About this episode

The episode features a flashback conversation with Tatev Abrahmamyan discussing her journey in balancing a full-time job with her chess career and the challenges she faced.

I talked to Tatev Abrahmamyan back in April of 2022 episode 41. This conversation was fascinating as she was trying to juggle the realities of having a full time job and trying to be a chess professional. She expressed many doubts about she recent progress and trying to find time for chess improvement. In August of 2025, Tatev broke through with an amazing tournament scoring a GM norm and crossing 2400 to reach the IM title. In this snippet of our conversation Tatev talked about the value of coaches and coaching, and the challenges of finding the right person for you. We discussed the challenge of staying motivated to work on chess, and the challenges of staying sharp and doing the work while having a full time job. Chessbook: chessbook.com/?ref=kevin Chessiverse Code: DrSCULL20 Check out my new Substack: https://substack.com/@drscull My Chessable Course! https://www.chessable.com/chess-journeys-tactics-workbook-turning-knowledge-into-skill/course/268850/ Chessnut Link/Code: Code - KEVINSCULL https://www.chessnutech.com?sca_ref=7643464.HueBIKWTYE Get 20% off GM Noël Studer's courses with Coupon chessjourneys20 The Simplified Chess Improvement System…

People in this episode

Host: Dr. Kevin Scull

Guest: Tatev Abrahmamyan

Topics covered

• chess improvement
• balancing work and chess
• coaching in chess
• motivation in chess
• tournament success

Keywords

• chess
• IM title
• coaching
• motivation
• tournament
• adult improvement
• chess professional

Sponsors

Chessiverse, Chessable, Chessnut, Next Level Chess, GM Noël Studer

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: chessbook.com, Chessiverse, Chessable, Chessnut, Next Level Chess, YouTube, Chess Journeys Merch Store

More episodes of Chess Journeys: Tales of Adult Improvement

• Ep. 281 Diego (1700 USCF) · July 16, 2026 · 1h 22m
• Ep. 280 Bonus Episode: Pacific Southwest Open Tournament Recap · July 13, 2026 · 27 min
• Ep. 279 Luca Returns (2000 USCF) · July 9, 2026 · 1h 7m
• Ep. 277 Kirsten (1400 Chesscom) · July 2, 2026 · 54 min
• Ep. 276 Bonus Episode: Senior Open 2026 Tournament Recap · June 29, 2026 · 28 min
• Ep. 275 Gene (1800 USCF) · June 25, 2026 · 1h 4m

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