Welcome to Season 10! This week we discuss 1...e6, blitz chess, using the King in the endgame, and more.

Referenced:

• Blitz is Screwing Up Your Thought Process
• Ep. 100: The Hippopotamus Defense and Other Chess Opening Systems for Black

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This is the S9 Finale. S10 Premiere coming soon. In the meantime, check out the Long Island Chess Club YouTube Channel which has instructional videos for busy adult players. We're looking to get the channel fully off the ground and add more content on a consistent basis.

Game Referenced:

1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 e6 3. e3 Nf6 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. c3 Be7 6. h3 O-O 7. Bd3 Ne4 8. Bxe4
dxe4 9. Ne5 Nxe5 10. Bxe5 Bd6 11. Bxd6 Qxd6 12. O-O Rd8 13. Nd2 e5 14. Nxe4 Qe6
15. Qf3 b6 16. Ng5 Qg6 17. Qxa8 Qxg5 18. Qf3 Re8 19. dxe5 Rxe5 20. Rad1 h6 21.
Rd2 Bf5 22. Qa8+ Kh7 23. f4 Qg3 24. fxe5 Qxe3+ 25. Rdf2 Bxh3 26. gxh3 Qg3+ 27.
Qg2 Qxg2+ 28. Kxg2 c5 29. Rxf7 b5 30. e6 a6 31. e7 b4 32. e8=Q a5 33. Qe4+ Kg8
34. Rf8# 1-0

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In this episode, we dive into the hidden challenges adult players face when returning to chess after a long break, and the powerful mindset shifts that separate those who thrive from those who quit. Whether you’re battling self-doubt, time constraints, or rating plateaus, this episode offers real talk and practical strategies to help you stay motivated, set realistic goals, and rediscover the joy of the game. We also share the "driveway method" to help shake off a tough loss. This Reddit post was referenced in this episode.

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In this Listener Mailbag exclusive, we discuss whether prepping for specific opponents is worth it at the amateur level, and a bunch of other stuff too...

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This week is all about chess opening philosophy. We discuss a number of ideas about opening prep and argue that having the White pieces does not provide any meaningful advantage at the club level since most amateur games are littered with mistakes, thus negating any possible benefit of moving first. The basis of this episode is a response to the excellent article Chess Openings In The Engine Era by NM Jeremy Kane.

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This week we discuss endgame strategy for club players and some other stuff as well. Grinding out a win in an "even" endgame is a mixture of patience, stubbornness, and luck. A .pgn for the game we analyze is below. We reference the highly recommeded book The Survival Guide to Competitive Chess (Amazon) by GM John Emms, who was a previous guest on the pod (Episode #40).

1. Nf3 b6 2. g3 Bb7 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. c4 e6 5. O-O Be7 6. Nc3 O-O 7. d3 c5 8. e4 d6
9. Nd2 Nc6 10. f4 Qd7 11. g4 Nd4 12. g5 Ne8 13. Nf3 Nxf3+ 14. Bxf3 Nc7 15. Be3
d5 16. Bf2 dxc4 17. dxc4 Qxd1 18. Raxd1 Rad8 19. Kg2 f6 20. h4 fxg5 21. hxg5 Bc6
22. Rxd8 Rxd8 23. Rd1 Rxd1 24. Bxd1 Kf7 25. Be3 Bd6 26. Bf3 g6 27. e5 Bxf3+ 28.
Kxf3 Be7 29. Bd2 Ne8 30. Kg4 Kg7 31. Ne4 Kh8 32. Be3 Ng7 33. Bf2 Nf5 34. b3 h5+
35. gxh6 Nxh6+ 36. Kf3 Kg7 37. Ng5 Bxg5 38. fxg5 Nf5 39. Ke4 Kf7 40. Kd3 Ke7 41.
Ke4 Kd7 42. a4 Kc6 43. Kd3 Kb7 44. Kc3 a5 45. Kd3 Ne7 46. Ke4 Nc6 47. Be3 Ne7
48. Bf2 Nc6 49. Kd3?? Nxe5+ 50. Ke4 Nf7 51. Bg3 Nxg5+ 52. Kf4 Nf7 0-1

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A number of years ago, GM Andy Soltis claimed that once a chess player becomes serious about the game, there is an 8-year window during which he achieves 90% of his maximum chess potential. Anything beyond that time frame is just squeezing out the remaining 10%. NM Tim Mirabile returns to the podcast to discuss this theory and a bunch of other chess improvement topics. In this episode we reference this chess.com article and a post on Quora.

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The Jobava London (1. d4, 2. Nc3, 3. Bf4) is an opening system that is easy to learn, yet still has a lot of sting, especially against ...g6 set-ups by Black. It can easily throw off an opponent who's expecting to face a standard London formation. The theory and ideas are fairly simple, making it a great choice for those with limited study time. Much of the info in this episode is referenced from the book The Jobava London System (Amazon) by GM Simon Williams. You may also wish to check out our previous episode on the standard London System: Ep. 37: The London System for Club Players.

📧 If you have a question, comment, or topic idea for a future episode, e-mail us at info@thechessangle.com.

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The Amazon link above is an affiliate link. Qualifying purchases help support the podcast at no additional cost to you.