Late 2 Chess

L2C 069: Opening and Endgame Study methods, and Other Listener Questions

We love our listener questions and we catch up with some from the past few weeks:

1) How best to study Openings

2) How best to learn Endgames

3) How we learn from chess books

4) How we use Chessable/YouTube/Chessly etc. and related sites

5) What we think are the best time controls to learn and improve with (some answers may surprise you)

Remember we are currently offering this "chess prescription" service to you and if you'd like our opinions, please send in a game with white, a game with black, and a brief (or long), summary of your current level and anything you wish to share about your game and goals.

Did we miss something or get anything wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discussing an area you are interested in?

Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com Also, if you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or potential suggestions and/or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show! For a link to the podcast, please use:

https://tinyurl.com/StudyingOpeningsAndMore

Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at:

https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/

#chess #chessInstruction #adultimprover #tournamentChess #learnchess #chesslearner #chesstournament #chesstournaments #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #learningchess #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess #chessannotation #chessanalysis #TaoofChess thank you

L2C 068: Getting Better vs Winning vs Elo Pursuit - and some of the hazards of each

Bill surprises The Doctor with one of his weird soapbox issues. It starts with a discussion of chess improvement versus Elo increases versus an obsession with winning.

As always, we bounce around and discuss several different aspects of these areas and many other subjects related to chess improvement. One of the things that Bill sees significant is not avoiding playing by becoming too obsessed over any of these factors. The Doctor always sees things differently and this time, to the surprise of no one, is no different.

Remember we are currently offering this "chess prescription" service to you and if you'd like our opinions, please send in a game with white, a game with black, and a brief (or long), summary of your current level and anything you wish to share about your game and goals.

Did we miss something or get anything wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discussing an area you are interested in?

Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

Also, if you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or potential suggestions and/or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board. We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/BetterVsElo

Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at: https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/

#chess #chessInstruction #adultimprover #tournamentChess #learnchess #chesslearner #chesstournament #chesstournaments #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #learningchess #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess #chessannotation #chessanalysis #TaoofChess thank you

L2C 074: Emergency Episode - Bill's Latest Tournament (Debacle)

Bill played in a tournament this weekend, as some of you may know from our Instagram posts. It did not go well. He did not play well. It was a tough one and we discuss it on the pod and what the plan of attack will be for the coming weeks. Chess can be a tough game and Bill tends to be a bit tougher on himself than may be appropriate. But if it is worth doing, it is worth overdoing, lol. Another out of sequence episode / bonus episode for the week.

Remember we are currently offering this "chess prescription" service to you and if you'd like our opinions, please send in a game with white, a game with black, and a brief (or long), summary of your current level and anything you wish to share about your game and goals.

Did we miss something or get anything wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discussing an area you are interested in?

Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com Also, if you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or potential suggestions and/or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show! For a link to the podcast, please use:

https://tinyurl.com/2026CharmCityOpen

Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at:

https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/

#chess #chessInstruction #adultimprover #tournamentChess #learnchess #chesslearner #chesstournament #chesstournaments #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #learningchess #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess #chessannotation #chessanalysis #TaoofChess thank you

L2C 071: Emergency Episode - Our 2026 Gift Bag Contest

With the recent popularity of The Doctor's grab bags, we have sold out (for zero dollars so is it really a sale?) of The Doctor's current book stash, but we wanted to go out with a bang so here are the details of our year end, holiday gift bag.

Good luck!

Remember we are currently offering this "chess prescription" service to you and if you'd like our opinions, please send in a game with white, a game with black, and a brief (or long), summary of your current level and anything you wish to share about your game and goals.

Did we miss something or get anything wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discussing an area you are interested in?

Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com Also, if you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or potential suggestions and/or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show! For a link to the podcast, please use:

https://tinyurl.com/2026GiftBagContest

Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at:

https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/

#chess #chessInstruction #adultimprover #tournamentChess #learnchess #chesslearner #chesstournament #chesstournaments #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #learningchess #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess #chessannotation #chessanalysis #TaoofChess thank you

L2C 070: NM Robert Ramirez - Chess Coaching Deep Dive - Part 1 of...

We were very happy to have Robert Ramirez on the podcast and we had so many topics to discuss with him and then he started a whole new website and a structure to his chess paying and instruction. So we ended up with about 5 episodes worth of questions, maybe more. We cover his new to us method of logically explaining a methodology that can be applied to any game and maybe even alleviate some of The Doctor's middlegame planning issues/concerns.

We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did and get as much from the discussion. One of our best episodes.

Remember we are currently offering this "chess prescription" service to you and if you'd like our opinions, please send in a game with white, a game with black, and a brief (or long), summary of your current level and anything you wish to share about your game and goals.

Did we miss something or get anything wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discussing an area you are interested in?

Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com Also, if you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or potential suggestions and/or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show! For a link to the podcast, please use:

https://tinyurl.com/RobertRamirez1

Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at:

https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/

#chess #chessInstruction #adultimprover #tournamentChess #learnchess #chesslearner #chesstournament #chesstournaments #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #learningchess #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess #chessannotation #chessanalysis #TaoofChess thank you

L2C 067: Prescription for Chess Improvement - Listener Code Name Grasshopper

To the surprise of many, a listener took advantage of our offer to review their game and suggest a few things to work on. Thank you to codename "Grasshopper" for their games and details.

If you ever want to have us look at your games and make suggections, the offer remains open.

Did we miss something or get anything wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss an area you are interested in? Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

Also, if you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or potential suggestions and/or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show! For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/RxGrasshopper

Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at: https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/

#chess #chessInstruction #adultimprover #tournamentChess #learnchess #chesslearner #chesstournament #chesstournaments #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #learningchess #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess #chessannotation #chessanalysis #TaoofChess

L2C 066: How to Study Puzzles and tactics to Actually Improve Your Chess Game

If you have ever listened to any chess improvement advisors, you have undoubtably heard that to improve at chess you need to improve your tactics, especially early on in your chess journey. Some have even said that chess is 99% tactics at this point or that tactics is all/everything you need to do to improve. We aren't sure that it is that extreme, but it is definitely one of the most important aspects of chess and critical at all levels.

One thing that is not often discussed is how best to study tactics. We have evolved over the past few years and have a pretty solid way to study tactics. Much of it is derived from the advice of coaches, grandmasters, YouTube, books etc. But we also had a few aspects that we added ourselves. While this is not definitively the best way to study tactics and puzzles, we think it is. If we ever come up with further improvements and refinements, we will add them to future episodes.

Also, remember we are currently offering this "chess prescription" service to you and if you'd like our opinions, please send in a game with white, a game with black, and a brief (or long), summary of your current level and anything you wish to share about your game and goals.

Did we miss something or get anything wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discussing an area you are interested in? Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

Also, if you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or potential suggestions and/or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show! For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/PuzzlesAndTactics

Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at: https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/

#chess #chessInstruction #adultimprover #tournamentChess #learnchess #chesslearner #chesstournament #chesstournaments #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #learningchess #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess #chessannotation #chessanalysis #TaoofChess

L2C 064: Our Chess Prescriptions For Each Other

It is here, the episode where The Doctor gets to tell Bill what to do to improve his chess game. And, Bill gets to tell the Doctor what he has to do to improve his. The best part about it is that they both have to do what the other says. Since we both know each other's games very well, this should lead to improvement in how we paly or at least fill a few more holes in our games.

