#3 Ché Martin

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In this episode of Ono Another Chess Podcast, Ono (⁠@TheOnoZone⁠) talks to his friend and student Ché Martin about playing chess when you're blind, blindfold chess, visualisation exercises + overcoming your ego for chess improvement.

Ché is an Emmy award winning Visual Effects artist who went blind in adulthood and has a unique perspective on chess improvement.

  • [1:23] Why Ché thinks chess is similar to music + sex
  • [2:19] Ché's story of going blind + coming into chess (+ how The Queen's Gambit book ruined audio books for him)
  • [5:48] How to play chess when you're blind
  • [9:09] Ché's experiences in the chess scene in his small town
  • [12:57] Losing - and how Ché + Ono throw chessboards across the room (jk)
  • [15:35] Why Ché care more about playing humans vs bots online (ego + pain)
  • [20:24] Chess improvement = confronting yourself with your weaknesses
  • [23:52] Why Ché tanked his rating on purpose during the Lichess 4545
  • [25:40] Ché + Ono answer: "Have you changed as a person because of chess?"
  • [28:45] Why Ché thinks it's better to solve puzzles OTB vs online (+ Ché's outstanding calculation abilities)
  • [33:52] The difference between reading books to finish them + reading books to actually learn
  • [37:39] What Blind Chess Superpowers does Ché have?
  • [40:31] What does Ché see inside his head when he visualises? (visualisation for blind + sighted people)
  • [44:55] Ono's experience with blindfold chess
  • [46:15] Ché's Visualisation Tips for Adult Improvers
  • [48:20] How your random chess skills can become comfort zones + hold you back (rook endgames)
  • [52:48] Ché's + Ono's views on Chess Improvement (books vs skills)
  • [56:11] Self-directed learning (for kids + Adult Improvers)
  • [58:17] What Ono taught Ché about annotating his thought process (+ why that's helpful)
  • [1:01:02] Why Ché likes to Get. Away. From. The. Board.

You're invited to the Zoom Hangout with Fionn O'Donovan

Ono + Fionn + you

Friday, January 5th

19:00 UTC

Dive deeper into the topics discussed on Ono Another Chess Podcast + TheOnoZone Blog.

Connect with other Adult Improvers like you + meet Fionn live!

Join the Zoom Hangout*

*It's free! Sign up for the 7-day trial on Patreon

More info

Follow Ché

The Dark Squares Online Chess Club

for blind chess players:

contact Ché at ⁠blindadrenaline@gmail.com⁠

Ché's Website ⁠www.blindadrenaline.com

Make sure to follow Ono Another Chess Podcast on your favourite podcast app + please give us a 5-star rating if you like it.

Thanks for listening to season 1!

Many Thanks

To ⁠TheOnoZone Patrons⁠ who made the production of this podcast episode possible:

Marcus Buffett + Dan Bock + Jose C + Dawn Lawson + Glen G + Mikey Wells + Michael Shpizner + Michael G + Karen W + Gregory C + BowiE + Yara V + Stefan K + Ché Martin + Andrew M + Ben Johnson

Thanks also to my wife Yara for being the other half of TheOnoZone, Ché Martin for creating the legendary intro as well as being a great guest to interview, and Zach Shpizner for applying his audio engineering skills to this episode.


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