This week on Perpetual Chess, we are fortunate to get a return visit from the legendary commentator, Super GM, and now Chessable author, GM Peter Svidler! Peter talked with me a few days before he was set to depart for Yekaterinaburg, Russia. Yekaterinburg, of course, is where the FIDE Candidates Tournament will resume after being postponed amidst the Covid pandemic in March 2020. The tournament resumes on April 19, and the winner of the tournament will face GM Magnus Carlsen for the World Championship in November of 2021. As a competitor in prior Candidates Tournaments, and someone who is now assisting GM Kirill Alekseenko, one of the participants, it was amazing to hear GM Svidler’s perspective on the tournament. 

Of course, GM Svidler has also just released his much anticipated Chessable course, Lifetime Repertoires: Peter Svidler’s Grunfeld. We talked about how he researched this huge project, as well as what surprised him about the process of writing his first Chessable course. 

Lastly, we got lots of questions from supporters of the Perpetual Chess Podcast. GM Svidler tackled questions relating to his famed modesty, his plans for competing and commentating in 2021, and much more. Please read on for more details, timestamps, and relevant links. 

0:00- 

We begin by discussing the FIDE Candidates Tournament, which is set to resume on April 19, 2021. 

Mentioned: Russian Superfinals, GM Kirill Alekseenko, FIDE Candidates Wikipedia Page including participants and standings here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Chess_Championship_2021

Candidates odds to win:

https://sports.bwin.com/en/sports/events/candidates-tournament-2020-9514213

22:30- 

Peter answers the first question from the Perpetual Chess Patreon mailbag: “is it possible that Peter’s famed modesty gives him a competitive disadvantage?”

Mentioned: GM Sergei Shipov 

26:30- Perpetual Chess is proud to be brought to you in part by Chessable.com. You can pick up GM Peter Svidler’s The Grunfeld: Lifetime Repertoires Part 1 here:

https://www.chessable.com/lifetime-repertoires-peter-svidlers-grunfeld-part-1/course/63116/

The free short and sweet version is here:

https://www.chessable.com/short-sweet-peter-svidlers-grunfeld/course/70030/

27:00 What were the biggest challenges of creating Peter’s much- anticipated course on the Grunfeld opening? 

Mentioned: GM Danill Dubov, GM Harikrishna 

41:25- Patreon question: How can a player improve at quiet positions? 

Mentioned: Peter’s Svidler’s “Training with Tani” Youtube Series

48:30- Patreon question: “When will we see Peter and GM Jan Gustafsson announcing again?” 

53:30- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Aimchess.com. Aimchess  collects and analyzes your online games and gives you actionable advice on what phases to work on. You can check out their site for free, and if you sign up, use the Promo Code “Chess30” to save 30%

54:00- Patreon question: “Does Peter’s love for the video game Hearthstone help his chess?” 

GM Evgeny Tomashevsky, GM Ian Nepomniatchi 

56:30- Patreon questions: “Will Peter ever write a chess book? If he did, what would it be about?” 

Mentioned: Masterclass with GM Yannick Pelletier:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paCReNKAcNg

Peters’s Recap of his Tilburg 1997 win vs. GM Garry Kasparov

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1iefMAb-Tk

Also Mentioned: GM Boris Gelfand’s books with GM Jacob Aagaard, FM Michiel Abeln’s The Anand Files, From London to Elista 

1:04:00- Patreon question: “Who are Peter’s favorite cricket players?” 

1:05:30-  Patreon question: “Does Peter think that there are similarities between learning languages and chess?” 

Mentioned: Leisure Suit Larry 

1:10:00- Thanks to much to GM Peter Svidler for re-joining the show! Here are the links for his Twitter account, Twitch Streaming, and Chessable course:

https://twitter.com/polborta?lang=en

https://www.twitch.tv/plbrta

https://www.chessable.com/discussion/thread/242991/lifetime-repertoire-the-grunfeld-peter-svidler-/

Peter Svidler “Lifetime Repertoires” Grunfeld-Part 1- Course Giveaway Instructions! Go to Perpetual Chess Youtube page here- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtcudElmRsQYTwULtd_gnFw/videosSubscribe to the channel and take a screenshot Email the screenshot to [email protected] with the subject header “YouTube” Done! Deadline April 30. Winners will be determined by random drawing, and announced via email on May 1.

I will not be able to respond to all contestants emails, but you all should get an email when the winners are announced. Thanks for playing!

If you would like to join the Perpetual Chess Patreon community, or to help support Perpetual Chess in other ways, you can learn more here:

Donate — The Perpetual Chess Podcast

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