Top Chess Trainer and Author, GM R.B. Ramesh on Praggnanandhaa, Anand, + Lots of Improvement Advice

This week on Perpetual Chess we talk about chess improvement with one of the premier chess trainers in the world! GM R.B. Ramesh has worked with many of India’s top players including GMs Vidit Gujirathi, Harikrishna and Adhiban. I caught up with Ramesh on the night before he would commence a training camp with one of India’s Olimpiad teams. This team included Ramesh’s star student, GM Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, who is one of the top junior players in the world and recently made headlines by defeating Magnus Carlsen. GM Ramesh is an author, including of the excellent new book, Improve Your Chess Calculation. In our conversation, we discussed Chess in India as it prepares to host the Olimpiad, the keys to Praggnanandhaa’s success, plus Ramesh answers many listener questions related to chess improvement. There is always so much to learn from GM Ramesh, and this conversation is no exception!
0:00- GM Ramesh joined me shortly before starting a training camp for one of India’s Olimpiad teams. How does he prepare materials for these phenoms?
Mentioned: GM Praggnanandhaa, GM Vidit Gujirathi, GM Harikrishna, GM Gukesh, GM Anand, GM Nihail Sarin
08:00- What was it like to work with GM Praggnanandhaa as a younger chess student?
Mentioned: Smyslov-Rubinetti 1980, Think Like a Grandmaster by GM Alexander Kotov
14:00- GM Ramesh has written that training should be more challenging than competing OTB. Is this approach feasible for adult improvers?
16:30- Ramesh shares visualization advice for adult improvers.
23:00- Patreon mailbag question- “At what rating is it appropriate to begin training with blindfold puzzles?”
Mentioned: Visualize series on Chessable
30:00- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Aimchess.com. Aimchess’ algorithm reviews your games and gives you actionable advice on how to improve your game. Check it out for free and if you choose to subscribe you can use the code Perpetual30 to save 30%.
Or use this link for the same discount:
aimchess.com/try?ref=benjohns...
31:30- GM Ramesh considers Anand a personal hero and now knows him personally, Is he surprised by GM Anand’s success at 2022 Norway Chess?
39:00- How did Ramesh react the first time GM Praggnanandhaa beat GM Magnus Carlsen?
43:00- Patreon mailbag question- “Will Ramesh do a Chessable course? How many books will be in his series?”
45:30- Patreon mailbag question- “What is Ramesh’s advice for handling tough losses?”
52:00- Patreon mailbag question: “What are some common calculation mistakes that even GMs make?”
55:00- Patreon mailbag question: “What can we learn from the success of another of Ramesh’s students, WGM Divya Deshmukh?
57:30- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Chessable.com. You can find the free “Endgame Strategy” Lesson from GM Sam Shankland here:
www.chessable.com/course/115673
59:30- Are chess players as a whole getting better at calculation?
Mentioned: Free excerpt of Ramesh’s book here.
Mentioned: GM John Nunn’s Secrets of Practical Chess
1:07:00- How does Ramesh define “the drawback principle”?
1:10:00- What advice can Ramesh share for knowing when to stop calculating within a variation?
1:14:00- Patreon mailbag question: “What does Ramesh observe from Firouzja’s phenomenal success? Does he have any Candidates predictions?”
1:17:00- Patreon mailbag question: “Does Ramesh have an opinion on the fact that Indian players can no longer compete in the British Championship” (which Ramesh won in 2002)?
1:19:00- With the Chess Olimpiad set to take place in Chennai in July, Ramesh shares his thoughts on the explosion of chess in India.
1:24:00- In our last interview, Ramesh gave a ton of book recommendations. Is he keeping up with new chess books?
Mentioned: Judit Polgar’s Quality Chess Series, New in Chess Books, Quality Chess Books, Thinker’s Publishing
1:28:00- Thanks so much to Ramesh for sharing some of his chess expertise. Here are links for ways to keep up with him:
Improve Your Chess Calculation
ProChessTraining.com
Twitter

[@ShaShaSha534]

This is an amazing podcast- thank you so much for doing these!

[@DevvratSingh007]

You and your podcast, Sir, are the definition of underrated. Love the podcast! I still feel that even till expert level, there is an inordinate quantum of focus given to tactical pattern recognition (as opposed to improving positional understanding). Which makes the rise of chess in India all the more impressive.

[@perpetualchesspodcast9143]

Thanks! Yes, the number of strong players coming from India is stunning.

[@Kubooxooki]

So much good advice and encouragement on this episode. Thanks so much, Ben & GM Ramesh.

[@mahimagoswami5554]

Thank you so much sir God bless you amd your family. For good suggetion

[@lastsonofkrypton3918]

I love that philosophy regarding 'weaknesses'. Just like with weightlifting....It's not that your weakness is a permanent quality of you, you just need training! 👊

[@martinpaddle]

great and insightful interview. One thing regarding blindfold chess: the main motivation for practicing this for me was to be able to read chess books in bed or on the train, without having a board in front of me (or an app). Just being able to "sightread" a game of chess from notation can be very valuable and save time when studying.

[@zwebzz9685]

RB Ramesh is one of my favorite instructors. I have done 1 month of Pro Chess Training and it was a good experience with lessons from Surya Ganguly, Rustam, and several other super strong GMs. I plan to enroll again when I have more free time to attend all the lessons.

[@klacsanzky77]

I have listened to dozens of episodes from Perpetual chess podcast, and GM R.B. Ramesh gives some of the best improving ideas I have heard. I think this highlights that having more chess coaches on the podcast could be beneficial especially if they are willing to share their training methods without holding back.

[@perpetualchesspodcast9143]

Thanks! Roger on more trainers, although GM Ramesh is a special guy!

[@anantpanwar7692]

It's amazing 👏, the best podcast I ever heard ❤️ 🙌 💙.

[@SLKCHESS]

Nice podcast

[@juddsadac7204]

i'm a filipino but i think that because of India's many young and strong grandmasters, it's the new Soviet school of chess....led by the great Vishy Anand my idol...

[@hagnuj1070]

Kramnik trains young Indian players also.

[@billb4709]

Love all your episodes, Ben. GM R.B. Ramesh's comments were very interesting to me, especially his statement that young players shouldn't brand themselves as either attacking or positional players. If only Ginger GM Simon Williams (still an attacker in his forties) and Tigran Petrosian (the former world champion and Mr. Position) had had the opportunity to hear this advice when they were young. But, then, we might not have had Mikhail Tal. :-)

[@hagnuj1070]

When did Petrosian label himself a certain type of player. Ramesh learned from former world champions🤔

[@mitchellcastillo646]

Can you ask Ramesh if he will make his new book into a chessable course