Dojo Talks: A Chess Podcast

https://feed.podbean.com/ChessDojoTalks/feed.xml

The official podcast of ChessDojo (IM Kostya Kavutskiy, IM David Pruess, & GM Jesse Kraai). Most episodes are streamed live to twitch.tv/chessdojo. Interested in improving your chess? Welcome to the Dojo! A structured plan to hold yourself accountable to and a group to do it with. - https://chessdojo.club Follow ChessDojo here: Website: https://chessdojo.club Twitch: https://twitch.tv/chessdojolive Discord: https://discord.gg/GhKsJtjpFw Twitter: https://twitter.com/chess_dojo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chess_dojo/ Patreon: https://patreon.com/chessdojo Podcast: https://chessdojotalks.podbean.com/

Episodes

3 hours ago

EP 154 | Is Chess an eSport?

3 hours ago

Join the Dojo - https://chessdojo.club
Use Code DOJO before June 15th 2025 to get 40% off your first month at the Dojo!

IM Kostya Kavutskiy, IM David Pruess and GM Jesse Kraai question if chess is an E-Sport. What do you think?

Watch Live - https://twitch.tv/chessdojo
Play Chess - https://go.chess.com/chessdojo

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Want to support the channel?
Patreon - https://patreon.com/chessdojo
Donate - https://streamelements.com/chessdojo/tip

Find all of our chess book & supplies recommendations (& more!) on our Amazon storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/chessdojo

Shopping through our link is a great way to support the Dojo. We earn a small affiliate % but at no cost to you.

Website: https://chessdojo.club
Twitch: https://twitch.tv/chessdojo
Discord: https://discord.gg/GhKsJtjpFw
Twitter: https://twitter.com/chessdojo
Patreon: https://patreon.com/chessdojo
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chessdojo
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chessdojo
Podcast: https://chessdojotalks.podbean.com
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@/chessdojoclips

00:03 – Chess joins Esports World Cup
00:52 – Event format & prize money
01:39 – Impact on Magnus Tour
02:55 – Saudi Arabia controversy
03:55 – Top 12 participants listed
05:00 – Wildcard qualifiers
07:07 – Ethics vs esport debate
17:09 – Magnus’s business motives
30:20 – Is chess a video game?
37:08 – Audience split: old vs new
43:14 – Support for freestyle chess
48:08 – FIDE’s relevance at risk
53:25 – Ambassadorship ethics
59:46 – LGBTQ & inclusivity issues
1:04:24 – Final thoughts & viewer poll

Tuesday May 27, 2025

EP 153 | How To Improve Your Positional Play w/ GM Aagaard

Tuesday May 27, 2025

Join the Dojo - https://chessdojo.club
Watch Live - https://twitch.tv/chessdojo
Play Chess - https://go.chess.com/chessdojo

0:00 Intro
1:51 How to improve your positional play
6:05 Book recommendations
8:18 Recognizing weaknesses in positional play
12:22 How to work with a coach
15:48 Killer Chess Training Camp
20:15 How Aagaard learned positional play
24:12 Certainty of action vs. certainty of outcome
26:06 Working with Sam -Shankland
29:58 Improving specific aspects of positional play
31:52 Certainty of action vs. certainty of outcome
35:16 How much should adult improvers play classical?
39:35 Micro-pains
45:46 How Renier Castellanos made GM
50:11 What's the best process for reviewing your games?
56:10 Solving simple tactics vs. difficult problems
57:28 What is calculation
1:05:17 Simple tactics vs. difficult problems
1:11:56 The #1 rule of training
1:14:00 The cycle of improvement
1:19:08 Whats next for Killer Chess Training

Check out GM Aagaard at https://killerchesstraining.com!

Ready to join the Dojo? Use code DOJO to get 40% off your first month, valid until June 15 https://chessdojo.club

Thumbnail photo: Eric Rosen

Merch - https://www.chessdojo.club/shop

Want to support the channel?
Patreon - https://patreon.com/chessdojo
Donate - https://streamelements.com/chessdojo/tip

Find all of our chess book & supplies recommendations (& more!) on our Amazon storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/chessdojo

Shopping through our link is a great way to support the Dojo. We earn a small affiliate % but at no cost to you.

