EP 388- GM Awonder Liang on What Led to His Record-Breaking Chess Success, & Transitioning to Life as a University Student

This week’s guest is 21-year old former youth champion, GM Awonder Liang. As a scholastic player, Awonder broke many records including becoming the youngest US player to reach a rating of 2000 (USCF), the youngest to beat an International Master, as well the youngest to beat a Grandmaster. These days, Awonder is a student at University of Chicago and is more devoted to his studies than his chess. Nonetheless, Awonder’s love for the game is evident, and he recently played in two strong tournaments even though he did not prepare as rigorously as he once would have. In our conversation, Awonder was able to contextualize his remarkable chess success and discuss both what made him great, and what may have led to contemporaries of his like GM Alireza Firouzja and Arjun Erigaisi surpassing him in rating ( for now at least.) It was fun to hear Awonder reflect on his career as if he were an old man, and I look forward to seeing how his bright future unfolds. 0:00- You can subscribe to my free newsletter here- ” https://benjohnson.substack.com

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0:03- Awonder joins the pod! Awonder has mostly been taking a break from chess while at the University of Chicago. How did it feel to play two high level tournaments recently?

0:06- Did Awonder consider pursuing chess rather than university?

0:08- Does Awonder prefer classical or online blitz?

11:00- We discuss Awonder’s Chicago Open performance

15:00- How did Awonder prepare for the Summer Chess Classic, where he finished shared 2nd?

19:00- Awonder’s thoughts on the Chicago Open cheating scandal

23:00- What makes Awonder so good at chess?

33- What does it mean to have a good chess memory?

36:00- Did Awonder read a lot of chess books?

38:00- How does Awonder use engines?

42:00- What is the story behind Awonder’s famous 2022 Scotch Gambit win over GM Levon Aronian? Mentioned: https://www.chess.com/events/2022-us-chess-championship/05/Liang_Awonder-Aronian_Levon 45:00- What are Awonder’s other favorite games of his? Mentioned: Liang-Caruana 2022

50:00- Awonder’s summer plan

52:00- Awonder’s post graduation plans 1:06:00- Awonder’s favorite chess memories

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