Also, remember we are currently offering this service to you and if you'd like our opinions, please send in a game with white, a game with black, and a brief, or long, summary of your current level and anything you wish to share about your game and goals.

Did we miss something or get anything wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss an area you are interested in? Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

Also, if you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or potential suggestions and/or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show! For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/ChessRx1

Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at: https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/

#chess #chessInstruction #adultimprover #tournamentChess #learnchess #chesslearner #chesstournament #chesstournaments #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #learningchess #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess #chessannotation #chessanalysis #TaoofChess

L2C 065: Listener Emails and Bill's Latest OTB Tournament at Marywood

The Doctor (and I) love nothing more than emails from our listeners. This episode starts off we a few of our more recent emails, including one from our first listener prescription request. We then go into a quick review of Bill's latest OTB tournament at Marywood.

Also, remember we are currently offering this "chess prescription" service to you and if you'd like our opinions, please send in a game with white, a game with black, and a brief (or long), summary of your current level and anything you wish to share about your game and goals.

Did we miss something or get anything wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss an area you are interested in? Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

Also, if you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or potential suggestions and/or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show! For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/MarywoodSept2026

Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at: https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/

#chess #chessInstruction #adultimprover #tournamentChess #learnchess #chesslearner #chesstournament #chesstournaments #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #learningchess #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess #chessannotation #chessanalysis #TaoofChess

L2C 063: Dr Can Kabadayi on Learning Chess

World Class Chess Instructor and prolific author of multiple award winning Chessable Courses Dr Can Kabadayi joins the podcast and we discuss a few of the more important aspects of learning chess by applying Dr Can's background in cognitive science and experience as a chess coach to help you get better at the game of chess. It was a fantastic episode and we can't wait to have Dr Can back on the podcast for part 2 of hopefully many, many more discussions.

Did we miss something or get anything wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss an area you are interested in? Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

Also, if you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or potential suggestions and/or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show! For a link to the podcast, please use:

https://tinyurl.com/DrCanOnChess

Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at: https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/

#chess #chessInstruction #adultimprover #tournamentChess #learnchess #chesslearner #chesstournament #chesstournaments #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #learningchess #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess #chessannotation #chessanalysis #TaoofChess

L2C 062: Our Top Ten Things That Did Not Help Our Chess - Yet

Top ten lists seem to be popular, so we decided to list the Top 10 Activities that we all have heard and likely tried that have not helped our chess game or helped our chess game the least to this point. This may not be the case as we improve, but to this point, here is our list.

Did we miss something or get anything wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss an area you are interested in? Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

Also, if you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or potential suggestions and/or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show! For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/BottomTenChess

Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at: https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/

#chess #chessInstruction #adultimprover #tournamentChess #learnchess #chesslearner #chesstournament #chesstournaments #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #learningchess #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess #chessannotation #chessanalysis #TaoofChess

L2C 061: Patience in Chess

Bill gets up onto his soapbox for this one and tried to explain why patience in chess is so important but often overlooked in most chess areas of chess learning. The Doctor is underwhelmed initially and you will have to listen to find out if he eventually comes across to Bill's side of the argument. Please be prepared as Bill had done way too many tacticas on this day of recording.

Did we miss something or get anything wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss an area you are interested in? Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

Also, if you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or potential suggestions and/or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show! For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/ChessPatience

Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at: https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/

#chess #chessInstruction #adultimprover #tournamentChess #learnchess #chesslearner #chesstournament #chesstournaments #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #learningchess #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess #chessannotation #chessanalysis #TaoofChess

L2C 060: Tao of Chess and Bill's Latest OTB Tournament

On this week's episode, we try to squeeze in a double shot. We cover the chapter in the Tao of Chess on tempo. Then we go into the latest OTB tournament for Bill. Plus there is a few surprise items and Bill continues to lobby for The Doctor to go to the Charlotte Chess Center in October for a live, over the board tournament.

Did we miss something or get anything wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss an area you are interested in? Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

Also, if you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or potential suggestions and/or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show! For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/TempoAndTourneyRecap

Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at: https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/

#chess #chessInstruction #adultimprover #tournamentChess #learnchess #chesslearner #chesstournament #chesstournaments #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #learningchess #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess #chessannotation #chessanalysis #TaoofChess

L2C 059: IM Kostya Kavutskiy

We were honored to have International Master Kostya Kavutskiy on the podcast. We talked all things chess and the ChessDojo, as well as our usual digressions. Hopefully this will be a great introduction to Kostya and part one of many to come.

Did we miss something or get anything wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss an area you are interested in? Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

Also, if you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or potential suggestions and/or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show! For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/IMKostya

Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at: https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/

#chess #chessInstruction #adultimprover #tournamentChess #learnchess #chesslearner #chesstournament #chesstournaments #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #learningchess #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess #chessannotation #chessanalysis #TaoofChess

L2C 058: AI Assistance in Chess Improvement and Listener Questions

The Doctor has been hard at work on his game and has become a big fan of working with AI to review his paly. He is primarily using a new to us website called ChesSigma and we he has found to be helpful to improve his game. Hopefully, we can go over the website in more depth in the future. We also go through a few recent listener questions.

Did we miss something or get anything wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss an area you are interested in? Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

Also, if you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or potential suggestions and/or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show! For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/AIChessAssist

Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at: https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/

#chess #chessInstruction #adultimprover #tournamentChess #learnchess #chesslearner #chesstournament #chesstournaments #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #learningchess #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess #chessannotation #chessanalysis #TaoofChess

L2C 057: Chess Camp with the Chess Dojo

The Chess Dojo announced that they would be holding a camp helping players chess games. We were immediately interested but life schedules led to Bill being the only one of us to be able to attend. He had such a good time and learned so much, we had a need to share the experience the night the event ended. We apologize if Bill was more of a babbling idiot than normal bit it was a bit late in the evening and after the camp, he was pretty tired mentally, but very enthusiastic about the event and what he learned from the camp. So without further ado, as The Doctor always says, "Lets Go".

Did we miss something or get anything wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss an area you are interested in? Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

Also, if you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or potential suggestions and/or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show! For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/DojoChessCamp

Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at: https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/

#chess #chessInstruction #adultimprover #tournamentChess #learnchess #chesslearner #chesstournament #chesstournaments #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #learningchess #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess #chessannotation #chessanalysis #TaoofChess

L2C 056: Visualization and Mental Processing with Aiden Rayner

All chess players can agree that thinking is a large of our game and a key component in our success at the board. What if there was a way to optimize not only what we think but how we think? Do you think that your game would improve? Would the game be even more fun? While our guest for this episode cannot guarantee that your Elo will go up, it is fairly logical that if your thinking process can improve so will your game.

