The Chess Experience

Latest Episodes:

Leveling Up the Chess Community for Adult Club Players w/ Kamryn Heller & Omar Mills Jul 30, 2024

Show notes

098 Adult club players are a fast-growing part of the chess community. But this growth is relatively new. And the community may not have fully caught up to our sizeable presence. So, in a first for this podcast, I’ve brought in two guests to help me discuss this subject and propose some ideas to make the community more engaging for us adult amateurs.
Kamryn Hellman is an adult improver who rose to 2000 Chess.com Rapid in less than a year. Since then, she’s launched a YouTube channel and created a Chessable course for beginners.
Omar Mills is a super-dedicated and inspiring club player who’s built a large chess Twitter following.
In this episode, we discuss:

The need for more adults-only OTB tournaments.
The exciting opportunity for more online, adult amateur events a la Pogchamps (Omar suggests “Survivor: Chess Edition!”)
Whether chess media should feature notable achievements or stories of adult club players.

Kamryn:

Omar:

Twitter

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Or you can…

>>Support this pod by grabbing a chess.com membership which will help you improve your chess & defeat your enemies. A small portion will fund this pod - and every bit helps! Just click this link.

>> Neither? How about checking out Daniel's chess.com profile? Witness his countless, embarrassing blitz losses. He even accepts some friend requests. (Ad)

Why Club Players Struggle Against 1.d4 (And Solving This Challenge) w/ IM Mateusz Kolosowski Jul 16, 2024

Show notes

097 Playing against 1.d4 can be awkward. Many club players say they’re less sure of what to do positionally and have more difficulty finding tactical possibilities. Even the most popular, and arguably best, opening responses like the Slav or the Queen’s Gambit Declined can leave club players unsatisfied.

Why is that?

And are there any openings that can at least ease this challenge?

My guest, IM Mateusz Kolosowski, is here to help.

He brings a decade of coaching experience to bear on this subject. And, he’s recently created a course on an opening that works well to ease these problems: the Albin Countergambit.

But what we discuss is far more than the details of a single opening.

In our chat, we also cover why club players inherently struggle with 1.d4 positions and openings. Which reveals some interesting insights.

Hopefully, this episode is both therapeutic regarding 1.d4 woes...and helpful for you!

More From Elaynah:

How You Can Support the Pod:

Join this show’s Patreon called “Podcast Perks” and get benefits like:

Submitting questions to guests
A shout-out of your name on the pod
Vote on future topics/guests
Exclusive behind-the-scenes updates about the show
DM me any month for a brief chat on chess or episodes

Click here to join the Patreon for The Chess Experience.

Or you can…

>>Support this pod by grabbing a chess.com membership which will help you improve your chess & defeat your enemies. A small portion will fund this pod - and every bit helps! Just click this link.

>> Neither? How about checking out Daniel's chess.com profile? Witness his countless, embarrassing blitz losses. He even accepts some friend requests. (Ad)

Emilia Castelao: Improving Chess Worldwide For Women & Becoming the Rare Chess Historian May 14, 2024

Show notes

091 This week’s guest, Emilia Castelao, approaches chess in rare but special ways. First, she’s making chess her career. Though not as a player, coach, or content creator. Instead, she’s pursuing a Ph.D in chess history.
For most folks, that would take up a majority of their waking hours. Emila, however, has another major chess ambition.
To improve the chess world for women.
To that end, she recently co-founded a non-profit organization called the Women in Chess Foundation. Its goals are 1) to make OTB tournaments safer for women and 2) to help market women’s chess events.
It already has the direct support of Jennifer Shahade, Jovanka Housaka, and the CEO of Chessable.
In our interview, Emilia and I discuss her two chess endeavors, plus how her journey with the game led to these unique projects.
More From Emilia:

How You Can Support the Pod:

Join this show’s Patreon called “Podcast Perks” and get benefits like:

Submitting questions to guests
A shout-out of your name on the pod
Vote on future topics/guests
Exclusive behind-the-scenes updates about the show
DM me any month for a brief chat on chess or episodes

Click here to join the Patreon for The Chess Experience.

Or you can…

>>Support this pod by grabbing a chess.com membership which will help you improve your chess & defeat your enemies. A small portion will fund this pod - and every bit helps! Just click this link.

>> Neither? How about checking out Daniel's chess.com profile? Witness his countless, embarrassing blitz losses. He even accepts some friend requests. (Ad)

WGM Dina Belenkaya: A Born Chess Entertainer, Her New Course, & Chasing the IM Title May 07, 2024

Show notes

090 With natural charisma and exceptional chess skills, Dina Belenkaya is perfect for this new era of chess. A serious student of the game all her life, she competed professionally and earned the WGM title in 2016. In 2020, Dina began her new career as a streamer and content creator...
Just two years later, her popularity soared. Dina delivered bold and funny interviews with the world’s top players at the FIDE Grand Prix, and the videos went viral.
Dina has a sharp wit and a sense of joy in her videos that are rarely seen even amongst other chess celebrities.
These days, she focuses on her chess YouTube channel, where she often plays super GMs in trash-talking blitz games. And, this year, she released her first course and online chess community: Russian Chess School.
We chat: