David Smerdon's guest appearances

David Smerdon

Perpetual Chess Podcast

The Scholars Podcast - Conversations with Inspiring Leaders 

Jacob Aagard

Fred Wilson

James Altucher

John MacArthur

Ben Johnson

Sean Williams

Aleksandr Lenderman

Danny Rensch

Jacob Aagaard

Grandmaster Timur Gareyev

Joe Posnanski

Jonathan Rowson

Michael Regan

John Hartmann

Macauley Peterson

OwlTail

Perpetual Chess is back with another bonus pod discussing the ongoing Magnus Carlsen/Hans Niemann controversy. The major news of the week was that GM Magnus Carlsen issued a statement on Monday confirming that he suspects GM Hans Niemann of cheating. To discuss the story, I am honored to be joined by 2 Grandmaster guests who offer significant domain expertise beyond the chess world. First up is GM Jonathan Rowson, a renowned author and philosopher and the 3 time British Chess Champion. My conversation with Jonathan is centered around the human element of this story, and how we can hope to avoid biases in our interpretation of the information at hand. Following GM Rowson, I am joined by Dr. David Smerdon. GM Smerdon is a 7 time Chess Olympian for his native Australia, and an award winning chess author. David has worked with both Dr. Kenneth Regan and also the Chess.com cheat detection team. David’s primary field is development economics, but he has a statistical background and devotes significant time to chess-related research. As we discuss, in addition to chess cheating, David has published a paper related to gender issues in chess. I found it helpful to hear the grounded perspective of 2 of the chess world’s most insightful thinkers. As always, timestamps of topics discussed can be found below. 0:00- Intro and review of recent events:Sub to  Perpetual Chess Linkfest5:00- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Chessable.com. You can check out all of their latest offerings here: https://www.chessable.com/courses/all/new/6:00- GM Jonathan Rowson joins (recorded September 28)6:00- 3 key questions to ask ourselves19:00- Should we draw a distinction between cheating in online and OTB chess? 29:00- Are we likely to get a resolution to this case?  32:00- What are sensible anti-cheating measures? 35:00- Jonathan reflects on his recent return to OTB competitive chess 39:00- What behavioral biases should we be alert for as we evaluate the information presented? 48:00- What opinions has Jonathan heard from his GM peers? Mentioned: Carlsen-Niemann 2022 Mishra-Niemann 2022 53:00- Thanks to Jonathan for joining the show! Here are links to keep up with him. Twitter The Moves that MatterHis websiteHis Chessable Courses You can hear our prior interview here. (Episode 150) 56:00- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Aimchess.com. Aimchess’ algorithm reviews your games and gives you actionable advice on how to improve your game. Check it out for free, and if you choose to subscribe you can use the code Perpetual30 to save 30%.Or use this link for the same discount:https://aimchess.com/try?ref=benjohnson1257:00- GM David Smerdon joins (recorded September 27)58:00- What does David’s research suggest about why people cheat at chess? 1:08:00- David has seen Chess.com’s list of banned players, obviously he can’t reveal names, but is there anything he can say about it? 1:13:00- David discusses some of GM Fabiano Caruana’s comments on the controversy from the C Squared podcast1:20:00- David discusses the Let’s Check feature on Chessbase. We are referring to video’s such as this one by FM Yosha Iglesias, which makes a good-faith attempt to analyze Han’s games with data. Mentioned: IM Ken Regan interview with James Altucher 1:30:00- Does David have a personal opinion about whether Hans cheated OTB? 1:33:00- Could one be termed "guilty" of cheating OTB based on data alone? 1:40:00- David discusses his fun and useful statistical tool, the Fighting Chess Index (FCI). 1:45:00- David discusses his research on gender and chess. Mentioned: BBC News: Chess Commentator Sacked for Sexist Remark1:57:00- Thanks to David for sharing his insights! Here are some of the ways to keep up with him:Twitter:https://twitter.com/dsmerdonDavid’s Chess Blog: https://www.davidsmerdon.com/Award Winning BookThe Complete Chess Swindler You can hear our prior interview here. (Episode 30) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Perpetual Chess is back with another bonus pod discussing the ongoing Magnus Carlsen/Hans Niemann controversy. The major news of the week was that GM Magnus Carlsen <a href="https://twitter.com/MagnusCarlsen/status/1574482694406565888?s=20&amp;t=aiqGu5WDnrv9qeN-OFZjAQ" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">issued a statement</a> on Monday confirming that he suspects GM Hans Niemann of cheating. To discuss the story, I am honored to be joined by 2 Grandmaster guests who offer significant domain expertise beyond the chess world. First up is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Rowson" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">GM Jonathan Rowson</a>, a renowned author and philosopher and the 3 time British Chess Champion. My conversation with Jonathan is centered around the human element of this story, and how we can hope to avoid biases in our interpretation of the information at hand. Following GM Rowson, I am joined by Dr. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Smerdon" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">David Smerdon</a>. GM Smerdon is a 7 time Chess Olympian for his native Australia, and an award winning chess author. David has worked with both Dr. Kenneth Regan and also the <a href="http://Chess.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Chess.com</a> cheat detection team. David’s primary field is development economics, but he has a statistical background and devotes significant time to chess-related research. As we discuss, in addition to chess cheating, David has <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0956797620924051" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">published a paper</a> related to gender issues in chess. I found it helpful to hear the grounded perspective of 2 of the chess world’s most insightful thinkers. As always, timestamps of topics discussed can be found below.  