Chess Underground #38: Gopal Menon, "Chess Variants"

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https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/ev8cvk/Chess_Underground_-_Episode_38_May_2022awfg5.mp3

Season 4 of Chess Underground continues with Gopal Menon and host Pete Karagianis, who go deep into some of their favorite -- and least favorite -- chess variants.

Have you ever heard of "Secret Queen"? What happens when 36 pawns meet a chess set? How fast do you have to be to win a game of "Racing Kings"? What’s the best method to detonate a radius of squares?

Which of the many chess variants get the official seal of approval and which ones will be poo-pooed into the annals of obscurity? Check out the May episode of Chess Underground to find out!

Gopal Menon, based out of Chicago, Illinois, is a national master with a peak standard rating of 2394 and blitz rating of 2558. He has more than ten years of coaching experience and is the three-time coach of Illinois high school state champions Whitney Young. He has worked as the second for multiple grandmasters, and has worked for Nikola Mitkov since late 2014.

Follow Gopal on Twitter and read his LiChess blog.

"Chess Underground" is a monthly US Chess podcast hosted by US Chess Assistant Director of Events NM Pete Karagianis that explores eccentricities, peculiarities, and theoretical novelties.

Listen to the whole family of US Chess podcasts at https://new.uschess.org/podcasts or through the links below.