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This week\u2019s 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\xa0 a Grandmaster. These days, Awonder is a student at University of Chicago and is more devoted to his studies than his chess. Nonetheless, Awonder\u2019s 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\xa0 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.\xa0\n0:00-\xa0 You can subscribe to my free newsletter here-\n\u201d https://benjohnson.substack.com\n\nThanks 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:\nhttps://www.chessable.com/pro/?utm_source=affiliate&utm_medium=benjohnson&utm_campaign=pro\nFind out more about the Create Your Own Course Contest here:\nhttps://t.co/wUQCi0gqaC\n\n\n0:03- 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?\n\n0:06- Did Awonder consider pursuing chess rather than university?\xa0\n\n0:08- Does Awonder prefer classical or online blitz?\n\n11:00- We discuss Awonder\u2019s Chicago Open performance\n\n15:00- How did Awonder prepare for the Summer Chess Classic, where he finished shared 2nd?\xa0\n\n19:00- Awonder\u2019s thoughts on the Chicago Open cheating scandal\xa0\n\n23:00- What makes Awonder so good at chess?\xa0\n\n33- What does it mean to have a good chess memory?\xa0\n\n36:00- Did Awonder read a lot of chess books?\xa0\n\n38:00- How does Awonder use engines?\xa0\n\n42:00- What is the story behind Awonder\u2019s famous 2022 Scotch Gambit win over GM Levon Aronian?\nMentioned: https://www.chess.com/events/2022-us-chess-championship/05/Liang_Awonder-Aronian_Levon\n45:00- What are Awonder\u2019s other favorite games of his?\xa0\nMentioned: Liang-Caruana 2022\n\n\n50:00- Awonder\u2019s summer plan\n\n52:00- Awonder\u2019s post graduation plans\n\xa0\n1:06:00- Awonder\u2019s favorite chess memories\xa0\n\n\n\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices