EP 453- IM-elect Tatev Abrahamyan on the Long Road to her New Title.

Perpetual Chess Podcast

Perpetual Chess LLC

Leisure, Sports, Hobbies

4.8 • 706 Ratings

🗓️ 30 September 2025

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Despite an impressive chess résumé as one of the U.S.’s top women players, Tatev Abrahamyan has had moments when she questioned whether it was all worth it. After a prolonged slump, she not only considered giving up on ever earning the International Master title, but she nearly quit competitive chess altogether. Fortunately, Tatev persevered. Earlier this year, she unexpectedly finished second in the Woman’s American Cup, and then in August, she delivered a standout result that earned her the International Master title at age 37 — more than 10 years after achieving her final required norm! Remarkably, Tatev’s performance was so strong that she also secured her first GM norm. In our conversation, Tatev reflects on: Why a timely vote of confidence from a mentor propelled her toward a $30,000 prize Opening advice and the enduring value of endgame studies What she has learned from this roller-coaster journey — and what she advises others facing slumps Tatev’s story is both candid and inspiring, and I look forward to following her next chapter at the 2025 U.S. Women’s Championship and beyond. 0:00- Thanks to our sponsors Chessable.com: Check out Tatev’s courses here- and if you sign up for Chessable Pro, be sure to use this link: https://www.chessable.com/pro/?utm_source=affiliate&utm_medium=benjohnson&utm_campaign=pro 0:02- Late last year, after a slump, Tatev was “despondent” with her chess? Did she seriously consider quitting? 0:05- Once she didn’t quit, how did she prepare for the American Cup? 0:08- Tatev’s tournament routine and mindset Mentioned: IM Kostya Kavutskiy, GM Josh Friedel, Endgame Labaratory by GM Jacob Aagaard 0:11- Why does Tatev think her results turned around at the American Cup? Mentioned: GM Yasser Quesada Perez 0:15- Tatev’s next tournaments in Spain and Budapest 0:18- Tatev’s approach to openings 0:20- When did Tatev start to think that earning the IM title was becoming realistic? 0:24- Patreon mailbag question: Was there any change to Tatev’s mindset leading up to this breakthrough? Mentioned: You can check out Tatev’s games from the tournament here: https://www.chess.com/events/budapest-one-week-budapest-one-week-gm FM Mike Klein’s article about Tatev’s title: https://www.chess.com/news/view/abrahamyan-plays-best-tournament-of-career-earns-im-title-gm-norm 26:00- Meeting up with Judit after the tournament! 34:00- More reflections on Tatev’s tournament Mentioned: IM Kostya Kavutskiy’s blog post about analyzing with Ivanchuk https://hellokostya.substack.com/p/2025-spring-eurotrip 40:00- The US Women’s Championship 41:00- Tatev discusses her Chessable course and her fondness for endgame studies. Mentioned: Chess Studies: Solve to Evolve https://www.chessable.com/chess-studies-solve-to-evolve/course/300770/ 49:00 Tatev’s next projects 51:00- Will Tatev pursue the GM title? Mentioned: Jeanne Sinquefeld prize for a woman earning the GM title https://www.chess.com/news/view/jeanne-cairns-sinquefield-award-us-female-grandmasters Also mentioned: GM Felix Blohberger https://www.chess.com/news/view/being-a-chess-professional-in-europe-sucks-blohberger 55:00- Thanks to Tatev for joining us! You can reach her via the Lichess coaches page: Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Julie could part exchange her car.
0:03.0	Or check out we buy any car.
0:07.0	She could be unsure if she got a good deal part exchanging.
0:12.0	Or have cash in the bank with more bargaining power to get a bigger car for her five-aside team.
0:18.0	Totally played.
0:20.0	Total player. To get a quote in 30 seconds, enter your regs number
0:25.2	now at weebanycar.com. Hello everyone and welcome back to perpetual chess. We have a
0:37.1	return guest that I am very excited to chat with.
0:39.7	She has a great recent development to her chest story that I am excited to discuss.
0:44.0	But first, as always, wanted to give thanks to our sponsors, chescible.com.
0:47.5	Our guest has a very highly reviewed Chescible course that we will be discussing in due time.
0:52.0	So without further ado, I would like to introduce her.
0:54.9	She is a former youth champion, both in Armenia and the U.S., where she moved as an adolescent.
1:00.7	She's one of the top women players in the country, a frequent participant in the U.S.
1:04.5	Women's Championship. She came in tied for first in 2005. She'll be competing again this
1:09.5	year in a couple weeks, actually,
1:15.6	from when we're recording this, September 24th. She's also a columnist for Chess Life magazine and a chessball author, as we said, of endgame studies solved to evolve. But most importantly,
1:20.6	she just had a career breakthrough. Recently in Budapest, she earned her final IM Norm at age 37, 15 years after her first one.
1:30.2	She also, in the same tournament, crossed the rating threshold so she will be getting the IAM title.
1:34.9	For good measure, that tournament also netted her her first GM norm, and her recent results have catapulted her to the number 30 ranked woman player in the world, also a career best, once again
1:45.7	at age 37. So like any long time chess player, I guess has been through her share of ups and downs,
1:51.8	been open about that. We even talked about it back in 2021. So without further ado, I would like to
	...

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