Book Recap #24- Discussing GM Jan Markos' Under the Surface with NM Gopal Menon and Matt Fletcher

Chess Books Recaptured returns to discuss a relatively recent book that is quickly being recognized as a modern classic, GM Jan Markos’ Under the Surface. Jan’s book is a philosophical look at the beauty of chess, as demonstrated by many original concepts and chess metaphors. The chess examples are intermediate to advanced levels, but the book contains lessons that are applicable to all players. I am joined by 2 guest co-hosts this month, both of whom are also chess bibliophiles and particular fans of this book. NM Gopal Menon is a Chicago-based chess trainer, and a blitz and opening specialist with a peak online blitz rating over 2900. Matt Fletcher is a UK based actuary, dad, and strong club player who frequently competes OTB in his local chess leagues. It was tons of fun to discuss an amazing book with two fellow hardcore chess fans! As always, more details, timestamps and relevant links can be found below. 

0:00- 

Why do we love this book? 

Mentioned: Gopal Menon’s post of his favorite chess books, Seven Deadly Chess Sins by GM Jonathan Rowson, Episode 239 with GM Jan Markos, Available on Forward Chess,  The Secret Ingredient by GM Jan Markos and GM David Navara 

12:15- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Chessable.com. You can check out their latest offerings here: 

New Chess Courses Online - For All Levels- Chessable.com

13:00- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Better Help. You can see some online reviews here, and if you sign up, use this link to save 10%: https://www.betterhelp.com/chess

14:30- We select our favorite aspects of the book. 

Mentioned: Correspondence GM Tansel Turgut, Imagination in Chess, Pump Up Your Rating by GM Axel Smith 

37:00- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Aimchess.com. Aimchess collects and analyzes your games and gives you actionable tips based on the data it gathers. Check the site out, and if you choose to subscribe, please use the code Perpetual30 to save 30%. 

38:00- We discuss more of our favorite segments, including the author’s unique insights about openings and another favorite metaphor from the book. 

Mentioned: The London System, Stonewall Dutch, Follow Gopal’s Lichess blog here, GM Alex Shabalov. Check out the Stockfish Leela Zero game Matt mentioned here

52:00- We summarize GM Markos’ chess improvement advice and catch up a bit on Gopal’s book project and Matt’s chess. 

57:00- Coming next month! Neal Bruce returns to the podcast to compare 8 different chess strategy puzzle books, and Chrisopher Chabris will join me to discuss the book The Mammoth Book of Chess. 

58:00- Thanks to Gopal and Matt for joining me to discuss this great book, here are the links to keep up with them:

Matt’s Twitter

Gopal’s Twitter

Gopal’s Lichess Blog

If you are looking for chess instruction in Chicago, check out Gopal’s organization, Dynamic Chess: https://dynamicchessinc.com/

Dynamic Chess 

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