EP 446- IM Greg Shahade on The State of Professional Chess, Why He Loves the Daily and Classical Formats & Adult Improving at Trivia

Perpetual Chess Podcast

Perpetual Chess LLC

Sports, Leisure, Hobbies

4.8 • 678 Ratings

🗓️ 12 August 2025

⏱️ 68 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

IM Greg Shahade was the very first guest of Perpetual Chess and has remained a frequent and insightful contributor ever since. A former youth national champion, Greg has subsequently been involved in the chess world in an array of capacities —founder of the US Chess School (which provides free training to top American juniors), creator of the now-defunct Pro Chess League, and a near-2800-rated blitz player on Chess.com who has maintained his level well into his 40s. A former poker pro, Greg has more recently become a trivia whiz to boot. But which is harder to improve at—trivia or chess? In this wide-ranging conversation, we catch up on Greg’s many interests, get his take on events like the E-Sports World Cup and Freestyle Chess Grand Slam in Las Vegas, and hear his thoughts on the continued ascension of the next chess generation. It’s always a treat to hear Greg’s takes on the ever-evolving chess landscape. Timestamps of topics discussed are below. Thanks to our sponsor, Chessable.com! If you sign up for Chessable Pro in order to unlock discounts and additional features, be sure to use the following link: https://www.chessable.com/pro/?utm_source=affiliate&utm_medium=benjohnson&utm_campaign=pro And you can check out their new offerings here: https://www.chessable.com/courses/all/new/ 0:00- Will Greg learn GM Jan Gustafsson’s Chessable course? 0:05- Patreon mailbag question: Greg followed the E-sports World Cup (EWC) closely- what were his impressions of it? 0:09- Why Greg loves classical chess! 0:12- Back to the EWC 0:16- What did Greg think of the recent Freestyle tournament in Las Vegas? 21:00- The US Chess School- are kids good at chess? 30:00- The benefits of the daily chess format 36:00- Why did Greg decide to become good at trivia? Is it harder to improve at then chess? https://gregshahade.wordpress.com/2023/01/31/1-5-years-of-trivia-total-n00b-to-learnedleague-group-a/ 44:00- Patreon mailbag question: Greg seems like a happy and positive person- has that come easy to him or has he had to work at it? 47:00- Patreon mailbag question: Greg sings a song!(briefly) 48:00- As another friend of FM Donny Ariel’s, does Greg think he can make GM? Could Greg make GM? 53:00- Patreon mailbag question: Does Carlsen’s retirement from the World Championship title hurt his legacy as compared to Kasparov? Mentioned: Kasparov-Polgar touch-move controversy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT9UhaUIBCY 1:01- Greg discusses his enthusiasm for the Chess.com daily chess league https://www.chess.com/article/view/join-chess-league Thanks to Greg for joining me again! You can reach/keep up with him via Chess.com or via X: https://www.chess.com/member/gregshahade https://x.com/GregShahade Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	So, what are you watching at the moment?
0:01.8	Squid game, Dad.
0:03.0	Let's watch it together this weekend.
0:04.9	Would that be nice?
0:06.0	What's it on again?
0:06.8	Netflix. You've got EETV, so you just switch it on. What season are we up to? Um, four? That's Stranger Things, Mum. And what about the kids? Don't worry, they'll watch Coca-Mellon for the hundredth time. Switch on Netflix with EETV, plus change up sports and entertainment.
0:04.5	It's TV with the ultimate flex for the hundredth time. Switch on Netflix with EETV. Plus change up sports and entertainment.
0:22.4	It's TV with the ultimate flex for the whole family.
0:25.4	EETV requires EEB broadband, separate 24-month contracts for TV and broadband content
0:29.1	a very tense supply.
0:33.9	Hello everyone and welcome back to perpetual chess.
0:36.4	We have the very first guest returning, although he's been back a bunch of times, but somehow it's been some years since his last visit.
0:42.4	And we were going to introduce him in a second, but first I'm going to quiz him.
0:45.3	So I wanted to thank, as always, our sponsors, jessable.com.
0:48.9	So some of you may have heard my interview with Grandmaster Jan Gustafsson about the supposedly real Austrian
0:55.1	defense against 1D4. Jan is sticking with this story. Even after that interview, Greg started
1:01.5	messaging him with me on the message about, hey, can an I.M actually play this opening? Is it not
1:06.8	totally bogus? And Greg, what did he say? Well, first of all, what did Young say in the
1:13.3	podcast about the opening? He said it's not totally bogus. You know, these days you can play
1:17.8	anything. Computers are very strong. It's true. So you probably, it probably is playable.
1:22.9	You just have to know some. I haven't looked at it at all. I'm telling you what it probably is.
1:27.3	It's probably very
	...

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