EP 464- IM John Donaldson- Bobby Fischer’s Chess Improvement Advice, the Story Behind His Colossal Rating Leap

Perpetual Chess Podcast

Perpetual Chess LLC

Leisure, Sports, Hobbies

4.8 • 706 Ratings

🗓️ 16 December 2025

⏱️ 89 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What can Bobby Fischer still teach us about chess improvement? In this episode, renowned trainer, author, and historian IM John Donaldson returns to discuss Fischer’s writing, advice, and training methods, as featured in his new book Inside the Mind of Bobby Fischer. We explore Fischer’s views on openings, what he said about his own IQ, and what modern players can realistically take from his approach. I was particularly interested to hear John break down how Fischer went from roughly 2100 strength to an elite player in less than two years. After our Fischer deep dive, John shares his memories of a young Daniel Naroditsky and discusses the outlook for the next U.S. Olympiad team, which he has captained 15 times. 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/ Check out special offers from Chessdojo, Chessmood and more here: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/partners Sign up for my free chess newsletter here: https://benjohnson.substack.com/ 0:02- Why was Bobby Fischer writing a chess column for Boys Life magazine? 0:07- Are world class talents like Fischer good people to give chess improvement advice? 0:14- Bobby Fischer’s 4 Chess Improvement Tips 0:17- Why was Fischer confident about his match vs. Spassky despite a losing record? 0:20- How did Fischer respond when he was asked about reportedly having a genius-level IQ? 0:24- The impact of Fischer growing up in New York City 0:43- Patreon mailbag question- Why, after all these years, is there still such a cult-like obsession with Fischer? 1:02:00- John’s memories of GM Daniel Naroditsky, who John knew since Danya’s childhood, Mentioned: GM Gregory Kaidanov, GM Lev Psakhis 1:13:00- Status of the US Olympiad team 1:19:00- Will John pursue the GM title at age 67? Thanks, as always, to IM John Donaldson for joining me! Here is where to get Inside the Mind of Bobby Fischer. Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Inside-Mind-Bobby-Fischer-Annotations/dp/1890085286/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1QKKXI2SDOLYS&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9._2M3HsSJt-U7Bdai-uPvhA.AJtX-b-nDihPzKRJb_BUo7jCkpq_R2sPMhsked9R8GU&dib_tag=se&keywords=inside+the+mind+of+bobby+fischer&qid=1765826270&s=books&sprefix=inside+the+mind+of+bobby+fischer%2Cstripbooks%2C55&sr=1-1 Chess4Less: https://chess4less.com/products/pre-order-inside-the-mind-of-bobby-fischer-john-donaldson Also available in Europe: https://gazellebookservices.co.uk/products/9781890085285?_pos=1&_sid=e49e3c6fa&_ss=r Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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1:04.6	Hello everyone and welcome back to Perpetual Chess.
1:07.3	We have another fantastic interview coming your way.
1:09.6	I'll get you to that in a second. Just a couple housekeeping matters first. Number one, make sure you're sub to my free newsletter, the perpetual chess link fest. I not only link to my own stuff, but a lot of the best writing I've come across in a given week as well as occasionally other podcasts and favorite YouTube videos. So you can search for that or check the link in the description.
1:31.9	Also wanted to thank our sponsors, chescible.com.
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