GM Pontus Carlsson is a Grandmaster, trainer, entrepreneur, and the founder of the non-profit Business Meets Chess & Kids. Pontus is always forthright and entertaining, and in his third visit to the podcast, we caught up on chess topics including:

The unique stress of being World Chess Champion, and Pontus’ thoughts on the upcoming match
Pontus’ advice for helping to remember openings
Will Pontus be following the Hans-Magnus speed chess championship match? What happened the first time Pontus encountered an 8 year old Magnus Carlsen (no relation) at a Scandinavian championship event?
The positives and negatives of the FIDE World Rapid & Blitz occurring in New York this year

We also discussed online chess cheating, the upcoming Olympiad, and an online chess charity event which Pontus will be organizing this weekend, called Chess 2 Change. This is a fun event for amateurs to play in, meet successful chess and business personalities, and is potentially life-changing for the young chess talents who participate in the event. GM Maurice Ashley will be broadcasting this year’s edition on August 25. As is often the case, we covered a wide range of chess stories, so you can check the show notes for timestamps of topics of interest.

Information for the Chess 2 Change event on August 25 is here:

https://businessmeetschessandkids.com/chess-to-change/

Pontus prior interviews:

Episode 29

Episode 101

02:00- We chat about rating deflation as Pontus reflects on a recent tournament in Bratislava

7:00- What is Pontus’ current day job?

10:00- Online chess cheating

14:00- The first time Pontus encountered an 8 year old Magnus Carlsen

18:00- The stress of being World Chess Champion

20:30- Pontus’ thoughts on the Ding-Gukesh match

24:00- The Olympiad