New In Chess Podcast

In this year’s first episode of the New In Chess Podcast, Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam interviews Peter Svidler. It’s a special moment, as two years ago, Peter was the first guest in the inaugural episode of the podcast. We are delighted that he’s returning.

Peter Svidler can look back on an incredible career as a player and he is one of the most knowledgeable and versatile experts in the world of chess. He is a three-time Candidate for the World Championship, an eight-time champion of Russia, and a World Cup winner. Among his many further successes are five gold team medals at the Olympiad.
Over the past years, as he began to play less, Peter has become one of the most popular chess commentators in the world. In fact, it’s fair to say that he was one of the commentators that took chess broadcasts to a new level.

For all these reasons, Peter is a perfect guest at the start of 2026, as we look ahead to a well-filled chess year that no doubt will bring us many highlights.
First, Peter looks back on the Rapid & Blitz World Championships in Doha, where Magnus Carlsen won the title in both time controls for the fifth time in his career.

Next, he talks about the Tata Steel tournament that starts tomorrow in Wijk aan Zee, the world-famous village on the Dutch coast. And, of course, he also touches on the Candidates Tournament in Cyprus in the first half of April.

Peter is an easy talker, who happily shares his stories and insights about many leading and upcoming great chess players.
How does he see Magnus’s new victory? What is his take on rising stars Yazig Erdogmus and Faustino Oro? Or on Vincent Keymer, Anish Giri, Javokhir Sindarov, Leinier Dominguez, World Champion Gukesh and the other Indian stars?

You’ll hear about all of them and many more. If you’d like to warm up for the Tata Steel Masters and Challengers and get into the mood for more highlights in 2026, this episode of the New In Chess Podcast is a good place to begin. Don’t miss it!
The New In Chess Podcast is brought to you by DGT, the chess innovators. DGT is the only brand that provides everything you need to broadcast the games of a chess event - from chess clocks to sensory chess boards.
2:05 – Peter’s recap of the World Rapid and Blitz
3:50 – Which “new kids on the block” did Peter follow with particular interest?

10:36 – Peter’s match against Erdogmus

20:49 – Magnus’s outrageous Messi comparison

23:16 – AD BREAK

23:55 – Is it unwise for Oro to play in the Masters group in Wijk aan Zee?
27:20 – Keymer’s great form going into Wijk aan Zee

28:17 – Anish Giri

30:53 – Gukesh

33:36 – Why Peter thinks this World Championship cycle will be more exciting than before
40:15 – Jakovhir Sindarov’s dark horse status
42:56 – Fabiano Caruana’s chances

47:35 – Pragg

47:57 – AD BREAK

51:34 – What can we expect from Ivanchuk in Wijk aan Zee?

54:30 – Does Peter miss playing competitive chess?

59:03 – How has Uzbekistan become such a strong chess country?

1:02:53 – Will the “India conveyor belt” ever stop?

1:04:14 – What is the current state of chess overall according to Peter?

In this week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast, Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam talks to English grandmaster Matthew Sadler.

Matthew returns to the New In Chess Podcast to look back on the year that’s almost behind us and cautiously look ahead to the year we’re about to enter.
Matthew Sadler is a two-time British Champion, a streamer, a YouTuber, an expert in chess engines, and a prolific writer. The best-selling Game Changer, co-authored with Natasha Regan, on AlphaZero’s groundbreaking chess strategies and the promise of AI, was one of the most successful and talked about books of the past years.
These days Matthew is an IT Consultant, but he makes no secret of the fact that he fills his spare time with as much chess as possible. And although the FIDE rating list no longer has him as an active player, his FIDE rating still hovers eerily close to 2700.

In fact, Matthew might very well be the strongest amateur chess player in the world.

Last but not least, Matthew is the highly popular book reviewer of New In Chess Magazine.

For all these reasons, Matthew was invited to return to the New In Chess Podcast - to talk about the best books that came out and to discuss general tendencies and developments in the chess world.
Matthew is a great conversationalist and storyteller. You’ll enjoy his stories about 19th century Scottish-American Master Captain Mackenzie, Yugoslav legends Albin Planinc and Dragoljub Velimirovic, the benefits and dangers of AI, and much more.

Don’t miss it!

0:00 – Intro

2:55 – Matthew’s tells the story of Captain Mackenzie
12:14 – AD BREAK

12:52 – Matthew’s favourite books of 2025

15:30 – The forgotten genius of Albin Planinc
17:50 – Velimirovic
21:40 – Chess history’s tendency to forget non-world champion players
23:50 – David Bronstein
26:40 – Sergio Mariotti
33:42 – AD BREAK

34:45 – Matthew previews the Candidates Tournament 
37:55 - Vincent Keymer   
38:58 - Javokhir Sindarov
40:38 - Who are Matthew's favourites to win the Candidates?
43:50 – Why 2026 will look very different in terms of top level chess

49:21 – Has Freestyle been a success in 2025?
53:05 – AD BREAK
53:47 – Matthew’s field of expertise: computer chess!
55:48 – Why humans are moving towards a more engine-like style of play
1:03:45 – Is the Benoni still alive?

1:05:10 – Is English chess entering a new Golden age?

1:09:00 – Outro

This week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast features a narration from the Essential Sosonko, a collection of chess portraits and personal stories authored by chess grandmaster Ghenna Sosonko. The subject of this week's story is Russian grandmaster Anatoly Lutikov (1933-1989).  
"Luka" is another lesser-known name in the Essential catalogue, but his story is no less interesting. Coming from a working-class background, Genna describes how "with his independent character, recklessness, and his entire manner of behaviour, he somehow did not fit in with the academic regime of tournaments on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and theoretical lessons on Fridays. His sole trainer became play itself."  
Lutikov's recklessness translated to the chessboard, where he was an attacking player feared by everyone in the Soviet chess elite, and beyond. When a fifteen-year old American boy named Bobby Fischer visited Moscow for a series of blitz matches, he crushed several masters in a row before the "big guns" were called in. Luka showed up and beat the youngster 20/30.
Enjoy this week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast!

In this week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast, Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam talks to Dutch grandmaster Jan Timman. Jan returns to the podcast to talk about his latest book, Timman’s Studies, an impressive volume of 455 pages in which he presents his collected endgame studies and explains how they originated.
Of course, Jan Timman is primarily known as the most successful Dutch chess player of the past fifty years; a world-class player who won countless elite tournaments and rose to second place in the world rankings in 1982.

However, in recent years, after Covid, Jan’s appearances as a player had become less frequent, and a few weeks ago he announced in an interview with Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad, that he has ended his active career as a player.

As Honorary Editor, Jan continues to write for New In Chess Magazine, but he will no longer seek the tension and excitement of the chess arena.

And one thing Jan will definitely not forego is the pleasure of endgame studies! As he puts it in our talk, during the last 10 years endgame studies have actually been the most important part of his chess life.
In 2011, Jan wrote his first book on endgame studies: The Art of the Endgame, My Journeys in the Magical World of Endgame Studies. And last year he paid tribute to all the great composers who have inspired him, and wrote 100 Endgame Studies You Must Know.

And now Jan has written Timman’s Studies, My Collected Endgame Studies and their Origins. As said, it’s a thick book of more than 450 pages and it contains 186 of his endgame studies composed in a period of more than half a century, between 1971 and 2025. What’s more, the final chapter, with 31 studies in total, consists entirely of new work.
If you’re interested in studies and what they mean to Jan Timman, this is certainly a podcast for you.

Don’t miss this talk with one of the modern legends of our game.
The New In Chess Podcast is brought to you by DGT, the chess innovators. DGT is the only brand that provides everything you need to broadcast the games of a chess event - from chess clocks to sensory chess boards.
The New In Chess podcast can be listened to on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and the New In Chess website.

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0:00 – Intro


4:10 – Jan’s lifelong passion for endgame studies

5:57 – Jan tells stories about his father, Max Euwe and Paul Keres

12:40 – Jan’s great admiration for fellow endgame composers like Troitsky, Kubbel and Kasparyan

17:40 – How Jan started composing endgame studies himself

23:09 – AD BREAK

23:41 – How much do we know about famous chess composers?

30:39 – Chess composers who were also strong players

35:12 – Composing chess studies without a board

37:27 – Why grandmasters are often appreciative of chess studies

42:49 – AD BREAK

44:50 – What can composers do to increase general interest in chess studies?

46:15 – Why studies are the most important part of Jan’s chess life these days

49:00 – Will endgame studies inevitably become more complicated?

51:40 – Will solving studies make you a better player?

53:41 – Outro

In this week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast, Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam talks to Dutch grandmaster Loek van Wely. Loek is a good friend of the NIC podcast and he returns to talk about the chess event that is keeping us glued to our screens these days, the World Cup in Goa, India.

The World Cup started almost two weeks ago and will end on 27 November. There’s a lot at stake in Goa, as the top three finishers will qualify for the Candidates tournament in Cyprus next year (28 March-15 April).

There’s also an attractive prize-fund, with the winner taking home $120,000.



Loek had just returned from Goa, where he was the coach of Dutch GM Max Warmerdam and there was a lot to talk about. For instance, about the brutality of the knock-out system. After 4 rounds no fewer than 8(!) of the top 10 seeds have been eliminated, including the top-seed, World Champion Gukesh.

Was it wise for Gukesh to take part? And how regrettable is the elimination of Vincent Keymer, who has been playing such great chess this year? And what about Ian Nepomniachtchi, seeded 12th? Did he have a point when he complained that the conditions in Goa were not as they should have been?



If you want to hear Loek’s thoughts, you should not miss this episode of the New In Chess Podcast.

Or if you’d like to hear his views on a couple of other issues. Such as FIDE’s belated action against Vladimir Kramnik because of the pain and damage his obsessive ‘anti-cheating’ crusade has caused.

Or Loek’s role in the upcoming Global Chess League in Mumbai, where he will once again captain the defending champions’ team, the Triveni Continental Kings.
0:00 - Intro
2:05 - Coaching max Warmerdam at the World Cup 
7:36 - Nepo’s early knockout from the tournament and subsequent complaints about the accommodations
12:55 - Why have so many top seeds been knocked out of the World Cup already?
19:00 - Gukesh partaking in the World Cup despite not playing for a Candidates’ spot
24:54 - AD BREAK 
25:26 - Anish Giri's performance 
28:10 - Bluebaum, Donchenko and other German players 
32:00 - Nodirbek’s performance 
34:29 - Hans Niemann’s defeat against Lorenzo Lodici
40:06 - Jose Martinez 
43:05 - AD BREAK
44:08 - At this point, who does Loek think is the favourite to win the tournament?
47:55 - FIDE’s much belated action against Vladimir Kramnik 
50:46 - Working for Kramnik 
54:48 - AD BREAK
55:28 - Loek’s involvement in the Global Chess League