EP 402- GM Axel Smith on Draw Offers, Managing the Clock, and the Return of the Woodpecker Method.

Perpetual Chess Podcast

Perpetual Chess LLC

Sports, Leisure, Hobbies

4.8 • 678 Ratings

🗓️ 1 October 2024

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week’s returning guest is the renowned author, Chessable author and trainer, GM Axel Smith. Axel, of course is best known for the groundbreaking tactics manual, The Woodpecker Method, and is finally releasing its much-anticipated sequel, The Woodpecker Method 2: Positional Play. While the first Woodpecker volume focused on tactics, this one helps readers learn critical positional patterns. In our conversation, we discuss the challenges of and logistics behind selecting over 1000 positional puzzles. We also have a wide-ranging discussion about Axel’s latest thoughts about chess improvement, a topic he has covered in excellent books like Pump Up Your Rating and Street Smart Chess. We touch on how Axel’s chess goals have evolved now that he has a family, his advice regarding offering draws, and even the parallels between trying to improve at distance running and at chess. As always links of topics referenced are below. Book available from Quality Chess and Forward Chess, coming soon to Chessable https://forwardchess.com/product/the-woodpecker-method2 PDF Sample of the book: https://forwardchess.com/sample/the-woodpecker-method2 Forward Chess: https://forwardchess.com/product/the-woodpecker-method2 02:00- GM Axel Smith joins the show. Was it challenging to make a compilation of “positional puzzles”? Mentioned: GMs Christopher Yoo, Renier Castellanos, Sam Shankland, Nordirbek Abdusattorov Simple Chess, Winning Chess Strategies, The Power of Pawns 14:00- Patreon mailbag question: When will Woodpecker 2 be available on Chessable? Mentioned: FM Nate Solon’s post, Woodpecker Revisited https://zwischenzug.substack.com/p/the-woodpecker-method-revisited?utm_source=publication-search 21:00- Check out the app of our new sponsors Chess Universe in your app store. https://chess-universe.sng.link/Dqw52/kbhh 22:00- We revisit some of the most memorable chess improvement advice from Axel’s classic book Pump Up Your Rating. What advice would he change? Mentioned: My Chessable course, Identifying Critical Moments in Chess https://www.chessable.com/identifying-critical-moments-in-chess/course/248353/ 31:00- Axel quit his job to focus on distance running training, and runs 20 Kilometers a day. We discuss his training regimen 38:00- Returning to chess, we discuss Axel’s philosophy regarding draw offers. 40:00- Has the success of The Woodpecker Method changed Axel’s life? 43:00- Why does Axel think adults often struggle to improve? 47:00- Has Axel’s overall improvement philosophy changed since Pump Up Your Rating? 48:00- Thanks to Axel for rejoining us, you can keep up with his work via Chessable and Quality Chess. https://www.chessable.com/author/axelsmith/ https://qualitychess.co.uk/products/improvement/446/_the_woodpecker_method_2_by_axel_smith/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, everyone, and welcome back to perpetual chess.
0:07.5	We have a return guest, a renowned author that I am really looking forward to catching up with.
0:12.7	We will introduce him momentarily.
0:15.2	First wanted to give thanks, as always, to our sponsor, chescible.com.
0:18.6	Our guest, of course, has one of the biggest hit Chessable courses
0:22.4	in Chesible history. This is my conjecture, actually. I don't have any hard facts on that.
0:27.2	But, of course, Woodpecker Method, immensely rightfully popular on Chesbable. They've also got
0:32.8	tons of other new stuff on openings as well as end games and tactics.
0:37.8	And I always say that Woodpecker in particular is well suited to the Chescible format because
0:42.8	it's based around space repetition, which of course was a foundational tenant of Chesible's company.
0:48.6	So anyway, be sure to check out what they have.
0:51.2	And if you sign up for Chesable Pro, use the link in the description.
0:55.0	As for our return guest this week, you can also hear him on episode 225.
1:02.0	He's a grandmaster, a two-time Sweden, Olympiad team member, Fidei Trainer, Arbiter.
1:07.3	He's also one of my favorite modern authors.
1:09.5	His books include Pump Up Your Rating, which is a classic, and I was reviewing it in preparation for this interview.
1:15.5	And it's still one of the best bang for your buck books for improvers out there.
1:20.5	The Woodpecker method, of course, E3 Poison, which I actually enjoy that repertoire as well, street smart chess.
1:32.4	And of course, the cause for this appearance, the brand new and excellent,
1:37.9	much anticipated, Woodpecker Method 2, positional play, that's from quality chess.
1:41.3	He's also done another chessable course called Black and White Magic.
1:44.5	Our guest, of course, saw an impressive rating gain in his early 20s and when he started studying seriously for the first time in his life, and he used the
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