Show notes
GM Mauricio Flores Rios' first book, Chess Structures, is a modern classic which is seemingly recommended on a weekly basis on Perpetual Chess. After nine years of work, Mauricio has recently released its follow-up, Chess Imbalances: A GM Guide. Like Chess Structures, it is a highly instructive book with a beautiful selection of games and useful guidelines to aid one's chess decision-making. We discussed the following: His opinion on the value of the bishop pair, as well as bishop vs. knight The surprising reason that his book often featured the games of Magnus Carlsen When to switch from “objective mode” to “survival mode” in a game We also discussed freestyle chess, and the impact of machine learning on chess. Mauricio is a statistician by trade, who recently launched a chess instruction site called ChessMind A.I., so he was particularly insightful on this topic. There is always lots to learn from chatting with (and reading) GM Rios, and this conversation was quite informative. Timestamps of topics discussed are below.Prior interview with Mauricio- Episode 109:https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/new-blog/2019/1/15/episode-109-gm-mauricio-floresHere is the video companion to this interview, be sure to sub to the Perpetual Chess YouTube Channel! https://youtu.be/rmjcbwv7BtQChessmood.com/BenCheck out the YouTube video with Mauricio showing me games from Chess Imbalances here:4:30- Mauricio joins the show! We dive right into discussing the vision behind GM Flores Rios’ much anticipated book, Chess Imbalances. Mentioned : Free preview of the book from Quality Chess here:https://qualitychess.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Chess-Imbalances-070x-Excerpt.pdf17:00- Will Chess Imbalances be on Chessable? 28:00- 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=proAnd you can check out their new offerings here:https://www.chessable.com/courses/all/new/Mentioned: The Seven Deadly Chess Sins, Learn from the Legends Mentioned: Chessmind AI Mentioned: GM Kenneth Rogoff interview with NM Tyler Cowen:https://conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/kenneth-rogoff/Thanks to Mauricio for joining me! You can reach him via email at:Mauricio.a.flores.math at gmail dot comHere is the link for Chess Imbalances: A GM Guide, including a free sample:https://www.newinchess.com/chess-imbalancesIf you would like to join the Perpetual Chess Patreon community, you can do so here:https://www.patreon.com/c/perpetualchess Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