Thursday May 15, 2025

EP 152 | Visualization and Aphantasia

Thursday May 15, 2025

Join the Dojo - https://chessdojo.club
Watch Live - https://twitch.tv/chessdojo
Play Chess - https://go.chess.com/chessdojo

IM David Pruess has long been famous for reaching a high level in chess while having aphantasia. We talk about how this could be and what it says about visualization in chess.

Visualization test - https://aphantasia.com/study/vviq/

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Want to support the channel?
Patreon - https://patreon.com/chessdojo
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Find all of our chess book & supplies recommendations (& more!) on our Amazon storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/chessdojo

Shopping through our link is a great way to support the Dojo. We earn a small affiliate % but at no cost to you.

Saturday Apr 19, 2025

EP 151 | Teaching Chess To Kids

Saturday Apr 19, 2025

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Play Chess - https://go.chess.com/chessdojo
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GM Jesse Kraai, IM David Pruess, and IM Kostya Kavutskiy are joined by NM Matan Prilletensky to discuss the details of how to teach chess to children, and what people should know when they're considering teaching chess to kids.

Want to support the channel?
Patreon - https://patreon.com/chessdojo
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Find all of our chess book & supplies recommendations (& more!) on our Amazon storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/chessdojo

Shopping through our link is a great way to support the Dojo. We earn a small affiliate % but at no cost to you.

Website: https://chessdojo.club
Twitch: https://twitch.tv/chessdojo
Discord: https://discord.gg/7Uq2f5JAWb
Twitter: https://twitter.com/chessdojo
Patreon: https://patreon.com/chessdojo
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chessdojo
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chessdojo
Podcast: https://chessdojotalks.podbean.com
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@/chessdojoclips

#chess #chesscoach

Wednesday Apr 16, 2025

EP 150 | DOJOVERSARY 5 - Origin Story

Wednesday Apr 16, 2025

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Play Chess - https://go.chess.com/chessdojo
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IM Kostya Kavutskiy, IM David Pruess, and GM Jesse Kraai celebrate 5 years of ChessDojo with episode 150! ChessDojo's first video launched on March 14, 2020. The sensei talk about how the Dojo started, how it's evolved, and what's coming next in today's episode of Dojo Talks, the ChessDojo podcast.

Want to support the channel?
Patreon - https://patreon.com/chessdojo
Donate - https://streamelements.com/chessdojo/tip

Find all of our chess book & supplies recommendations (& more!) on our Amazon storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/chessdojo

Shopping through our link is a great way to support the Dojo. We earn a small affiliate % but at no cost to you.

0:00 Intro
0:30 Origin Story
23:39 What's Next For Dojo

#chess #chesspodcast

Monday Apr 14, 2025

EP 149 | The Chess Revolution w/ Peter Doggers

Monday Apr 14, 2025

Watch Live - https://twitch.tv/chessdojo
Join the Training Program - https://chessdojo.club
Play Chess - https://go.chess.com/chessdojo
Merch - https://www.chessdojo.club/shop

IM Kostya Kavutskiy, IM David Pruess, and GM Jesse Kraai talk about the book The Chess Revolution with guest journalist Peter Doggers on today's episode of Dojo Talks, the ChessDojo podcast!

Want to support the channel?
Patreon - https://patreon.com/chessdojo
Donate - https://streamelements.com/chessdojo/tip

Find all of our chess book & supplies recommendations (& more!) on our Amazon storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/chessdojo

Shopping through our link is a great way to support the Dojo. We earn a small affiliate % but at no cost to you.

Website: https://chessdojo.club
Twitch: https://twitch.tv/chessdojo
Discord: https://discord.gg/sUUh8HD
Twitter: https://twitter.com/chessdojo
Patreon: https://patreon.com/chessdojo
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chessdojo
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chessdojo
Podcast: https://chessdojotalks.podbean.com
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@/chessdojoclips

#chess #chessbook

Tuesday Apr 01, 2025

EP 148 | State of Scholastic Chess with WFM Elizabeth Spiegel

Tuesday Apr 01, 2025

Watch Live - https://twitch.tv/chessdojo
Join the Training Program - https://chessdojo.club
Play Chess - https://go.chess.com/chessdojo
Merch - https://www.chessdojo.club/shop

The ChessDojo sensei GM Jesse Kraai and IM David Pruess sit down with WFM Elizabeth Speigel and talk about the state of scholastic chess in today's episode of Dojo Talks, the ChessDojo podcast.

Want to support the channel?
Patreon - https://patreon.com/chessdojo
Donate - https://streamelements.com/chessdojo/tip

Find all of our chess book & supplies recommendations (& more!) on our Amazon storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/chessdojo

Shopping through our link is a great way to support the Dojo. We earn a small affiliate % but at no cost to you.

#chess #chessmaster

CHAPTERS
0:00 Scholastic Chess with WFM Elizabeth Spiegel
15:33 Pedagogical Goals
22:20 Chess as School Subject
26:10 Brooklyn Castle and Bringing Chess Into Schools
32:00 Chess and Deep Thinking
39:13 The Impact of Chess on Children
44:16 Do More Girls Play Chess Than Before?
46:46 Strongest Players from WFM Spiegel's Program

Tuesday Mar 25, 2025

EP 147 | FIDE Ratings & The Stats of Cheating (ft. Dr. Kenneth Regan)

Tuesday Mar 25, 2025

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The Dojo talks with Dr. Kenneth Regan, who provides an analysis of FIDE ratings since the March 2024 rating boost.

Also discussed is the topic of cheating -- how often it comes up and what it takes to catch one.

Want to support the channel?
Patreon - https://patreon.com/chessdojo
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Find all of our chess book & supplies recommendations (& more!) on our Amazon storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/chessdojo

Shopping through our link is a great way to support the Dojo. We earn a small affiliate % but at no cost to you.

#chess

CHAPTERS
0:00 FIDE Rating Change with Dr. Kenneth Regan
11:43 Rating Distortion and Performance Ratings
47:50 Detecting Chess Cheating

Friday Mar 14, 2025

EP 146 | Is Chess 99% Tactics?

Friday Mar 14, 2025

Watch Live - https://twitch.tv/chessdojo
Join the Training Program - https://chessdojo.club
Play Chess - https://go.chess.com/chessdojo
Merch - https://www.chessdojo.club/shop

GM Jesse Kraai, IM David Pruess, and IM Kostya Kavutskiy talk about chess tactics and whether chess is really 99% tactics in today's episode of Dojo Talks, the ChessDojo podcast.

Want to support the channel?
Patreon - https://patreon.com/chessdojo
Donate - https://streamelements.com/chessdojo/tip

Find all of our chess book & supplies recommendations (& more!) on our Amazon storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/chessdojo

Shopping through our link is a great way to support the Dojo. We earn a small affiliate % but at no cost to you.

#chesstactics #chessstrategy

CHAPTERS
0:00 Is Chess 99% Tactics?
14:22 Calculation vs Evaluation
31:10 Strategy and Story
40:52 Strategy vs Positional Play
49:31 100 Tactical Patterns You Must Know
51:37 What's Most Important for Under 1250 Elo?
54:47 Chess and Go

Friday Mar 07, 2025

EP 145 | Does Freestyle Chess Have A Future?

Friday Mar 07, 2025

GM Jesse Kraai, IM David Pruess, and IM Kostya Kavutskiy discuss the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour, and recent and ongoing issues between FIDE and Freestyle Chess in today's episode of Dojo Talks, the ChessDojo podcast!

Get ChessDojo's first book, How to Analyze Your Games, here: https://amzn.to/3Ds5r78

Watch Live - https://twitch.tv/chessdojo
Join the Training Program - https://chessdojo.club
Play Chess - https://go.chess.com/chessdojo
Merch - https://www.chessdojo.club/shop

Want to support the channel?
Patreon - https://patreon.com/chessdojo
Donate - https://streamelements.com/chessdojo/tip

Find all of our chess book & supplies recommendations (& more!) on our Amazon storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/chessdojo

Shopping through our link is a great way to support the Dojo. We earn a small affiliate % but at no cost to you.

#chess #chesstraining

Chapters:

CHAPTERS
0:00 Freestlye Chess, FIDE, and Magnus
2:40 Do Fans Like Freestyle Chess?
8:36 Will Kids Get Into Freestyle Chess?
16:54 Looking at the Data
26:18 Magnus Carlsen and Freestyle Chess
54:40 Wrap-Up