chessfeels: conversations about chess, psychology & mental health

The teacher (JJ) becomes the student when their coach (CM Vjekoslav Nemec, aka @Chessentials_) joins JJ and Julia to talk about the emotional highs and lows of playing competitively, particularly when one's identity is wrapped up with being a chess player. Then the coach (Vjeko) becomes the patient when their (unofficial) therapist (Julia) gets to the bottom of why their lows feel so low. Check out the Chessentials blogSee if Vjeko has blocked you on TwitterBuy our really good merchTell us you love us by following us on twitterShow us you love us by giving us some money

It's been a while! JJ and Julia check in to tell everyone where they've been and where we (you! and us!) are going next.  Buy our really good merchTell us you love us by following us on twitterShow us you love us by giving us some money

JJ and Julia return to a fan favorite topic: adhd. This time, instead of hyperfocusing on their personal experiences with adhd, they hyperfocus on adhd testing, diagnosing, and, of course, what your opening choices say about your neurodiversity. Listen to our original adhd episodeBuy our really good merchTell us you love us by following us on twitterShow us you love us by giving us some money

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JJ and Julia interview Maya Marlette, a student of JJ's with a really cool chess backstory and an even cooler day job. Buy our really good merchTell us you love us by following us on twitterShow us you love us by giving us some moneyListen to Maya's podcast, Twilight Phase

Julia and JJ switch hats now that JJ is cured. They discuss how to find and keep motivation for chess studying when time and energy are in short supply. Buy our really good merchTell us you love us by following us on twitterShow us you love us by giving us some money

Julia and JJ interview their old family friend, Isaac "Ike" Haxton. They catch up on Haxton's illustrious poker career, his less illustrious chess career, and everything in between. About Isaac: "Born in New York City, the young-looking 32-year-old Haxton (who bears a slight resemblance to Harry Potter) was raised in Syracuse by his psychiatrist mother and English professor father. His father introduced Haxton to various games of skill when Haxton was a young child. In fact, Haxton was playing chess at four years of age and, by age ten, was an avid and competitive Magic: The Gathering player.Haxton attended Brown University and majored in computer science. However, poker was far more appealing, and Haxton—like many successful pros—swapped college for poker. At the age of 18, Haxton began to visit Verona, New York's Turning Stone Casino. He started at $3/$6 limit Hold'Em before quickly increasing his stakes. At the same time, Haxton embraced online poker with his first $50 deposit on Ultimate Bet." sourceJJ is taking new students, if you're trynaBuy our really good merchTell us you love us by following us on twitterShow us you love us by giving us some money

A true festivus! (We have a lot of problems with you people!) We also miss you terribly. Today Julia and JJ explore the very depths of h3ll (US chess tournaments). 

We're back! Very proud. We respond to a number of questions from our dedicated fans, solving both chess and mental health in the process. Also, re audio quality, Julia didn't have her mic on her, which somehow meant that JJ's audio quality was worse. It will be better next time and we're going to start releasing episodes every two weeks.  Buy our really good merchTell us you love us by following us on twitterShow us you love us by giving us some money

You already know.Check out our recommended courses on chessableBuy our really good merchTell us you love us by following us on twitterShow us you love us by giving us some money

Happy one year anniversary of Julia and JJ starting a podcast! To celebrate, we dig deep into the archives and share the prodigal return of the "convince me" series. Listen as the dynamic duo discuss: Mittens, the dumbest rules in chess, chessboxing, human chess coaches, and whether you're underrated.Check out our recommended courses on chessableBuy our really good merchTell us you love us by following us on twitterShow us you love us by giving us some money

Julia and JJ talk about one of their favorite chess books, as well as what makes a good chess book and how to read a chess book.Check out our recommended courses on chessableBuy our really good merchTell us you love us by following us on twitterShow us you love us by giving us some money

Julia and JJ are joined by the most wholesome man in chess content creation. Try to keep up as the trio talks about everything from the evolution of John's career as an educator to his dating life to his teaching philosophy to his own pet openings. An example of JB-approved patience from one of JJ's recent gamesJohn Bartholomew's Chess Fundamentals seriesJohn Bartholomew's 1. d4 Repertoire on ChessableWhat John's reading now (Mutiny on the Bounty)Learn the Sicilian KanIn-vest in your chessJohn's recommendation for 2000-ish playersBuy our really good merchTell us you love us by following us on twitterShow us you love us by giving us some money

Julia and JJ are pleased to invite you to the first ever Stouffers' Masters' tournament, modeled off of the...idiosyncratic...Airthings Masters' double elimination format across multiple divisions. You can register here, but spots are limited, so make your application SHINE. You can bribe us for spots or beneficial pairings here.

