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b'17 year old GM Nicolas "Nico" Checa is one of the young stars of the American chess scene. He recently tied for first place in the 2019 National High School Chess Championship. With a 2617 USCF rating, he is #7 on the US Chess top 100 Under Age 21 List, and has beaten Fabiano Caruana in the Pro Chess League. On top of that, Nico is a regular 17 yr old, with other interests and activities competing for his time. In our interview Nico talks about how he finds time for everything, and shares a lot about his approach to chess and chess improvement. Read on for links and timestamps.\\n\\n0:00- Intro. We launch right into a discussion of how getting the GM title has changed Nico\\u2019s tournament selection and preparation.\\n\\nMentioned in this segment: GM Ruifeng Li, GM John Michael Burke, IM Advait Patel, IM \\xa0Praveen Balakrishnan\\n\\n8:00- As Nico finishes his junior year at Dobbs Ferry High School, he touches on his after-high school plans, and discusses the reasons that he and his family never felt that home schooling was the right choice for him.\\n\\n15:30- What \\u201cgaps in his play\\u201d did Nico need to plug in order to reach the strength to get the GM title?\\n\\nMentioned in this segment: IM Alexander Katz, GM Jacob Aagard\\n\\nGame: Checa-Katz 2018, 2019 Philadelphia International , 2019 US Junior Championship \\n\\n23:55- How did Nico discover and get so good at chess anyway?\\n\\nMentioned: Marshall Chess Club \\xa0Books: Chess Secrets: Giants of Power Play by Neil McDonald, \\xa0Learn from the Legends, Chess Champions at Their Best by GM Mikahil Marin,\\n\\nThe books of GM Jacob Aagard,Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations and Games \\n\\nGames: Checa-Smirin 2016, Fischer-Byrne 1956\\n\\n40:30- Who are Nico\\u2019s favorite chess players? Mentioned: Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Bobby Fischer, Botvinnk,\\n\\n44:30- Fast chess vs. slow chess we settle the debate once and for all!! Just kidding, but Nico weighs in and shares his ideas about the roles of classical chess and rapid chess in the chess world. Mentioned: IM Greg Shahade\\n\\n47:00- We discuss Nico\\u2019s interests outside of chess, including soccer and political science.\\xa0 Mentioned in this segment: GM Parham Maghsoodloo\\n\\n56:00- Goodbye! Keep up with Nico via Chess.com \\n\\nIf you would like to help support the podcast, you can do so here:\\n\\n\\n\\nSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices'