# #74. Alexander Koblenz: The Maestro (1/2) | The Essential Sosonko

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-in-chess-podcast-6749297/74-alexander-koblenz-the-maestro-1-2-the-essential-sosonko
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-in-chess-podcast-6749297/74-alexander-koblenz-the-maestro-1-2-the-essential-sosonko.md
Podcast: [New In Chess Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-in-chess-podcast-6749297)
Published: 2025-08-29T15:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://app.springcast.fm/19396/74-alexander-koblenz-the-maestro-the-essential-sosonko
Audio file: https://app.springcast.fm/download/175626/4ECEWC5Rp9Hj8arPVs6DZtSAbVuV6Kt5.mp3
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/new-in-chess-podcast-6749297/episodes/74-alexander-koblenz-the-maestro-1-2-the-essential-sosonko
Duration seconds: 1863

## Resource

This week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast features a narration from "The Essential Sosonko", a collection of chess portraits based on personal stories authored by chess grandmaster Genna Sosonko. The subject of this week's episode is Latvian chess master and trainer Alexander Koblenz. A four-time Latvian national champion, Alexander Koblenz (1916-1993) is best known as the coach of another, more famous Latvian: the eighth World Chess Champion, Mikhail Tal. Born into a prosperous Jewish family, Koblenz discovered at an early age that his profession would deviate from the well-trodden path laid out for him by his parents. At the age of nineteen, he began writing his first chess book, a hobby he would maintain for the rest of his life. There was also tremendous hardship: his mother and sister perished in World War II, and the annexation of Latvia by the Soviet Union brought its own set of challenges. Enjoy this week's episode of the New In Chess Podcast!

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/new-in-chess-podcast-6749297/episodes/74-alexander-koblenz-the-maestro-1-2-the-essential-sosonko/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-in-chess-podcast-6749297/74-alexander-koblenz-the-maestro-1-2-the-essential-sosonko.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.