Aiden Raynor is the host of one of our favorite podcasts called "Chess Visualization" and it is one of the few that Bill doesn't listen to at 3x, lol, Aiden has seemingly dedicated his life towards understanding how our brains have been wired to think and what we can do to optimize our thinking processes to most efficiently play chess.

During this episode we try to cover a bunch of the main aspects related to this area and even address a few issues that Bill has encountered in the past almost two years of playing. In the future we hope to have Aiden back on the podcast, probably a few times, to get more deeply into several of the areas.

The goal for this episode was to provide a broad overview of the area and we hope we answered a few questions you may have had and maybe a few you had not realized yet.

For more information or to contact Aiden: https://dontmoveuntilyousee.it/ or subscribe to his podcast wherever you listen to this one.

Did we miss something or get anything wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss an area you are interested in? Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

Also, if you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or potential suggestions and/or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show! For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/BigBrainChessP1

Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at: https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/

#chess #chessInstruction #adultimprover #tournamentChess #learnchess #chesslearner #chesstournament #chesstournaments #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #learningchess #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess #chessannotation #chessanalysis #TaoofChess

L2C 055: Welcome Back - To The Doctor and OTB Chess for Bill

Summer is rapidly coming to a close and The Doctor has returned to the podcast from his sabbatical, lol. In addition, we cover an OTB tournament after a long layoff for Bill. What has The Doctor been up to and how has his game been progressing? How did the tournament go and did any of the recent work payoff?

Did we miss something or get anything wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss an area you are interested in? Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

Also, if you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or potential suggestions and/or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show! For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/WelcomeBackDoctor

Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at: https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/

#chess #chessInstruction #adultimprover #tournamentChess #learnchess #chesslearner #chesstournament #chesstournaments #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #learningchess #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess #chessannotation #chessanalysis #TaoofChess

L2C 054: How to Annotate and Analyze Your Game (101) with Claude Fried

It is often said that in chess one of the best ways to improve is to study your games, often annotating them is the method suggested. But what exactly does that mean exactly. Claude Fried returns to help Bill walk through a recent game and help him to annotate and analyze the game. While we made every effort to make this useful as an audio only podcast, this episode may be better when viewed on our YouTube channel as the discussion is fairly visual. Going into this episode, Bill felt he was almost competent at annotating a game and what he was thinking during and after reviewing the game. However, his analysis skills are still lacking. Even with that expectation, Claude was able to identify several key areas where Bill can improve his process going forward. Additionally, Claude also suggested several areas for homework and future game analysis and annotations for a potential part 2.

Here is a link to the full PGN file after being updated during and after this episode. afdvv

Please let us know if you would like a part 2, or more, in this potential series and especially please let us know if we did not cover a related area that may be puzzling you at this point in your chess career.

Did we miss something or get anything wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss an area you are interested in? Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

Also, if you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or potential suggestions and/or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show! For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/ChessAnnoation

Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at: https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/

#chess #chesstournament #chesstournaments #TaoofChess #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #chessInstruction #adultimprover #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #tournamentChess #learnchess #learningchess #chesslearner #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess #chessannotation #chessanalysis

L2C 053: Bill on the Sofa - State of the Union Update as of July 2026

Bill reviews what he has been up to and how his chess game and study have been progressing over the past few months. Has his Elo gone up? Has it gone down? What has he been spending his time doing? Studying vs playing. Plus a fun idea for another contest that involves you, our esteemed audience, if the Doctor approves.

Did we miss something or get anything wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss an area you are interested in? Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

Also, if you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or potential suggestions and/or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show! For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/BillOnTheSofa2

Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at: https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/

#chess #chesstournament #chesstournaments #TaoofChess #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #chessInstruction #adultimprover #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #tournamentChess #learnchess #learningchess #chesslearner #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess #chessannotation #chessanalysis

L2C 052: Claude Fried Returns to Answer (Some) of Bill's Dumb Questions

Many/Most/All(?) chess players seem to be obsessed over chess openings. In an effort to help, Claude Fried returns to offer some very good advice to us about what to do when looking to start a new to you opening. In addition, Bill can't help but ask some more of his ridiculous questions. Claude is way too good of a player to put up with Bill's dumb questions but he indulges him once again.

We did cover several topics that may be of interest to you and also help your game, including:

- Returning to tournament play OTB after an absence, including how he is preparing to return to OTB

- Various resources he uses for tactical training

- How to study openings, especially early on in your chess improvement path, and how to develop an opening repertoire, even for the first time, including how to organize and study the opening.

- What is the goal of learning an opening and how to know when to stop and what are reasonable expectations for the time spent studying an opening or a repertoire.

- A good way to "pick" your opening that meets your goals, interests, strengths, and playing style.

- How to decide if you want to play e4 or d4 as your first move and why you may prefer one over the other.

- How to choose your study resources and what is a reasonable composition for a starting repertoire.

- Study tips and goals for openings

- Resources that he finds most helpful to his game and studying efforts

- Studying Mate in One's and Mate in Two's and some of the issues that Bill is currently encountering in this area

Did we miss something or get anything wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss an area you are interested in?

Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com If you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show! For a link to the podcast, please use:

https://tinyurl.com/ChessOpeningStudy

Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at: https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/

#chess #chesstournament #chesstournaments #TaoofChess #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #chessInstruction #adultimprover #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #tournamentChess #learnchess #learningchess #chesslearner #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess

L2C 051: Space: Our Tao of Chess Book Series Continues

Our Tao of Chess series continues with this episode focused on the importance of space when playing chess. Don't worry, this is not the final frontier of the series. We have a long way to go.

Did we miss something or get anything wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss and area you are interested in?

Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

If you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or solutions, please let us know. Welcome to the board. We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use:

https://tinyurl.com/ChessOpeningStudy

Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at: https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/

#chess #chesstournament #chesstournaments #TaoofChess #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #chessInstruction #adultimprover #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #tournamentChess #learnchess #learningchess #chesslearner #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess

L2C 050: Non-Chess Factors to Improve Your Game

We started off with a simple listener question: What do you think are things that are not directly related to chess playing and studying that could help your chess game, especially for a tournament. Bill thought it was a 5 minute pre-episode discussion. The Doctor had other ideas. As usual, the Doctor was correct.

Did we miss something or get anything wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss and area you are interested in?

Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

If you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or solutions, please let us know. Welcome to the board. We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/NonChessChessImprovements

Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at: https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/

#chess #chesstournament #chesstournaments #TaoofChess #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #chessInstruction #adultimprover #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #tournamentChess #learnchess #learningchess #chesslearner #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess

L2C 049: Speed Runs / Slow Runs

One of Bill's favorite soft learning activities is to watch slow runs/speed runs and we go into several that he has found to be most helpful and how he tries to get the most value from them. The Doctor then goes through a similar process that he uses to actually simulate a speedrun for himself. Then we talk about a few ways that we may add these to our podcast's YouTube channel. Let us know if you'd be interested.

Did we miss something or get anything wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss and area you are interested in?

Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

If you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or solutions, please let us know. Welcome to the board. We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/SpeedAndSlowRuns

Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at: https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/

#chess #chesstournament #chesstournaments #TaoofChess #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #chessInstruction #adultimprover #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #tournamentChess #learnchess #learningchess #chesslearner #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess

L2C 048: Hanging Pawns

An awesome conversation with Stjepan Tomic about a ton of topics including his chess progress and what he has found to be the best ways to improve as a player. He is was further down the road to above and beyond being a DCP, but shares our pain in the journey. Hopefully this episode will be part 1 of many with Stjepan.

Hanging Pawns on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HangingPawns

Hanging Pawns Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/hangingpawns

The two youtube posts we discussed most closely are:

Most Common training mistakes: https://tinyurl.com/ChessTrainingMistakes

Best training methods: https://tinyurl.com/12BestTrainingMethods

Did we miss something or get anything wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss and area you are interested in?

Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

If you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or solutions, please let us know. Welcome to the board. We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/HangingPawnsPod

Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at: https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/

#chess #chesstournament #chesstournaments #TaoofChess #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #chessInstruction #adultimprover #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #tournamentChess #learnchess #learningchess #chesslearner #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess

L2C 047: The Tao of Chess - Pawn Structures

This week, we discuss various aspects of the pawn structure and how we perceive this area to apply to our games at our current level of play. This is an area that will likely need to be revisited as we progress.

Did we miss something or get anything wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss and area you are interested in?

Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

If you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or solutions, please let us know. Welcome to the board. We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/PawnStructures

Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at: https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/

#chess #chesstournament #chesstournaments #TaoofChess #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #chessInstruction #adultimprover #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #tournamentChess #learnchess #learningchess #chesslearner #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess

L2C 046: Freestyle Chess, Fischer Random, and Chess 960

Is Freestyle chess good for beginner and intermediate players? Does it help you improve your chess game? Do we know how to play this? do we know how to play game this well? The answers vary and that is the topic for this week's podcast. Plus another contest.

Did we miss something or get anything wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss and area you are interested in?

Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

If you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or solutions, please let us know. Welcome to the board. We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/FreeStyleChessAndFischerRandom

Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at: https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/

#chess #chesstournament #chesstournaments #TaoofChess #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #chessInstruction #adultimprover #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #tournamentChess #learnchess #learningchess #chesslearner #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess #fantasyCandidatesTournament

L2C 045: Blitz and Bullet for Chess improvement

One of the hot topics on the internet seems to be whether or not to play blitz and bullet early in your chess improvement cycle. In this episode, we share our thoughts and a few details to help make bullet and blitz (really more blitz but also for bullet) helpful to you chess training and improvement. Lets the arguments begin. Or more appropriately, since Mortal Kombat 2 is out in the theaters "FIGHT". Did we miss something or get anything wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss and area you are interested in? Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com If you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or solutions, please let us know. Welcome to the board. We hope you enjoy the show! For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/BlitzAndBullet Want a discount on your ChessNoteR: Enter "GHiTLikes" to get XXXXxyf % off of the cost of your unit. Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at: https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/ #chess #chesstournament #chesstournaments #TaoofChess #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #chessInstruction #adultimprover #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #tournamentChess #learnchess #learningchess #chesslearner #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess #fantasyCandidatesTournament

L2C 044: All About the ChessNoteR

One of the bigger transition when playing over the board, live, in person chess from playing online is that keeping track of the moves during the game. It sounds trivial, but is not as natural as you think it would be to do, especially early on. The ChessNoteR removes this issue with an easy to use interface and also allows for an easy transfer to where you review and annotate your games, even including the times for each move. Bill talks with the inventor of the ChessNoteR Joey Troy.

If you have any questions, you can write in to us or contact Joey at https://chessnoter.com.

Did we miss something or get anything wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss and area you are interested in?

Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

If you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or solutions, please let us know. Welcome to the board. We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/ChessNoteR

Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at: https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/

#chess #chesstournament #chesstournaments #TaoofChess #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #chessInstruction #adultimprover #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #tournamentChess #learnchess #learningchess #chesslearner #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess #fantasyCandidatesTournament

L2C 043: All About the Chess Dojo

We are always talking about the Chess Dojo and it is largely because it has helped both of us so much. We then decided to talk about how it has helped us. We had a bit of trouble coming up with a good way of describing it when we decided "hey, lets just give a tour and talk as we do". So we did.

PS this may be a podcast where it is better to view on our YouTube channel to get to see everything we talk about, but hopefully, it works when audio only.

Did we miss something or get anything wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss and area you are interested in?

Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

If you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or solutions, please let us know. Welcome to the board. We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/WelcometoTheDojo2

Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/WelcometoTheDojoVideo

Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at: https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/

#chess #chesstournament #chesstournaments #TaoofChess #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #chessInstruction #adultimprover #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #tournamentChess #learnchess #learningchess #chesslearner #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess #fantasyCandidatesTournament

L2C 042: Best Books and Courses - Volume 1

We go through the best books and courses we have used to date so far. Unsurprisingly, our picks differed, lol. This is a constantly evolving list and offers our perspectives. We expect this list to be updated in the future because it does not only involve the quality of the information but also the timing the information was ingested as well as our current progression as chess players. Congratulations to our top picks. PS What are yours?

Did we miss something or get anything wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss and area you are interested in?

Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

If you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or solutions, please let us know. Welcome to the board. We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/OurBestBookPicks

Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at: https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/

#chess #chesstournament #chesstournaments #TaoofChess #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #chessInstruction #adultimprover #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #tournamentChess #learnchess #learningchess #chesslearner #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess #fantasyCandidatesTournament

L2C 041: Chess Etiquette

One thing that keeps many people from starting a hobby is the intimidation of not knowing what to do. We think everyone can and should play chess, so we began a discussion on the etiquette of chess to help assuage any trepidation on anyone's part.

Did we get something wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss and area you are interested in?

Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

If you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or solutions, please let us know. Welcome to the board. We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/ChessEtiquette

Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at: https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/

#chess #chesstournament #chesstournaments #TaoofChess #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #chessInstruction #adultimprover #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #tournamentChess #learnchess #learningchess #chesslearner #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess #fantasyCandidatesTournament

L2C 040: The Candidates Tournament 2026 - Our Wrap-up

The tournament is complete. We have two new players who will compete for the world championship. We cover what happened that last few rounds, what we think about the tournament overall, and a bit early prognostication for the world championships. But more importantly, we cover our fantasy tournament, lol.

Did we get something wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss and area you are interested in?

Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

If you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or solutions, please let us know. Welcome to the board. We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/Candidates2026Wrapped

Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at: https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/

#chess #chesstournament #chesstournaments #TaoofChess #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #chessInstruction #adultimprover #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #tournamentChess #learnchess #learningchess #chesslearner #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess #fantasyCandidatesTournament

L2C 039: The Tao of Chess - Chapter 7 - Material

We return to our Tao of Chess series and discus the next chapter on Material. Of primary importance to you initial improvement as a chess player is taking care of you pieces (and pawns) and capitalizing on the opportunities that your opponent presents. We have heard that 80+% of the games under 1200 Elo are decided by this factor. Even if that is not 100% accurate, it is indicative of the importance of material during a chess game.

