess in Norway has affected Simen

4:10 – Discovering Magnus Carlsen

9:33 – Why do strong players prefer not to play important matches in their own country?

13:40 – Simen’s school

24:34 – AD BREAK

25:33 – This year’s edition of Norway Chess

31:03 – Magnus’s performance

35:20 – Time controls at the tournament

40:20 – Erling Haaland

47:23 – AD BREAK

47:56 – Simen’s personal ambitions at the moment

52:57 – Who’s going to win Norway Chess?

56:28 – Outro

This week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with Dutch grandmaster Erwin l'Ami.
Erwin is an old friend of the New In Chess Podcast. The Dutch Champion in 2022, among his other notable results are his victories in the 2015 Reykjavik Open and in the Rabat Blitz that same year, where he was even too quick for specialists like Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Alexey Shirov.

While Erwin continues to love playing competitive chess in tournaments and club leagues, he has expanded his chess activities in various chess directions over the past years. He’s been working as a trainer for stars such as Veselin Topalov and Anish Giri, and he’s been producing training courses and writing books.

It was in his capacity as a writer that Erwin was invited this time, as together with Dutch GM Paul van der Sterren, he has just authored a new book on Max Euwe, who sensationally robbed Alexander Alekhine of his world title back in 1935. The title of the book is Max Euwe World Champion!, with an exclam, and it looks in detail at the brief reign of Euwe, who lost the chess crown again to the same Alekhine in 1937.
The book is a heartfelt reappraisal of Euwe, who has often been described as a lesser champion. A champion who won the title by some sort of luck. In their fine book, the authors demonstrate convincingly that in spite of such reservations, Euwe truly was the best chess player in the world, or among the very best, in those years.

Erwin talks to Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam about his special interest in Max Euwe, how the book came about, and the remarkable qualities of the fifth World Champion; about the sensation he caused when, as the underdog, he defeated the great Alexander Alekhine in 1935; about his achievements in his years as champion, and why he lost the title again in 1937.
In the second half of the podcast, we talk about Max Euwe’s celebrated successor in the Netherlands, Jan Timman, who died three months ago, on February 18.
Link to the Antwerp interview with Timman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0WTfRRzVsU 
0:00 – Intro

2:35 – Has Erwin’s appreciation of Max Euwe as a player changed throughout the years?

9:21 – Why is Euwe so underappreciated by chess history?

15:45 – How strong was Euwe actually?

19:55 – The Lasker feud

23:05 – Euwe’s “modern” emphasis on opening preparation and physical preparation

27:06 – AD BREAK

28:05 – The historic 1936 Nottingham tournament

32:33 – Euwe as FIDE president

34:49 – While doing his analyses for this book, did Erwin discover any new things about Euwe?

42:50 – Euwe’s loss in the Alekhine rematch

49:21 – Dirk Jan tells his own personal Euwe story

50:32 – AD BREAK

51:08 – Erwin’s friendship with Jan Timman

56:30 – Jan Timman’s incredible memory

1:00:08 – Timman’s incredible career

1:03:49 – Erwin recalls an old interview with Jan (Link in description!)
1:11:23 – Outro

This week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with American international master John Donaldson.
The first time John appeared on the podcast, he was invited as the captain of the American team, on the eve of the 2024 Budapest Olympiad. This time, he talks about his latest book on what may safely be called his hero, Bobby Fischer. John has written a lot about Fischer and in 2022 he published his magnum opus "Bobby Fischer And His World", a thick book of 644 pages bringing together an enormous amount of material about the 11th World Champion.


His latest work is called "Inside The Mind of Bobby Fischer". In a voluminous book of 400 pages, John revisits everything he could find that Fischer has written as a chess analyst. Which means that he not only presents annotated games from Fischer’s very first book, Bobby Fischer’s Games of Chess, but also all the columns he wrote for Boys’ Life, a magazine for the boy scouts of American, and his columns in Chess Life. And there is much more that anyone interested in Fischer would like to see or revisit.
So, if you are looking for a sneak peek or a few teasers of John Donaldson’s fascinating new book, then this podcast is a good place to start!
0:00 – Intro


2:20 – What inspired John to write a new Fischer book?
14:26 – Fischer’s incredible dedication and discipline as a teenager

18:02 – Fischer’s mother Regina

26:25 – Fischer’s lost games

40:50 – AD BREAK

41:23 – The value of Fischer memorabilia

1:01:03 – AD BREAK

1:02:05 – How did John go about analysing Bobby’s old annotations?
1:08:10 - Dimitrije Bjelica

1:11:05 – Is John contemplating a next book about Fischer?

1:17:38 – Outro

This week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with grandmaster Anish Giri.
Today’s podcast once again reaches you from Paphos, in Cyprus, where at the luxurious Cap Saint Georges hotel the Candidates tournament has come to an end after two weeks of excitement and captivating chess. Anish was one of the pretournament favourites and one of the absolute stars of the 2026 Candidates, but in the end he, too, had to bow to the exceptional performance of the winner, twenty-year-old Javokhir Sindarov from Uzbekistan.
Together with Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam, Anish talks about his mixed feelings and looks back on the Candidates tournament from his perspective. 
0:00 – Intro

1:32 – Does Anish have mixed feelings at the end of this tournament?

5:35 – Not beating Wei Yi in the twelfth round

8:40 – Is Anish “not dangerous enough”?

14:35 – Fabiano Caruana’s performance

20:11 – AD BREAK

20:44 – The switch from increment to non-increment play

29:18 – Javokhir Sindarov

33:27 – Erdogmus

37:00 – The hidden coach: Roman Vidonyak

39:25 – Anish’s theory about Javokhir’s rise

45:33 – Modern chess training and coaching

58:30 – AD BREAK

59:50 – Untold: Chess Mates

1:02:20 – Anish’s venture with ChessMonitor

1:08:08 – Outro

This week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with grandmaster Boris Gelfand.
Today’s interview reaches you from Paphos, in Cyprus, on a rest day of the Candidates tournament, after ten of the fourteen rounds have been played. With four rounds to go it looks like Uzbek star Javokhir Sindarov is heading for first place and a World Championship match against World Champion Gukesh from India at the end of this year.
Boris has himself successfully played in the Candidates, won Interzonals and a World Cup and was the Challenger of Vishy Anand in the World Championship match in Moscow in 2012. Together with Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam, Boris reflects on his own participation in the Candidates tournament and the unique pressures of playing at such high stakes.
0:10 - Intro 
2:47 - Boris reflects on his own experiences at the Candidates Tournament
14:48 – AD BREAK

15:19 – Qualifying for the World Championship in 2012

23:50 – The difficulty of dedicating one’s self completely to one chess tournament

27:51 – Jakovhir Sindarov’s performance

34:56 – How did Boris psychologically deal with losing his lead over Anand in 2012?

35:43 – AD BREAK

36:42 – Boris thinks Fabiano has taken too many risks in this tournament

38:34 – Boris’s current chess life

40:38 – Outro