0:00- Intro and review of recent events:Sub to <a href="https://benjohnson.substack.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Perpetual Chess Linkfest</a>5:00- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by <a href="http://Chessable.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Chessable.com</a>. You can check out all of their latest offerings here: <a href="https://www.chessable.com/courses/all/new/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.chessable.com/courses/all/new/</a> 6:00- GM Jonathan Rowson joins (recorded September 28) 6:00- 3 key questions to ask ourselves19:00- Should we draw a distinction between cheating in online and OTB chess? 29:00- Are we likely to get a resolution to this case?  32:00- What are sensible anti-cheating measures? 35:00- Jonathan reflects on his recent return to OTB competitive chess 39:00- What behavioral biases should we be alert for as we evaluate the information presented? 48:00- What opinions has Jonathan heard from his GM peers? Mentioned: <a href="https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2372960" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Carlsen-Niemann 2022 </a><a href="https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2123031" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mishra-Niemann 2022 </a>53:00- Thanks to Jonathan for joining the show! Here are links to keep up with him. <a href="https://twitter.com/Jonathan_Rowson?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter </a><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moves-That-Matter-Chess-Grandmaster/dp/1635573327/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1NDE7SK1MCB6N&amp;keywords=the+moves+that+matter+a+chess+grandmaster+on+the+game+of+life&amp;qid=1572963868&amp;sprefix=the+moves+that+ma%2Cdigital-text%2C132&amp;sr=8-1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Moves that Matter</a><a href="https://www.jonathanrowson.me/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">His website</a><a href="https://www.chessable.com/author/JonathanRowson/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">His Chessable Courses </a>You can hear our prior interview<a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/0ohoYpvUDo72VGJt0cLO5s?si=910d772811274ca7" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> here</a>. (Episode 150)  56:00- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by <a href="http://Aimchess.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Aimchess.com</a>. Aimchess’ algorithm reviews your games and gives you actionable advice on how to improve your game. Check it out for free, and if you choose to subscribe you can use the code Perpetual30 to save 30%.Or use this link for the same discount:<a href="https://aimchess.com/try?ref=benjohnson12" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://aimchess.com/try?ref=benjohnson12</a> 57:00- GM David Smerdon joins (recorded September 27) 58:00- What does David’s research suggest about why people cheat at chess?  1:08:00- David has seen <a href="http://Chess.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Chess.com</a>’s list of banned players, obviously he can’t reveal names, but is there anything he can say about it?  1:13:00- David discusses some of GM Fabiano Caruana’s comments on the controversy from the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQWKH5DiO9_gBAQWQAaBnow" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">C Squared podcast</a> 1:20:00- David discusses the Let’s Check feature on Chessbase. We are referring to video’s such as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfPzUgzrOcQ" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this one by FM Yosha Iglesias</a>, which makes a good-faith attempt to analyze Han’s games with data. Mentioned: <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/did-hans-niemann-cheat-the-evidence-im-ken-regan/id794030859?i=1000579423486" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">IM Ken Regan interview with James Altucher </a> 1:30:00- Does David have a personal opinion about whether Hans cheated OTB?  1:33:00- Could one be termed "guilty" of cheating OTB based on data alone?  1:40:00- David discusses his fun and useful statistical tool, the Fighting Chess Index (FCI). 1:45:00- David discusses his research on gender and chess. Mentioned: BBC News: <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-63062092" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Chess Commentator Sacked for Sexist Remark</a>1:57:00- Thanks to David for sharing his insights! Here are some of the ways to keep up with him:Twitter:<a href="https://twitter.com/dsmerdon" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/dsmerdon</a> David’s Chess Blog: <a href="https://www.davidsmerdon.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.davidsmerdon.com/</a> Award Winning Book<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Chess-Swindler-Points-Positions/dp/9056919113/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2MUBF7UUVLA5N&amp;keywords=smerdon+chess&amp;qid=1664380816&amp;qu=eyJxc2MiOiIwLjkxIiwicXNhIjoiMC4wMCIsInFzcCI6IjAuMDAifQ%3D%3D&amp;sprefix=smerdon+chess%2Caps%2C100&amp;sr=8-2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Complete Chess Swindler </a>You can hear our prior interview<a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/2EjvCzFhtGUE1kGVtOI3m4?si=d31f050678e74e83" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> here</a>. (Episode 30) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://megaphone.fm/adchoices" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">megaphone.fm/adchoices</a>

