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Perpetual Chess Podcast

EP 391- IM Atle Gronn- Life Lessons from the remarkable Careers of GM Simen Agdestein, plus the lessons Simen imparted to his student, GM Magnus Carlsen

Perpetual Chess Podcast

Perpetual Chess LLC

Sports, Leisure, Hobbies

4.8678 Ratings

🗓️ 16 July 2024

⏱️ 64 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week’s guest is author, commentator, and Slavic Linguistics professor at the University of Oslo, IM Atle Gronn. Atle’s most recent book, Games and Goals: The Fascinating Chess and Football Careers of Simen Agdestein has recently been released in the English language and is one I have been greatly looking forward to reading. It did not disappoint, as it provides a revealing biography of one of the most compelling figures in modern chess history. GM Simen Agdestein, in addition to being a Norwegian chess legend, and the childhood trainer of Magnus Carlsen, Simen was a supremely talented athlete who played for the Norwegian national soccer team. As a strong player from the same generation as Simen, Atle bore witness to Simen’s rise, fall, and resurgence, and also witnessed and contextualizes GM Magnus Carlsen’s relentless ascent to the top of the chess world.  There are many lessons we all can learn from the stories that Atle shares and I greatly enjoyed chatting with him about his book.  Games and Goals is available from Amazon and other booksellers,  Games and Goals: The Fascinating Chess and Football Careers of Simen Agdestein books  And you can view a Free excerpt here: https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9186.pdf 0:01- Thanks to our sponsor Chessable.com- If you sign up for Chessable pro, please use the link below to help support Perpetual Chess: https://www.chessable.com/pro/?utm_source=affiliate&utm_medium=benjohnson&utm_campaign=pro 0:02- What made Simen Agdestein a “mythic figure” in the 1980’s? How did he go from beginner to national Norway champion in 4 years?  Mentioned: Tarjei Svensen’s Article on the most recent Norwegian Championship: https://www.chess.com/news/view/15-year-old-copies-magnus-carlsen-norwegian-champion 0:07- How did Simen become an elite athlete without training extensively? What was his style like as a footballer? 15:00- How did Atle’s collaboration with Simen come about?  22:00- How would Atle describe Simen’s chess style? What traits of Simen can be seen in Magnus Carlsen (his student)?  29:00- Atle describes his 2005 game against Magnus Carlsen, which became a famous win for Magnus. https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1348050 32- Why was Atle initial skeptical of Magnus’ talents?  37:00- How did injuries change Simen’s careers? 46:00- What did Simen do for income during his years when both careers suddenly ended? 52:00- We discuss chess books and the topics of Otle’s prior books, which were written in Norwegian.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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apply. Hello everyone and welcome back to perpetual chess. We have an author.

0:37.9

I'm very excited to speak with, and I will introduce in one second.

0:41.1

I did want to give thanks, as always, to our sponsor, chescible.com.

0:44.0

As I mentioned in a previous pod, one of the most recommended books in chess literature,

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and recent chess literature is now on Chessable chess structures.

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There's actually a free

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lesson available from Grandmaster Peter Heinielsen, who's done the video for it, so be sure to check

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that out. Sam Shanklin's got a new course. Ben Feingold's got one on the way. There's always

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tons of stuff worth checking out. And as always, if you sign up for Chesaple Pro to unlock additional

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features, be sure to use the link in the description.

1:12.9

As for our guest this week, so he's someone who's written a book that I was looking forward to.

1:17.3

Those of you, some of you may have heard my interview in episode 342 with Grandmaster Seaman Agnastain,

1:22.8

who is, of course, one of the best Norwegian players of all time and was a professional footballer

1:28.7

and then became Magnus' coach, fascinating guy.

1:32.0

And our guest has written a new book called Games and Goals,

...

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