EP 479 – GM Rafael Leitão on Sindarov’s Historic Candidates Win, His Training Methods & What Comes Next

With the FIDE Candidates now in the rearview mirror, 7-time Brazilian Champion and Chess.com “Game of the Day” columnist GM Rafael Leitão joins me to help break it all down. We discuss: Sindarov’s incredible performance and the training methods that helped him ascend to the top Vaishali’s strong finish and her chances against Ju Wenjun Rafael’s take on opening trends, and which players might be most disappointed with their performance GM Leitão also shares his thoughts on the Judit Polgar documentary on Netflix, along with his story of getting to play Judit. Thanks to Rafael for sharing his insights. I’m excited to see the two new World Championship challengers fight for the title later this year. 00:00 Introduction to the Candidates Tournament 02:04 Training Methods and Classical Chess Education Mentioned: IM Roman Vidonyik interview with Charlize van Zyl 04:50 Expectations and Surprises in the Candidates 07:43 Analysis of Player Performances 10:56 Sindarov's Unique Play Style 13:51 Reflections on Historical Performances 16:54 Opening Trends in High-Level Chess 19:52 The Future of Chess Openings 30:09 Concurrent Tournaments: A New Perspective 31:41 Vaishali's Resilience and Performance 35:00 Sindarov vs. Gukesh: The Rising Stars Mentioned: Chess.com article touching on Sindarov’s trainer IM Roman Vidonyak Interviews with IM Roman Vidonyok: Chessbase India- FIDE- Chessbase article about the support Erdogmus receives: 38:40 Ambitious Goals: The Future of Sindarov 42:04 Support Systems in Chess: A Double-Edged Sword 44:20 The Candidates Tournament: Format and Future 48:01 Memorable Encounters: Rafael's Game with Judit Polgar Mentioned: Rafael’s YouTube video- 50:20 Analyzing Chess.com’s “Game of the Day”: Rafael's Approach Mentioned: Praggnandhaa vs. Rapport 2025- 54:15 The Future of Chess: New Generations and Trends 56:00- Thanks to GM Leitao for rejoining me! You can reach him via his website, and follow him via the following methods: Website: Youtube: Instagram: Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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EP 479 – GM Rafael Leitão on Sindarov’s Historic Candidates Win, His Training Methods & What Comes Next is an episode from Perpetual Chess Podcast by Perpetual Chess LLC .

This episode is 61:45 long.

This episode was published on Apr 20, 2026.

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