Did we get something wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss and area you are interested in?

Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

If you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or solutions, please let us know. Welcome to the board. We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/TaoOfChessChap7

Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at: https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/

#chess #chesstournament #chesstournaments #TaoofChess #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #chessInstruction #adultimprover #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #tournamentChess #learnchess #learningchess #chesslearner #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess #fantasyCandidatesTournament

L2C 038: Days 8-10 of This Year's Candidates Tournament

The 2026 Candidates Tournament is nearing its end. The open contest is pretty close ot mathematically over. The ladies event is FANTASTIC. We cover both and predict the next round. Please do not wager the mortgage on our thoughts, lol.

Did we get something wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss and area you are interested in?

Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

If you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or solutions, please let us know. Welcome to the board. We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/CandidatesDays8to10

Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at: https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/

#chess #chesstournament #chesstournaments #TaoofChess #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #chessInstruction #adultimprover #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #tournamentChess #learnchess #learningchess #chesslearner #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess #fantasyCandidatesTournament

L2C 037: Claude Fried

Bill welcomes Claude to the podcast. He is over qualified for our DCP title and has a USCF rating of over 2,000 at this point. We talked quite a bit about his past and even more about what he learned that helped him the most. We also discussed a ton of options that are present currently that were not around when he was first learning. And since the good Doctor was not around, Bill got to ask a ridiculous question or two. To be fair, he was left unattended.

Did we get something wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss and area you are interested in?

Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com If you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/ClaudeFriedP1

Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at: https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/

#chess #chesstournament #chesstournaments #TaoofChess #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #chessInstruction #adultimprover #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #tournamentChess #learnchess #learningchess #chesslearner #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess #fantasyCandidatesTournament

L2C 036: Days 5-7 of This Year's Candidates Tournament

The 2026 Candidates Tournament has reached the halfway point and the Women's championship battle almost could not be closer. The open championship has had lots of surprises in terms of each of the games played, but it has developed into a big lead and a few players who are (almost) out of contention. It is looking like the later rounds are going to be quite exciting on the women's side and hopefully the open side. The good Doctor and Bill also update the midway results of our Fantasy Chess Tournament and in spite of the their prediction performance predict the next round of action that will be starting in a few hours after today's off day.

Did we get something wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss and area you are interested in?

Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com If you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/CandidatesDays56and7

Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at: https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/

#chess #chesstournament #chesstournaments #TaoofChess #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #chessInstruction #adultimprover #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #tournamentChess #learnchess #learningchess #chesslearner #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess #fantasyCandidatesTournament

L2C 035: Days 1-4 of This Year's Candidates Tournament

The Doctor and Bill discuss this years Candidates Tournament days 1-4. Usually, this tournament starts slowly due to the high stakes of playing for the World Championship with lots of draws. Not so much this year as many matches have ended with decisive victories. We review the results for all four days and then take a deep dive into the round 1 matchup of Fabiano v Hikaru. Well as deep as we can go/understand.

Did we get something wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss and area you are interested in?

Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com If you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/CandidatesDays1to4

Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at: https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/

#chess #chesstournament #chesstournaments #TaoofChess #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #chessInstruction #adultimprover #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #tournamentChess #learnchess #learningchess #chesslearner #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess #fantasyCandidatesTournament

L2C 034: Learning Chess "Chessable"-type Instruction vs Book Learning - Advantages & Disadvantages

The Doctor and Bill discuss the pro's and con's of using online resources in the style of Chessable vs the old school methods of learning with books. What is best? What works for us? Are there any differences and/or advantages for each? Tune in this week. Same Bat Time. Same Bat Channel. Same low price.

And don't forget to enter your team selection into our Fantasy Chess League for the upcoming Candidates tournament. The rules are posted on our social media on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

Did we get something wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss and area you are interested in?

Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com If you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/ChessablevBook

Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at: https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/

#chess #chesstournament #chesstournaments #TaoofChess #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #chessInstruction #adultimprover #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #tournamentChess #learnchess #learningchess #chesslearner #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess #fantasyCandidatesTournament

L2C 033: Our Picks for The Fantasy 2026 Candidates Chess Tournament

With the 2026 Candidates Tournament about to begin, The Doctor and Bill reveal their picks for the Late 2 Chess Fantasy Chess Candidates Championship. We hope you enjoy the tournament and good luck going for the win!

And don't forget to enter your team selection into our Fantasy Chess League for the upcoming Candidates tournament. The rules are posted on our social media on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

Please let us know if you are going to try this and please please let us know if you do and how it goes. We would love to hear all about it.

Did we get something wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss and area you are interested in?

Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com If you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/OurPicks2026

Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at: https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/

#chess #chesstournament #chesstournaments #TaoofChess #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #chessInstruction #adultimprover #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #tournamentChess #learnchess #learningchess #chesslearner #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess #fantasyCandidatesTournament

L2C 032: The Tao of Chess - 3 More Chapters

We return to our Tao of Chess series and discus the next three chapters as they belong in one bag. The first chapter is on Development. The second chapter is on Controlling the Center. The third chapter we cover here is on King Safety. These three principles form the pillars of most good chess, especially early in your chess career. However, as with the other chapters of this book, there is great depth in each of the principles covered within the chapter and we remain positive that we do not fully comprehend the true meanings atthis point. Maybe someday.

And don't forget to enter your team selection into our Fantasy Chess League for the upcoming Candidates tournament. The rules are posted on our social media on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

Did we get something wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss and area you are interested in?

Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com If you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/TaoOfChessChapters3to5

Want some Late 2 Chess swag? Our store is open at: https://late-2-chess.myspreadshop.com/

#chess #chesstournament #chesstournaments #TaoofChess #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #chessInstruction #adultimprover #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #tournamentChess #learnchess #learningchess #chesslearner #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess #fantasyCandidatesTournament

L2C 031: Our Views on Chessiverse.com - So Far

A few weeks ago The Doctor was talking to me about this new website that he was trying out and said it looked good so far. I was on the road for a 4 week work travel trip and checked out the website. We both found it to be be very helpful to us learning chess and improving our games. So in this episode we talk about Chessiverse.com, what features it has, how we use it and how it has helped us to improve.

And don't forget to enter your team selection into our Fantasy Chess League for the upcoming Candidates tournament. The rules are posted on our social media on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

Please let us know if you are going to try this and please please let us know if you do and how it goes. We would love to hear all about it.

Did we get something wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss and area you are interested in?

Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com If you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/ChessiversePart1

#chess #chesstournament #chesstournaments #TaoofChess #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #chessInstruction #adultimprover #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #chessiverse #tournamentChess #learnchess #learningchess #chesslearner #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess #fantasyCandidatesTournament

L2C 030: Our 2026 Candidates Tournament Player intro and Fantasy Tournament Intro

In this episode, we introduce the 8 contestants in the 2026 Candidates Tournament. The winner will get the chance to play for the World Championship of Chess later this year against the current World Champion Gukesh. We also provided all the details you need to enter the even more prestigious Fantasy Chess Tournament for predicting the best team of 4 players.

