EP 274- Paul Hedrick (Adult Improver Series) with guest co-host Han Schut

The Perpetual Chess Adult Improver Series is back, but this time with a twist. We feature a senior guest who is “more interested in sustainment than improvement”, and we feature a guest co-host joining the conversation! Our guest, Paul Hedrick is a 56 year old literature and history teacher based in New Mexico. Paul enjoys listening to Perpetual Chess, but felt that older, less ambitious chess lovers like himself were underrepresented on the podcast. To help guide the conversation, I enlisted the help of Han Schut. Han is a Chess Steps trainer and Chessable Author and a frequent contributor to New in Chess magazine. In our conversation, we try to sort out questions such as: Why does Paul study chess daily if his goal is not to improve? How can one know if they should shift their goals from “Adult Improver” to “Senior Sustainer?” How should one supplement the curriculum of the Chess Steps method? Both Paul and Han offered great perspectives on the different roles chess study can play in ones life, so I hope you all enjoy the conversation as I did. More details below.  0:00- Interested in appearing or suggesting an adult Improver guest for Perpetual Chess? Please use this form so that I can potentially refer back to it later : Potential Adult Improver Guest  Han Schut’s Prior Appearance- (Episode 142, 2019) Book Review #25- Review and Discussion of the Mammoth Book of the World’s Greatest Chess Games  06:00- Why did Paul volunteer to come on the show?  Mentioned: Episode 272- Positional Puzzle Book Championship with Neal Bruce  11:00- What is Paul’s “why” for playing chess?  19:00- Paul discusses his chess routine Mentioned: Second Piatgorsky Cup 1966, Ken Smith,  30:00- Patreon mailbag question- Was there a moment where Paul decided to switch from “improver” to “sustainer” mode?  33:00- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Aimchess.com. Aimchess collects and analyzes your games and gives you actionable tips based on the data it gathers. If you choose to subscribe to Aimchess, please use the code Perpetual30 to save 30%.  35:00-  Patreon mailbag question How can one decide whether to focus on improvement or sustainment?  40:00- Patreon mailbag question: Does Paul prioritize studying things he sounds fun?  42:30- Patreon mailbag question: Does Paul think his study is helping him avoid blunders? 43:30- Han’s advice for mitigating blunders.  46:30- Han describes the Chess Steps method, which you can order here. 47:30- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Chessable.com, check out what is new from them here: New Chess Courses Online - For All Levels in all - Chessable.com 48:00-  Patreon mailbag question:  In the current chess climate, does one need to get better just to keep the same rating?    51:30-  The Chess dot bomb sponsored segment is brought to you by Chess.com! Paul and I discuss the Chess.com Explorer feature, which allows you to learn openings, study master games, your own archive, and to add them to a personal library.  If you decide to upgrade to a premium membership at Chess.com, you can help support the pod by signing up using this link (https://go.chess.com/Perpetual). 54:00- Patreon mailbag question: Does Han think there will be greater adoption of the Steps Method in the US? Mentioned: Episode 167 with IM Jop Delemarre, IM Cor van Wijgerden 1:01:00- Patreon mailbag question: Question for Han: What makes a good compliment to the Chess Steps series?  Mentioned: Lichess Database, Chess Structures by GM Mauricio Flores Rios, Lichess 4545 League 1:14:00- Thanks so much to Paul for joining us! And thanks to Han Schut for guest co-hosting and sharing his expertise! Here is the link for Han’s scheduled live Chess Steps presentation on YouTube: https://youtu.be/D7gfDpEiDks Saturday April 16 at 2 pm EST  Link to Dubov’s Explosive Italian: https://www.chessable.com/dubovs-explosive-italian/course/80152/ If you would like to join the Perpetual Chess Patreon community you can do so here:  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices