EP 483- Paulo SantAnna: What Happens When a Retired Adult Treats Chess Like a Full-Time Job?

Perpetual Chess Podcast

Perpetual Chess LLC

Leisure, Sports, Hobbies

4.8 • 706 Ratings

🗓️ 19 May 2026

⏱️ 65 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Paulo SantAnna is living the dream of many adult chess improvers. The retired software engineer has spent the past several years devoting serious time and energy to improving his game, and the results have been impressive. When Paulo rekindled his interest in tournament chess, his FIDE rating had fallen to a recent low of 1850. Through years of hard study, travel, disciplined training, and resilience, he recently reached a new high over 2100 FIDE in his mid-50s! We discuss: The moment Paulo decided to get serious about improvement The mistakes he made early in his comeback How he structures his training Study recommendations and practical advice for adult improvers Physical fitness, tournament selection, and maintaining motivation I found Paulo’s story inspiring, and it offers hope for the rest of us, if we only could get rid of these pesky jobs. 0:00 Intro More on the Adult Improver series here: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/adultimprover Thanks to those who keep the show running! Patreon Check out Chessiverse.com (discount code- ‘Perpetual30’) 4:00 Paulo’s chess comeback story begins Check out Paulo’s FIDE history here: https://ratings.fide.com/profile/2027402 6:00 Why his rating rebounded after moving to Europe 8:00 Retirement, Spain trips, and dedicating serious time to chess 11:00 Studying 35 hours a week 13:00 The dangers of doing too much More about the Chessdojo here (use code “Ben” at checkout to save 10%) : https://www.chessdojo.club/signup 17:00 Calculation training and daily routines 20:00 Openings, Chessable streaks, and training structure 23:00 Online blitz, model games, and coaching 25:00 How much he studies versus other adult improvers 27:00 Avoiding burnout and keeping motivation 29:00 Brazilian chess streamers and coaches Paulo has worked with: GM Rafael Leitao, GM Andres Rodriguez,GM Diego Flores, GM Lenderman, GM Izoria, GM Eugene Perelshteyn,GM Raven Sturt, IM Jorge Bobadilla 31:00 Working with top trainers like Eugene Perelshteyn and Axel Bachmann 33:00 Blindfold training with GM Roven Vogel 36:00 What mattered most for improvement 38:00 Hiding online repertoires and preparation 40:00 Sparring games and training partners 41:00 His breakthrough tournaments 42:00 Tournament prep philosophy 46:00 Fitness, stamina, and nutrition for chess 49:00 Chess scenes in New York and California 52:00 Senior tournaments and future plans 54:00 Favorite chess books and resources Mentioned: Postional Play by GM Jacob Aagaard, Endgame Strategy by Shereshevsky 57:00 Advice for busy adult improvers 58:00 Rating goals and pursuit of FM 1:00:00 Why adults struggle to improve 1:03:00 Final thoughts 1:04:00- Thanks to Paulo for sharing his story! You can reach him at: psantann at gmail.dot.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:21.8	com.uk slash podcast to learn more.
0:27.8	Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the adult improver series of perpetual chess.
0:32.1	We've been overdue to catch up with an accomplished amateur.
0:35.2	And we've got a great one for you this week.
0:38.0	If you've ever wondered what it might be like to pursue chess close to full time, perhaps as a part of early
0:43.2	retirement, with fewer work and family responsibilities, our guest actually shows the way.
0:51.6	And he's got an amazing story. He was able to retire in his 50s.
0:55.5	His rating was at a multi-year nadir that rhymes. And then he grinded and he came all the way
1:02.3	from 1850 Fide up to 2100. So you can put our guest story in the column of those that
1:10.2	argue that the primary thing holding adults
1:12.0	back from chess improvement is time. He certainly demonstrates that a lot of progress is possible,
1:18.1	although as you will hear our guest, Paulo Santana say, he's also selective about which
1:22.5	tournaments he plays and which tournaments he enjoys. And I'm sure that makes a difference as well.
1:28.2	But it's a great story that we will get you to in a minute.
1:30.8	But I also wanted to thank, as always, the perpetual chess Patreon sponsors.
1:34.9	They make a huge difference.
1:36.3	They can, we have Zoom hangouts.
1:38.1	They can submit questions for guests.
1:40.1	They can have access to ad-free podcast episodes.
1:43.7	For those of you listening or watching not ad-free, I did want to mention that if you listen on Spotify, starting last week in the interview with the legendary Grandmaster, Yvonne Sokolov, there's now video on the Spotify feed, which is optional.
1:57.1	You can turn it on or off.
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