Cover Stories with Chess Life

Cover Stories with Chess Life #32: Ben Johnson

Most editions of Cover Stories with Chess Life follow the same pattern: each month we talk to the author of our cover story. This month, however, is a little different. Dan Lucas, former editor of Chess Life and now our Senior Director of Strategic Communication, got back in the saddle for his December 2020 cover story on John D Rockefeller V and his $3 million gift to US Chess.

Now, Dan’s employment with US Chess wouldn’t prevent him from appearing on this podcast, which he used to host. But Dan now hosts another podcast, One Move at a Time, where this month’s guest will be none other than John Rockefeller.

This left me in a bit of a quandary. Obviously I didn’t want to reinvent the wheel and drag Dan onto my show, where naturally he’d use his best material and leave nothing for his own. So who could I ask to pinch-hit? Who could be interesting enough to fill such big shoes?

Ben Johnson is a national master, a chess teacher, and, in a former life, he was a poker player of some repute. Now he is best known to chess fans around the world as the host of the Perpetual Chess Podcast, a weekly show where Ben interviews chess players and personalities both famous and... well, those of the likes of me. It’s a must-listen, and it’s one of the first things I check each Tuesday when I sit down at my desk to work.

Ben and his guests cover a lot of ground in their talks, ranging from improvement to books to chess culture, and in what follows, I’ll try to drag out the very best of what Ben has learned in his over 200 episodes of Perpetual Chess, and also get a deeper sense of what Ben is like when he’s not in his basement, behind his recording equipment.

Cover Stories with Chess Life #31: GM Maurice Ashley

Grandmaster Maurice Ashley is a man who hardly needs an introduction to the readers of Chess Life or Chess Life Online. While he is famous today for his energetic style broadcasting events for the Saint Louis Chess Club, Ashley has been a giant of American chess for many years now. He is the first Grandmaster of African descent, has been a successful scholastic coach, and he organized some of the most lucrative and interesting large Swiss tournaments in American history.

Because his career has been so varied and spanned so much of recent chess history, we thought Maurice Ashley would be the perfect person to write our October cover article on International Master Abhimanyu Mishra, the youngest IM in the world. His story is utterly fascinating.

Ashley knocked the assignment out of the park, putting young Abhi's story into the proper context, and painting a much fuller picture of the role played by his family in his success than has been previously shown.

Our interview, recorded on September 29, 2020, tries to cover the full range of Ashley's history and accomplishments. I had a great time recording it, and I want to thank Maurice for taking an hour of his time to talk to me for this podcast.  

Cover Stories with Chess Life #30: Michael Tisserand

Michael Tisserand has written a lovely profile of 88 year old Charlie Gabriel, a long-time member of the Preservation Hall Jazz Collective in New Orleans and one of the most well-traveled musicians alive today. As it turns out, Gabriel is obsessed with chess. His instagram account, @chess_with_charlie, chronicles both his musical exploits and his chess encounters, and we borrowed heavily from it (with permission, of course) for the art for our story.

Tisserand is the author of three excellent books:

• The Kingdom of Zydeco, a history of Zydeco music in southwest Louisiana;
• Sugarcane Academy, a recounting of the months after Katrina for him and his family, and how, together with others exiled by the story, the Sugarcane Academy came to anchor the lives of some New Orleans children, and
• Krazy: George Herriman, A Life in Black and White, a vibrant biography of one of the most creative and influential cartoonists in American history.

In his journalist work Tisserand has interviewed the likes of Jude Acers, Danny Barker, John Boutte, and Big Chief Tootie Montana, and his writings are diverse. One of his most recent articles, “Letter from New Orleans” in the Washington Spectator, is a poignant reckoning with the effects of COVID-19 on New Orleans culture and our country writ large. It’s well worth your time.

We spoke to Michael from his home in New Orleans, which has just survived a near miss from Hurricane Laura, days before the 15^th anniversary (so to speak) of Hurricane Katrina.

Cover Stories with Chess Life #29: IM Eric Rosen

A prominent streamer in his own right, International Master Eric Rosen is the author of the August 2020 Chess Life cover story, “The New Chess Boom.” The cover for the issue, created by Neil Jamison and directed by Frankie Butler, has gotten a lot of attention online – something we’ll surely talk about – but I believe that Rosen’s article will end up garnering just as much attention now that the issue is in mailboxes and online.

At just 26 years of age, Eric Rosen has already carved himself out a prominent place in the modern chess ecosystem. He is prominent on Twitch and YouTube for his streaming efforts, which distinguish themselves (particularly on YouTube) for their high production values. A FIDE Master in 2011 and an International Master in 2015, Eric did not let his chess distract from his education, earning a BA from Webster University, where he was on the world-famous Webster chess team.

On his website – imrosen.com – among his many other accomplishments, two stand out: in 2018 he “unknowingly defeated Magnus Carlsen in the lichess Titled Arena,” and he “appeared on the front page of Reddit.” Having seen my brother do the same thing recently, I know what a big deal that is. J

Will Eric be as witty and relaxed in an audio format instead of video? Probably. But let’s find out. With that, let’s welcome Eric Rosen to the show. Hello Eric!

