EP 258- GM Matthew Sadler

This week’s guest on Perpetual Chess is 2 time British champion, and award winning author, GM Matthew Sadler.  Matthew has been one of Great Britain’s top players for decades and is currently ranked #41 in the world. He has impressively managed to maintain his form well into his 40s while working outside of chess. Matthew has also made quite a mark as an author. His books,Gamechanger and the adult improver focused, Chess for Life, both co-authored with WIM Natasha Regan, are both favorites of this podcast. You can hear us discuss these books in Episode 112. In Matthew’s new book, The Silicon Road to Chess Improvement, Matthew goes beyond just Alphazero and extracts lessons for humans from many of the other modern chess super engines. He is also the regular book reviewer for NIC magazine, and did game recaps of the 2021 FIDE World Championship with none other than GM Garry Kasparov! I am happy to report that Matthew was very generous with his time, so we managed to cover all of these areas of chess interest in our conversation. Timestamps and relevant links are below.  0:00- As a full time IT professional, author, New in Chess book reviewer, content creator and top player, how on earth does Matthew get so many things done?  04:45- What are some of Matthew’s favorite recent chess books? Mentioned: Winning by GM Nigel Short , The Creative Power of Boguljubov, The Unstoppable American  10:00- What did Matthew observe from Magnus’ play in the World Championship.  Mentioned: Silicon Road to Chess Improvement YouTube Channel, Chessbase India video with GM Peter Heine Nielsen, More Info on the TCEC- Top Engine Chess Championship, Games from the match here  24:00- What can club players learn from super engines?  Mentioned: Small Steps to Giant Improvement 31:00- Does Matthew see an engine footprint in GM Alireza Firouzja’s play? Mentioned: Erdos-Firouzja 2021, Acquisition of Chess Knowledge in Alpha Zero  36:00- Patreon mailbag question: “Did Alphazero’s opening acquisition trace the path of the evolution of chess?” 38:00