And don't forget to enter your team selection into our Fantasy Chess League for the upcoming Candidates tournament. The rules are posted on our social media on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

Please let us know if you are going to try this and please please let us know if you do and how it goes. We would love to hear all about it.

Did we get something wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss and area you are interested in?

Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com If you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/L2CCandidates2026Intro

#chess #chesstournament #chesstournaments #TaoofChess #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #chessInstruction #adultimprover #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #tournamentChess #learnchess #learningchess #chesslearner #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess #fantasyCandidatesTournament

Da Rules:

1) You have a budget of 1,000 units

2) Points are scored for each player on your team's wins and draws.

3) Total team points at the end of the tournament wins

4) The tie breaker if needed, is your prediction of the top 4 in order. These choices do not have to be from your team from above.

Costs:

Fabiano Caruana 474

Hikaru Nakamura 383

Javokhir Sindarov 302

R Praggnanandhaa 277

Anish Giri 237

Wei Yi 184

Andrey Esipenko 111

Matthias Blübaum 33

Send in your entries to:

Late2Chess@gmail.com or on our Instagram, Youtube channel comments, Facebook group, or Discord channel.

L2C 029: Our First Annual Chessy Awards for 2025 Performance

It is awards season and we thought it would be great fun to start the annual tradition we nicknamed the Cheesy's. Never one to leave a bad idea alone, we did it. So with no further introduction, here are the Chessy Awards for 2025. Let the arguments begin.

And don't forget to enter your team selection into our Fantasy Chess League for the upcoming Candidates tournament. The rules are posted on our social media on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

Please let us know if you are going to try this and please please let us know if you do and how it goes. We would love to hear all about it.

PS Bill wants to do a way off topic podcast episode based on music and can "weakly" tie it to chess background music ideas. Let us know if there is any interest in this.

Did we get something wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss and area you are interested in?

Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com If you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/TheChessys2026

#chess #chesstournament #chesstournaments #TaoofChess #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #chessInstruction #adultimprover #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #tournamentChess #learnchess #learningchess #chesslearner #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess #fantasyCandidatesTournament

L2C 028: Our Chess Inspirations and Aspirations

With the upcoming 2026 Candidates Tournament that will decide who will compete against Gukesh to win the Chess World Championship later this year, we thought we would go into some of the players that we find to be inspirational to our games, some of the playing styles we want to have/wish we had etc.

And don't forget to enter your team selection into our Fantasy Chess League for the upcoming Candidates tournament. The rules are posted on our social media on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

Please let us know if you are going to try this and please please let us know if you do and how it goes. We would love to hear all about it.

PS Bill wants to do a way off topic podcast episode based on music and can "weakly" tie it to chess background music ideas. Let us know if there is any interest in this.

Did we get something wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss and area you are interested in?

Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com If you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/Late2Chess027

#chess #chesstournament #chesstournaments #TaoofChess #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #chessInstruction #adultimprover #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #tournamentChess #learnchess #learningchess #chesslearner #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess #fantasyCandidatesTournament

L2C 027: Our 2026 Candidates Fantasy Chess League - plus a bit more

Since we had a shorter episode this week, we wanted to give you a double dose of chess content this week and exceed our weekly goal of 1 hour of podcast goodness.

Bill introduces the good Doctor to one of his favorite books that has helped him in many areas of his career and life. Then we apply this technique to chess, we are a ches spodcast after all. What do we use to demonstrate the technique? The good Doctor sets his goal of being a DCP and then comes up with his 3 highest leverage efforts to support this goal.

Please let us know if you are going ot try this and please please let us know if you do and how it goes. We would love to hear all about it.

And don't forget to enter your team selection into our Fantasy Chess League for the upcoming Candidates tournament. The rules are posted on our social media on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

Did we get something wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss and area you are interested in?

Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com If you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/Late2Chess027

#chess #chesstournament #chesstournaments #TaoofChess #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #chessInstruction #adultimprover #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #tournamentChess #learnchess #learningchess #chesslearner #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #fantasyChess #fantasyCandidatesTournament

L2C 026: How to Improve in Chess - And Many Other Areas of Life/Work

Since we had a shorter episode this week, we wanted to give you a double dose of chess content this week and exceed our weekly goal of 1 hour of podcast goodness.

Bill introduces the good Doctor to one of his favorite books that has helped him in many areas of his career and life. Then we apply this technique to chess, we are a ches spodcast after all. What do we use to demonstrate the technique? The good Doctor sets his goal of being a DCP and then comes up with his 3 highest leverage efforts to support this goal.

Please let us know if you are going ot try this and please please let us know if you do and how it goes. We would love to hear all about it.

PS Bill wants to do a way off topic podcast episode based on music and can "weakly" tie it to chess background music ideas. Let us know if there is any interest in this.

Did we get something wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss and area you are interested in?

Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com If you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/Late2Chess026

#chess #chesstournament #chesstournaments #TaoofChess #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #chessInstruction #adultimprover #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #tournamentChess #learnchess #learningchess #chesslearner #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa

L2C 025: Listener Questions - Ep. 1

On this terribly fun episode, we discuss a recent series of listener questions. If you want your questions to be the subject of an upcoming episode, please let us know. These episodes are great fun.

Did we get something wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss and area you are interested in?

Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com If you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/Late2Chess025

#chess #chesstournament #chesstournaments #TaoofChess #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #chessInstruction #adultimprover #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #tournamentChess #learnchess #learningchess #chesslearner #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa #ListenerQuestions

L2C 024: LadyBug Joins us From the ChessDojo

We are joined by another adult learner from the ChessDojo for this episode. She played when she was younger and she resumed playing again last year and has progressed steadily since then. We cover her story and wander around aimlessly throughout the episode.

Did we get something wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss and area you are interested in?

Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com If you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/Late2Chess024

#chess #chesstournament #chesstournaments #TaoofChess #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #chessInstruction #adultimprover #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #tournamentChess #learnchess #learningchess #chesslearner #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa

L2C 023: Sofa Time with The Doctor ep. 1?

We often work together on our games and thinking about chess. Here is a sample of what we do with (to) each other. If you like it, we can even start this as an ongoing mini-series.

Did we get something wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss and area you are interested in?

Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com If you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/Late2Chess023

#chess #chesstournament #chesstournaments #TaoofChess #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #chessInstruction #adultimprover #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #tournamentChess #learnchess #learningchess #chesslearner #TheDoctorOnTheSofa #BillOnTheSofa

L2C 022: Sweatgland - A True DCP

Sweatgland from the Chess Dojo joins us for a great episode. We talk about his chess history and his road to where he is currently We also meander around (to the surprise of no one) and discuss wide variety of chess training, growth of players, methods, etc. And far be it for us not to take advantage of his knowledge of our games and find out what he sees as our next areas of focus and growth. We also bestow up him two Chess Titles from our podcast.

Did we get something wrong? Were we remiss in not asking a question or discuss and area you are interested in?

Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com If you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/Late2Chess022

#chess #chesstournament #chesstournaments #TaoofChess #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #chessInstruction #adultimprover #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #tournamentChess #learnchess #learningchess #chesslearner

L2C 021: The Tao of Chess - Chapter 2: The Pieces

We continue our discussion on the Tao of Chess with the second chapter covering several of the principles related to the pieces. We had a bit more trouble discussing this one and that may reflect some limitations of our current game understanding. Have anything we missed? Please let us know and we can pass it on.

Did we get something wrong? Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com If you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/Late2Chess020

#chess #chesstournament #chesstournaments #TaoofChess #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #chessInstruction #adultimprover #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #tournamentChess

L2C 020: The Importance of Confidence In Chess

After last weekend's tournament, the good Doctor said we should have a short episode on the importance of confidence in chess. So what started as a short bonus episode quickly grew into a full fledged episode. Apparently we may be long winded, lol.

Did we get something wrong? Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com If you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/Late2Chess019

#chess #chesstournament #chesstournaments #TaoofChess #MountaineerOpen #mountaineerOpen2026 #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #chessInstruction #adultimprover #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #tournamentChess

L2C 019: GM Jesse Kraai - Our First Ever Guest

We are humbled to have GM Jesse Kraai on the podcast. Many of you will probably know him as a Grand Master in Chess, or as an excellent instructor on chess improvement, or as one of the three sensei's that started the ChessDojo. We have been working in the Dojo for the past year and working directly with Jesse for the past 4 or 5 months. We asked all your chess questions that we received on our Instagram, facebook, and email. Plus we added a few of our own.

We barely scratched the surface and hope this is the first of many podcasts with Jesse.

Did you have any questions after the episode? Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com. Also, if you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/GMJesseKraai

#chess #chesstournament #chesstournaments #TaoofChess #mostExcellentRoadTo1500 #OurBumpyRoad #roadto1500Elo #roadtoDecentChess #DCP #decentChessPlayer #chessInstruction #adultimprover #adultimprovers #chessClub #clubChess #tournamentChess

L2C 016: Book Review: The Tao of Chess - part 1

We started a new book review series with a Chess 101 book called The Tao of Chess. While it is a book centered on many of the most common chess principles that you may or may not have heard. What we did find though was that while this can be thought of as a fairly simplistic study into chess, it has as surprising amount of depth, and at this point it is very, very likely that we aren't even comprehending the full depth within this book, yet. In this part 1, we cover the first chapter that deals with the chess board itself. We hope you enjoy and this helps your game. What did we miss? Did we get something wrong? Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com If you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or solutions, please let us know. Welcome to the board. We hope you enjoy the show! For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/Late2Chess14 Also, if you'd like any topics, guests, or have any questions, please let me know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

If you have any thoughts, ideas, or solutions, please let us know. Please.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/Late2Chess016

Also, if you'd like any topics, guests, or have any questions, please let me know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

L2C 018: Tournament Recap of the 25th Annual Mountaineer Open

We are releasing this one out of order, again, but we received so many emails about the hoped for summaries, we thought we'd do it as fast as we could.

On this episode, we go into the Dr's tournament this weekend. Plus a surprise or few.

What did we miss? Did we get something wrong? Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

Welcome to the board. We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/2026MountaineerOpen

Also, if you'd like any topics, guests, or have any questions, please let me know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

L2C 017: Emergency/Bonus episode - The Good Doctor's Pre Tournament Prep for This Weekend

We are releasing this one a bit early and out of order, but it needed to be done. On this episode, we go into the Dr's preparation for his upcoming tournament this weekend. We may be able to get updates throughout the weekend and that would not make any sense without releasing this one first, so here it is.

The tournament is in Morgantown WV. If you are in the area, please stop in and say hi.

What did we miss? Did we get something wrong? Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

Welcome to the board. We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/PreTourneyPrep

Also, if you'd like any topics, guests, or have any questions, please let me know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

L2C 015: Our Most Excellent Road to 1500 and Beyond - Part 2

A bit faster than we expected, but here is part two in our series "Senior Chess: Bill & Dr Pop Pop's Excellent Adventure to 1500 Elo. At the last minute, Bill's schedule opened up and he played in his first over the board live tournament of 2026.

The tournament was in central Pennsylvania and , well you have to listen for more details, lol.

Also, if you want to go into your "Road to....", drop us a line. Who knows. It may become a thing. Wait, if you say it's going to be a thing, it can never become a thing. Oh well, lol.

What did we miss? Did we get something wrong? Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

Welcome to the board. We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/Late2Chess015

Also, if you'd like any topics, guests, or have any questions, please let me know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

L2C 014: Our Most Excellent Road to 1500 and Beyond - Part 1

It started as a discussion centered around a homage to Gotham Chess's Road to GM or Dina Belenkaya's Road to IM series. We know we aren't good at chess, yet. So, we brainstormed some really terrible names. It started with "Road to"...., like Road to Mediocre Chess, Road to Decent Chess, Road to Not Terrible Chess, Road to Average Chess.... Then we went a bit more positive with Road to Our Best Chess. Then we went a bit off the current path with Road to Chess Glory or the Nursing Home. Perhaps we were losing the thread a bit. A few of the more shareable ones were then Road to 1500 Elo, The Bumpy Road to 1500 Elo etc. Then the good Dr Pop Pop came to an epiphany and what we are kind of going forward with "Senior Chess: Dr Bill & Dr Pop Pop's Excellent Adventure to 1500 Elo. Is it magic? Have an opinion or a better idea. Let us know at our Late2Chess@gmail.com.

So, what is this all about? It's about our individual roads to improving at chess, hopefully to 1500 and maybe beyond. Bill low key thinks 2000 is possible. But what does he know, lol.

Also, if you want to go into your "Road to....", drop us a line. Who knows. It may become a thing. Wait, if you say it's going to be a thing, it can never become a thing. Oh well, lol.

What did we miss? Did we get something wrong? Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

If you have any thoughts, topics and/or guest ideas, or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/Late2Chess14

Also, if you'd like any topics, guests, or have any questions, please let me know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

L2C 013: The Magic of Development (in Chess)

Dr Pop Pop and Bill discuss one of the key tenants of good chess: Piece Development. Bill views it as one of the magical principles of chess and tries to convince our good doctor.

What did we miss? Did we get something wrong? Let us know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

If you have any thoughts, topic and/or guest ideas, or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/Late2Chess13

Also, if you'd like any topics, guests, or have any questions, please let me know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

L2C 012: OTB Review – Bill Played a Tournament and Then at the Club

Bill was able to get out and play in a tournament on Friday and then went to the Harrisburg Chess Club for a few friendly games. DrPopPop interrogates Bill with a fairly deep review of how the tournament went on Friday. The good news, Bill lost only 1 Elo rating point. The bad news, he lost all three games. Takeaways include do not play angry or do not try to force things in chess. Then he drove over to the Harrisburg Chess Club and played three unrated games. This was a bit better and overall, Bill played better. We then ended the episode with a discussion of what went well, what went wrong, and we then formulated a plan to improve. We have added these to our goals. It looks like 2026 will be great. Also, DrPopPop went into a year in review for him. It has been quite a year since it only really started in the summer. Bill is going to have a tough time trying to keep up with him at the pace he is improving.

