About this episode

NM Han Schut discusses GM Jan Timman's legacy, chess improvement strategies, and the use of LLMs in creating chess tools.

This week’s returning guest is NM Han Schut. Han is a former corporate executive turned Chessable author and trainer, known for his expertise in the Chess Steps Method and chess technology. Han joins me to reflect on the legacy of his fellow Dutchman, GM Jan Timman, who recently passed away. He shares personal anecdotes and discusses Timman’s impact as a world-class competitor, prolific author, and cultural icon in the Netherlands. We also explore a fascinating recent project: Han built a custom chess database with the help of the LLM Claude, which handled all of the coding. He explains how players can use LLMs effectively for chess study and recommends other powerful digital tools. Finally, Han offers evergreen advice on rest, mindset, and accurately assessing your own chess performance. As always, I came away inspired by Han’s wide-ranging knowledge and practical approach to chess. Thanks to our sponsors, Chessable.com! Check out Han Schut's courses here: ⁠https://www.chessable.com/author/HanSchut/⁠ 00:00 Remembering Grandmaster Jan Timman Mentioned: Read Peter Doggers’ obituary here: https://www.chess.com/news/view/jan-timman-obituary Timman-Ribli 1978…

People in this episode

Host: Ben Johnson

Guest: Han Schut

Topics covered

• chess improvement
• Jan Timman's legacy
• LLMs in chess
• chess technology
• mindset in chess

Keywords

• chess
• Jan Timman
• Han Schut
• LLM
• Chessable
• chess technology
• chess database
• mindset
• performance assessment

Sponsors

Chessable

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Claude, Lichess, Chess.com

Books & works: Peter Doggers’ obituary

More episodes of Perpetual Chess Podcast

• EP 479 – GM Rafael Leitão on Sindarov’s Historic Candidates Win, His Training Methods & What Comes Next · April 20, 2026 · 1h 2m
• EP 478 – GM Ben Finegold on the Candidates, the Hans–Magnus Netflix Documentary, and TakeTakeTake’s Bold Business Move · April 13, 2026 · 55 min
• EP 477- Jennifer Shahade on Cheating, AI, and Thinking Like a Chess Player · April 7, 2026 · 60 min
• Bonus Pod: Sindarov’s Historic Start + Inside the FIDE Candidates with Mike Klein · April 6, 2026 · 34 min
• EP 476-Vlad Ghita: Is the Rating System Still Broken? A Data-Driven Investigation · March 31, 2026 · 1h 2m
• Book Recap #38- Silman’s Chess Odyssey + Stories from a Former Student with Gaurav Datta · March 24, 2026 · 1h 22m

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Perpetual Chess Podcast podcast page.