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

Saturday Jun 28, 2025

EP 157 | Will Hans Niemann Become World Champion?

Saturday Jun 28, 2025

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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
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Podcast: https://chessdojotalks.podbean.com
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@/chessdojoclips

00:00– Introduction
02:02 – Hans’s World Champion Goal
03:10 – Chances and Predictions
06:06 – Tough Competition
08:32 – Top 10 Players Discussion
14:10 – Paths to Candidates
16:41 – Hans’s Rating Plateau
21:17 – Coaching and Support
33:50 – Qualities of a Champion
46:02 – Future Possibilities

Friday Jun 20, 2025

EP 156 | Who Will Be Top -10 in June 2026?

Friday Jun 20, 2025

Episode note: the recording froze around the 31 minute mark, so you may hear a short piece cut out.

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In this episode, the sensei review their previous top 10 predictions for June 2025, evaluating their accuracy against the actual FIDE rankings. They also make new predictions for June 2026, highlighting rising stars like Gukesh and Arjun while debating the future potential of players like Firouzja, Niemann, and Nakamura.

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00:00 – Introduction
01:17 – June 2025 FIDE Top 10
03:09 – Firouzja Correctly Predicted to Enter Top 10
04:20 – Decline of Nepomniachtchi, So, and Anand
06:43 – Misses on Abdusattorov and Other Juniors
07:50 – Firouzja’s Struggles and Unfulfilled Potential
12:38 – Start of 2026 Top 10 Predictions
14:41 – Controversial Pick at #10
25:04 – Will Magnus Stay Ranked with Minimal Games?
33:32 – Debating the Top 5: Naka, Gukesh, Arjun, Fabi
46:59 – Final Dojo Composite Top 10 List for 2026
53:03 – Wrap-Up & Patreon Support Appeal

Thursday Jun 12, 2025

EP 155 | What Made Norway Chess So Good?

Thursday Jun 12, 2025

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

Monday Jun 09, 2025

EP 154 | Is Chess an eSport?

Monday Jun 09, 2025

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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?

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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

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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

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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

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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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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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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.

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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
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Patreon: https://patreon.com/chessdojo
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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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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.

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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.

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

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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?
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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/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

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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