Bonus Pod- GM Jonathan Rowson and GM David Smerdon discuss the Carlsen/Niemann Saga

GM David Smerdon is one of those people who seems to find more hours in the day than the rest of us. In addition to being the #2 player in Australia, he recently completed his Ph.D. in economics and landed a job as an assistant professor in his native Brisbane. David also manages to stay quite active in and vocal about chess, particularly on his excellent blog. In our conversation, we discuss David's experiences representing Australia at several Olympiads, including the 2016 Olympiad in which he drew against Magnus Carlson. We also talk about gender in chess and his economic research away from the board. Naturally, I didn't let David escape without coaxing him to dish some excellent chess advice as well. David gives great tips on how to play against higher rated opponents and also offers a book recommendation. Please enjoy our interview, and then check out David's blog here, follow him on Twitter here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

GM David Smerdon is one of those people who seems to find more hours in the day than the rest of us. In addition to being the #2 player in Australia, he recently completed his Ph.D. in economics and landed a job as an assistant professor in his native Brisbane. David also manages to stay quite active in and vocal about chess, particularly on his excellent blog. In our conversation, we discuss David's experiences representing Australia at several Olympiads, including the 2016 Olympiad in which he drew against Magnus Carlson. We also talk about gender in chess and his economic research away from the board. Naturally, I didn't let David escape without coaxing him to dish some excellent chess advice as well. David gives great tips on how to play against higher rated opponents and also offers a book recommendation. Please enjoy our interview, and then check out David's blog here, follow him on Twitter here. See <a href="http://omnystudio.com/listener" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">omnystudio.com/listener</a> for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://megaphone.fm/adchoices" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">megaphone.fm/adchoices</a>

EP.30 - Grandmaster David Smerdon