Perpetual Chess Podcast

The 2026 FIDE World Championship is just weeks away, so we rounded up a favorite guest to help preview it. GM Jan Gustafsson is a renowned opening theoretician, trainer, and Chessable author who served on Magnus Carlsen's World Championship preparation teams. Jan joined me to give his somewhat surprising assessment of the upcoming title match between GM Javokhir Sindarov and GM D Gukesh. We discuss how opening preparation has evolved, why World Championship matches tend to produce more draws than expected, and how Jan's match assessment compares with betting markets and Elo-based models.

Jan has been busy, so we also discussed his role as captain of the 2026 German Olympiad team, which earned an outstanding third-place finish. Jan also previews his newest Chessable course, which draws on the opening repertoire of Germany's biggest chess star.

Lastly, we touched on the Esports World Cup and caught up on books, TV shows, and Jan's plans for the rest of 2026.

Thanks to our sponsor Claude ai. Check it out at

Claude.ai/chess

Mentioned in the podcast:

Ben’s FIDE World Championship Forecasting Model (Built with Claude)

https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/2026wcmodel

Donchenko-Gukesh game

https://www.chess.com/events/2026-fide-chess-olympiad-open/09/Donchenko_Alexander-Gukesh_D

Vokhidov-Svane

https://www.chess.com/events/2026-fide-chess-olympiad-open/08/Vokhidov_Shamsiddin-Svane_Rasmus

FM Donny Ariel’s YOUTUBE Channel

https://www.youtube.com/@DonnyArielChess

Pop Culture Recs:

Jan- The Invite (Film), The Knick (Show), Mobland (show) , Industry (Show), Norm McDonald YouTube Clips

Ben- How to Get Rich in American History (book), The Lowdown (Show), Lupin (show)

Jan’s Chessable courses-

https://www.chessable.com/author/JanGustafsson/

Ben’s Chessable course-

https://www.chessable.com/author/Ben.Johnson/

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FM Andrey Terekhov is an award-winning author, dad, and software engineer. For the last decade or so, Andrey has been consumed with writing a detailed biography of the underappreciated World Champion, GM Vasily Smyslov. This week he joins me to discuss The Life and Games of Vasily Smyslov, Volume 2: The Challenger. The book goes beyond Smyslov's life and games, offering a fascinating look at Soviet chess history, including what may be the most famous chess tournament of all time. We discuss:

The enduring legacy of Zurich 1953. What makes this tournament so famous? What did Andrey discover about allegations of Soviet collusion and political interference?

How close did Smyslov get to giving up chess to pursue a career as an opera singer? What characterized his style as a chess player?

Andrey's incredibly detailed research process, including primary sources in multiple languages and a visit to Smyslov's former home in Moscow.

Lastly, we discuss Andrey's own chess adventures and the chess scene in Paris and France, where Andrey now resides. I am so grateful to people like Andrey for devoting so much time to preserving chess history, and I greatly enjoyed his latest book and our conversation.

Kotov's famous queen sacrifice against Averbakh

Zurich 1953 by GM David Bronstein

Center Stage and Behind the Scenes by GM Yuri Averbakh

Achieving the Aim by GM Mikhail Botvinnik

Andrey's blog post about the 2026 French Championship

Paris Blitz Society

Andrey's Chess.com profile

The Life and Games of Vasily Smyslov on Forward Chess

Russell Enterprises — Smyslov biography

Thanks to this week's sponsor:

Check out Claude AI at
claude.ai/chess

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GM Melik Khachiyan is a California-based, award-winning chess trainer and the 2023 U.S. Senior Champion. Melik is also the captain of the U.S. Women's Olympiad team, so it was the perfect time to catch up with him following the team's fourth-place finish at the 2026 Chess Olympiad in Uzbekistan. We discussed:

Melik's reflections on the Olympiad, including the difficult decisions and psychological challenges of captaining a national team.

Why he is optimistic about the future of U.S. women's chess.

Stories from OTB encounters with GMs Nakamura, Kamsky and Mickey Adams

Plus, for video viewers, Melik gives a quick tour of hsi new chess academy in Glendale, California. And, of course, Melik shares chess improvement advice for players of different ages and levels.

🎙️ Timestamps:

00:00 Intro and sponsor: Claude AI

Check them out at Claude.ai/chess

01:53 GM Melik Khachiyan joins the show

02:38 Reflections on the U.S. Women's Olympiad performance

05:32 Helping players bounce back from tough losses

08:32 Why the U.S. women are now serious medal contenders

11:39 Patreon mailbag question: How does Melik decide who plays and who sits?