Cover Stories with Chess Life #28: IM Vignesh Panchanatham

The July edition of “Cover Stories with Chess Life” is now live! This monthly podcast, now hosted by Chess Life and Chess Life Online Editor John Hartmann, goes in depth and behind the scenes of each month’s Chess Life cover story.

Our July episode features IM Vignesh Panchanatham, who wrote the lead elements in our extensive cover story on the Amateur Team Championships. We talk about his chess career, his journalistic impulses, and what he'd bake to win the Showstopper Challenge.

Cover Stories with Chess Life #27: GM Jesse Kraai

The June edition of “Cover Stories with Chess Life” is now live! This monthly podcast, now hosted by Chess Life and Chess Life Online Editor John Hartmann, goes in depth and behind the scenes of each month’s Chess Life cover story. This month’s guest is GM Jesse Kraai, who wrote the cover story on "Chess & Coronavirus" for our June issue.  While the main topic of discussion is chess in the age of COVID-19, we also talk about his book Lisa: A Chess Novel, his ideas on improvement, and his work with Chess Dojo. GM Kraai also recorded an audio version of his cover story, which can be heard in this video at our YouTube channel.

Congratulations to Mario García González who was the winner of the "Best Question" contest. Mario receives a $50 gift certificate from uscfsales.com for submitting his question. Keep an eye on US Chess social media at Facebook and Twitter for a chance to win next month, when we interview IM Vignesh Panchanatham for the July edition of "Cover Stories."  

Cover Stories with Chess Life #26: GM Francesco Rambaldi

The May edition of “Cover Stories with Chess Life” is now live! This monthly podcast, hosted by Senior Director of Strategic Communication Daniel Lucas, goes in depth and behind the scenes of each month’s Chess Life cover story. This month's guest is GM Francesco Rambaldi, who contributed annotations to our May Chess Life cover story on the Cairns Cup.  We talk to him about the Cairns Cup,  growing up playing chess in France and Italy, his current status as a member of the Saint Louis University chess team, and his new book, The Caro-Kann Revisited - A Dynamic Repertoire for Black.  

Don’t miss your chance at winning a $50 gift certificate to USCFSales.com! Send in your question to podcast@uschess.org, and if your question is selected as the Best Question, you will win the gift certificate.  Send in your questions now about anything involving Chess Life that strikes your fancy. Make sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or Spotify!

Cover Stories with Chess Life #25: Tom Beckman

The April edition of “Cover Stories with Chess Life” is now live! This monthly podcast, hosted by Senior Director of Strategic Communication Daniel Lucas, goes in depth and behind the scenes of each month’s Chess Life cover story. This month we talk to Tom Beckman, the impresario of the Eastern Open since 2009, who wrote our article on this perennial event. (Note: The authors of our cover story about chess on Grand Cayman Island were unavailable.) We talk to Tom about his time running the Eastern Open, how chess has enriched his life, his teaching philosophy, and why he considers himself as a "freak on openings."

Don’t miss your chance at winning a $50 gift certificate to USCFSales.com! Send in your question to podcast@uschess.org, and if your question is selected as the Best Question, you will win the gift certificate.  Send in your questions now about anything involving Chess Life that strikes your fancy. Make sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or Spotify!

Cover Stories with Chess Life #24: Menachem Wecker

The March edition of “Cover Stories with Chess Life” is now live! This monthly podcast, hosted by Senior Director of Strategic Communication Daniel Lucas, goes in depth and behind the scenes of each month’s Chess Life cover story. This month we talk to Menachem Walker, who wrote about chess and autism as part of our special issue on accessibility.

Wecker is not your typical chess writer; he is a freelance journalist who is a former (full-time) education reporter at U.S. News & World Report who covered arts and religion on a freelance basis for Houston Chronicle for nearly five years. His writing has appeared in Playboy, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Atlantic, Columbia Journalism Review, Chronicle of Higher Education, Art Newspaper, artnet, America, Religion News Service, Christian Science Monitor, National Catholic Reporter, Mosaic, Sojourners, Arab American News, Mormon Times, and others.

Don’t miss your chance at winning a $50 gift certificate to USCFSales.com! Send in your question to podcast@uschess.org, and if your question is selected as the Best Question, you will win the gift certificate. Next month’s cover story will be on chess in the Cayman Islands.  Send in your questions now about this topic or anything about Chess Life that strikes your fancy. Make sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or Spotify!

Cover Stories with Chess Life #23: GM Lev Alburt and Jon Crumiller

The February edition of “Cover Stories with Chess Life” is now live! This monthly podcast, hosted by Senior Director of Strategic Communication Daniel Lucas, goes in depth and behind the scenes of each month’s Chess Life cover story. This month we talk to GM Lev Alburt and Jon Crumiller about their cover story on the history of--and the possibility of bringing back--adjournments. Don’t miss your chance at winning a $50 gift certificate to USCFSales.com! Send in your question to podcast@uschess.org, and if your question is selected as the Best Question, you will win the gift certificate. Next month’s cover story will be on the topic Chess is for All and will cover chess and accessibility.  Send in your questions now about this topic or anything about Chess Life that strikes your fancy. Make sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or Spotify!