Also, we go over a recent change that was suggested to Bill to both improve his game and eliminate a source of blunders online and we end with another example of DrPopPop's endgame issues and a new project.

If you have any thoughts, topic and/or guest ideas, or solutions, please let us know.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/Late2Chess12

Also, if you'd like any topics, guests, or have any questions, please let me know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

L2C-11: Nerves In Chess with Dr Pop Pop

On this episode, we talk about the common issue that many face, nerves in chess. For some reason, we both are more nervous ot play online than over the board/live. Why? No idea. Does it help our games? Definitely not. Are we the only ones? Not by a long shot. How to deal with it? We have some thoughts and ideas but this is still a work in progress for both of us.

If you have any thoughts, ideas, or solutions, please let us know. Please.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/Late2Chess11

Also, if you'd like any topics, guests, or have any questions, please let me know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

L2C-11: Time Sucks (to avoid) In Chess Improvement

Dr Pop Pop returns to talk about things that we have learned (the hard way) that do not offer the best nor most time efficient path towards improving our chess games. This is not to say that these items aren't helpful or can't help someone improve their game and knowledge, but these are items that if you are under around 1,000 Elo may not help you to progress as fast as you would like.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/Late2Chess10

Also, if you'd like any topics, guests, or have any questions, please let me know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

L2C-09: Tournament Recap Part 2 with Dr Pop Pop

On this episode, our guest and I review his first live OTB chess tournament in several decades. We played together at the West Virginia Senior Open a few weeks back and I thought it might be a good idea to get a second perspective on the tournament and how it was to play in his first live event this century. We also talk about the group game reviews that we are part of within the Chess Dojo and how they have helped our games in so many ways.

I was incredibly happy to have him on as the first guest on the podcast. He goes by Dr Pop Pop in the Chess Dojo, and we have been playing and learning together for the past several months. He has grown as a player vastly in that short amount of time and is now really pushing his Elo up and I expect his rating to continue to climb.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/Late2Chess09

Also, if you'd like any topics, guests, or have any questions, please let me know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

L2C-08: Tournament - First and Latest

Work and then flu impacted the release of this weeks episode. I had several in the queue but held them off for this one and then got hit with some nasty bug and couldn't talk (bad for podcasting, lol). This episode started out with an earlier version where i went through a recap of my first ever OTB tournament, but then i thought that it would be better to cover my last OTB tournament as well. So i did.

Sorry for a bit of a hiccup in the release schedule.

PS the episode queue is still a few deep, so if you have any questions, they are not being ignored. Coming soon!

PS2 let me know if you like these, i have several recorded in the queue and can release them or ditch them. Your call.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/Late2Chess08

Also, if you'd like any topics, guests, or have any questions, please let me know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

L2C-07: Top Ten Things That Helped Me - The Final Four

I wrap up my top ten list of things that helped me get to 1,000 Elo. On this episode, I discuss one of the more hotly contested topics of openings with a somewhat unique take on what worked best for me. Then i cover tournament, rated games, and playing over the board live chess. I then discuss the importance and benefits of gradually finding chess friends and training partners, I then cover the benefits and selection process that I think should be used to find a chess coach. And since I can't add very well, i provided a eleventh topic for relatively new chess players of playing against electronic opponents. Many players can stifle their growth by not wanting to play chess against a real person, even online, and I had a few thoughts and options that may help with this transition.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/Late2Chess04

Also, if you'd like any topics, guests, or have any questions, please let me know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

L2C-06: Top Ten Things That Helped Me - Game Annotations, Books, and Long Games

On this episode, I cover three more related areas that have helped me to progress up to around 1,000 Elo. The first topic we cover is annotating your game and also reading annotated games by other players and masters. I have found this to be very helpful in improving my understanding and thinking during a game and also has helped reduce my error frequency. This then transitioned into annotated game books and other chess books, including a precaution for your book purchasing and reading. Finally, I went into the effect that longer time control games have had on my games and thinking process.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/Late2Chess06

Also, if you'd like any topics, guests, or have any questions, please let me know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

L2C-05: Top Ten Things That Helped Me - YouTube and Podcasts

On this episode, we go through two more things that have helped me most to this point in getting better at chess, YouTube and Podcasts. I recommend the YouTube channels that I have found to be most helpful to me on my journey to 1000 Elo, as well as several podcasts that I subscribe. One important thing to know is that listening to a podcast or watching a YouTube video may not be the most highly impactful thing to your learning and growing as a chess player. I often look at these resources as a soft learning time. However, there are a few that I have found to be what i would term as opportunities for hard learning that will directly affect your game and help you to improve, if you pay full attention and likely take notes. Chess improvement was never promised to be easy and some of the greatest gains can be made by doing the "hard" work.

Also, I cannot say that I have found/watched/listened to all the YouTube channels and podcasts that are out. Did i miss any? Please let me know at Late2Chess@gmail.com.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/Late2Chess05

Also, if you'd like any topics, guests, or have any questions, please let me know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

L2C-04: Top Ten Things That Helped Me - The ChessDojo

Vicki rejoins the podcast to bring everyone up to speed with my chess history prior to 2025. It isn't much, but helps us to establish the starting point for my current chess journey.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/Late2Chess04

Also, if you'd like any topics, guests, or have any questions, please let me know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

L2C-03: Rediscovering Chess

Sorry for the delay, we had some technical difficulties getting the podcast feed setup, but we should be good to go now.

On this episode, I go into the trials and tribulations that I went through as I began my chess journey. What went well, what went poorly, and some of the challenges of learning this game on my own.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/Late2Chess03

Also, if you'd like any topics, guests, or have any questions, please let me know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

L2C-02: Bill's Chess History - Pre-2025

Vicki rejoins the podcast to bring everyone up to speed with my chess history prior to 2025. It isn't much, but helps us to establish the starting point for my current chess journey.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/Late2Chess02

Also, if you'd like any topics, guests, or have any questions, please let me know at Late2Chess@gmail.com

L2C-01: Why Does This Podcast Exist

Welcome to the Late 2 Chess Podcast. On this first episode, we go into why this podcast exists and what the goals are going forward.

One of the frustrations that I see is the near constant r=refrain that if you did not start playing chess at "X years old" you can never be good at the game. While it is true that is you start "late", you may never be a Grand Master or the World Champion. I do not believe that with the modern chess training resources available that this is the case. What is the limit? I don't know. But what i do know is that there is no better time to start playing chess than today and until there is a time machine invented, that will always be true. Also, the game can be great fun and getting better is a blast all by itself. So lets see where we can go and how best to improve.

Many of these episodes will be summaries of my own chess progress, what i find to work and what didn't work quite as well (yet). I hope to be able to also have guests of all skill levels to discuss their journey and their experiences in learning the game of chess.

Welcome to the board.

We hope you enjoy the show!

For a link to the podcast, please use: https://tinyurl.com/Late2Chess01

Also, if you'd like any topics, guests, or have any questions, please let me know at Late2Chess@gmail.com