17:48 Catching up with chess legends at the Olympiad

19:08 Illness at the Olympiad and the challenges of tournament scheduling

23:49 Alice Lee and Carissa Yip's GM ambitions

25:04 Playing in the Olympiad vs. captaining a team

29:16 Melik's new chess academy in Glendale

35:42 Fitness, competitive chess, and hopes of returning to the U.S. Senior Championship

39:50 Memories of playing Hikaru Nakamura, Michael Adams, and Gata Kamsky

Check out Melik’s games vs. Nakamura, Adams and Kamsky here:

https://lichess.org/study/DbVY7xXk/ZbZ9GiTw

45:28 Learning from the world's best players

48:05 Chess improvement advice for kids and adults

50:00- Thanks to Melik for joining me again! You can reach him via his website:

https://www.gmmelik.com/

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John Hartmann is the award-winning editor of Chess Life magazine, a longtime book reviewer, and an expert on ChessBase, engines, and chess technology. He joined me shortly after a visit to St. Louis to discuss the ongoing U.S. Chess Championships, the renovations to the St. Louis Chess Club, the latest in chess technology, and his new AI-assisted chess newsletter, First Look Chess. We touched on:

John's observations from the U.S. Chess Championships, including the tournament races, the atmosphere in the playing hall, and the impressive renovations to the St. Louis Chess Club.

The latest on Stockfish, the enduring value of ChessBase, and the many new chess apps, including ChessEver, ChessMonitor, and ChessCEO.

The vision behind John's daily chess newsletter, First Look Chess, and how AI has made such a project possible.

As we always do when John visits the pod, we also discussed noteworthy chess books, including GM Alex Fishbein's Fighting Father Time, and the challenges of finding time to work on our own chess games.

Thanks to our sponsors, Claude.ai.

Check them out at Claude.ai/chess

0:00 Intro and welcome back to John Hartmann

1:30 John's visit to the U.S. Chess Championships

Read John’s article here:

https://new.uschess.org/news/club-notes-st-louis

4:30 The new prize encouraging fighting chess

6:00 Inside the renovated St. Louis Chess Club

12:00 What it's like to watch the world's best players up close

16:30 The Women's Championship, Alice Lee and Rachael Li

19:30 The explosion of new chess apps

25:00 Is ChessBase still essential?

28:30 What's new with Stockfish?

32:00 John's new project, First Look Chess

37:30 How US Chess does and does not use AI in its chess coverage

43:30 Covering chess news beyond the biggest headlines

47:30 Finding time for tournament chess as a busy adult

50:00 Chess books, Fighting Father Time, and new training tools

54:30 Why John loves older chess books

58:00 Boris Gelfand, chess literature, and how young players learn

1:00:00- Thanks as always to John for sharing his expertise, you can check out and sub to First Look Chess here:

https://firstlookchess.com/

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GM Nikita Vitiugov is a former Russian champion who reached a peak ranking of #15 in the world. He has represented both his native Russia and England at the Chess Olympiad and worked on the World Championship team of his boyhood rival, GM Ian Nepomniachtchi. In his excellent new book, Chess Metamorphosis, he candidly reflects on his varied chess experiences.

In our conversation, we discuss:

What he learned from working with players like Nepomniachtchi and Peter Svidler, and what he observed from seeing them up close.

How two unforgettable training camps with GM Viktor Korchnoi altered the trajectory of his career.

Why he has accepted that his best competitive years are behind him, and what that means for his future.

How professional chess has changed, and why he might not pursue a chess career if he were starting out today.

We also discuss the candid, behind-the-scenes photos featured in Nikita's book, his passion for cooking and football, and much more. I loved reading Nikita's book, and it was an honor to hear more about it.

0:00 Intro

Thanks to our sponsor Claude AI. Check it out at Claude.ai/chess

2:00 GM Nikita Vitiugov joins the show

3:00 Why Nikita wrote Chess Metamorphosis

6:30 Why Nikita suspects that his best competitive years are behind him

10:00 How professional chess has changed

14:00 Growing up alongside Ian Nepomniachtchi

18:30 Training with the legendary Viktor Korchnoi

23:30 Working with GM Peter Svidler

Mentioned: Svidler on being a practical player-

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7gi9KryNqkNEPZzN3obeU6?si=a7e7505918ed441e

27:00 What makes Nepomniachtchi and Svidler so talented?

29:00 Behind the scenes of Team Nepo, including a funny story about a thermos

35:30 Working with GM Peter Leko

38:30 Moving to England and adjusting to a new life

41:00 Nikita's passions for cooking and football

45:30 His transition to coaching and advice for aspiring professionals

Thanks to GM VItiugov for joining me! You can order his book and find a free preview via the links below:

https://www.newinchess.com/chess-metamorphosis

https://forwardchess.com/product/chess-metamorphosis?section=Products

Photo in thumbnail by Etery Kublashvili

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