Julia and JJ revisit an earlier conversation about the dangers of setting results-oriented goals, such as the 'annual rating goal' that plagues chess improvement circles every January. Then, Julia helps JJ set a ratings goal for the year in a way that avoids these traps.Check out our recommended courses on chessableBuy our really good merchTell us you love us by following us on twitterShow us you love us by giving us some money

See our full gift guide on JJs substackCheck out our recommended courses on chessableBuy our really good merchTell us you love us by following us on twitterShow us you love us by giving us some moneyBook lessons with JJ

Check out our recommended courses on chessableBuy our really good merchTell us you love us by following us on twitterShow us you love us by giving us some moneyBook lessons with JJ

Purchase Jennifer's book, Chess Queens!Check out our recommended courses on chessableBuy our really good merchTell us you love us by following us on twitterShow us you love us by giving us some moneyBook lessons with JJ

Subscribe to Nate's controversial and brave SubstackBuy Nate and Eugene's book on AmazonConsider buying other books, that aren't only available on Amazon, somewhere other than AmazonMaybe like bookshop.orgCheck out our recommended courses on chessableBuy our really good merchTell us you love us by following us on twitterShow us you love us by giving us some moneyBook lessons with JJ

Check out our recommended courses on chessableBuy our really good merchTell us you love us by following us on twitterShow us you love us by giving us some moneyBook lessons with JJ

JJ mentions the chess dojo training program which is really goodCheck out our recommended courses on chessableBuy our really good merchTell us you love us by following us on twitterShow us you love us by giving us some moneyBook lessons with JJThe Miami Temple Israel would like to remind listeners that they did not condone the message of Drake's music in his 're-bar-mitzvah' music video. 

Check out our recommended courses on chessableBuy our really good merchTell us you love us by following us on twitterShow us you love us by giving us some moneyBook lessons with JJ

Follow Chris on twitter and lichessJoin the lichess discord serverChris mentions the outrageous variants on pychess and visualization training on listudySee this page for the full list of extensions  People are still loving our Free Hans shirts Check out our recommended courses on chessableTell us you love us by following us on twitterShow us you love us by giving us some moneyBook lessons with JJ

Julia and JJ break down the philosophical questions and psychological implications of The Scandal, and make lots of jokes about anal beads in the process. Why does it matter that Magnus did not explicitly accuse Hans of cheating? What counts as evidence of cheating? Would the scandal be a scandal if You People didn't tweet so much? Free Hans shirtFree Magnus shirtI Think Hans Cheated shirtCheck out our recommended courses on chessableTell us you love us by following us on twitterShow us you love us by giving us some moneyBook lessons with JJ

What should we do when our love of chess and our exhaustion with competition come into conflict? Where does the desire to quit, rather than merely take a break, from playing competitive chess come from? Why do people think the options are 'keep improving' or 'quit playing'? Why are we like this?  Check out our recommended courses on chessableBuy our really good merchTell us you love us by following us on twitterShow us you love us by giving us some moneyBook lessons with JJ

After a week where chess twitter imploded under the weight of its users debating the value of giving unsolicited advice to other chess players, Julia and JJ decided to unsolicitedly tell everyone why they're using twitter wrong. They're joined by the legend Omar for a heartfelt discussion about how hard it is to hear the hard truth sometimes (stop playing bl*tz). While we take a break to get ready for season 2 of chessfeels (#2chess2feels), you canrep our merchstudy our fave chessable coursesbook lessons with JJdonate to the pod fund

Julia and JJ run a victory lap on a successful first season of podcasting by thanking their listeners (not you), giving candidates predictions (not Ding), and opening a to-be-continued discussion on neurodivergent learning styles. While we take a break to get ready for season 2 of chessfeels (#2chess2feels), you canrep our merchstudy our fave chessable coursesbook lessons with JJdonate to the pod fund

Julia's name twin joins the pod, and the trio talk about non-chess-players' perception of chess players, how perceptions of nerd culture, as well as nerd culture's attitude towards gender and queerness, have evolved over time. Then, JJ and DCCJ make omgjulia define chess concepts for their amusement. BUY OUR MERCH https://chessfeels-podcast.creator-spring.com/apparelFollow more Julias Rios here: https://twitter.com/omgjuliaListen to This Is Why We're Like This: https://www.juliarios.com/this-is-why-were-like-this/And the OMG Julia pod: https://www.juliarios.com/omg-julia-podcast/Check out our chessable launch page: https://go.chessable.com/chessfeels/And prep for JJ's white repertoire by purchasing @chessexplained's Keep It Simple 1 d4 https://www.chessable.com/keep-it-simple-1-d4/course/23396/ 

You may know him as the guy with the picture of the horse. You may know him as the organizer of the prestigious Mr Dodgy invitational. You may not know he works for Chessable. But you know him! But do you really know him? You will now. He is here to talk about how he uses and misuses the internet for his, and our, amusement. Follow Dodgy on twitter: https://twitter.com/ChessProblemSubscribe to his stack: https://mrdodgy.substack.com/JJ's queue is up to 6,439 moves on chessable. see what they're procrastinating on here: https://go.chessable.com/chessfeels/

Julia and JJ talk about time pressure, how stressful it is, how to avoid it, and whether it is possible to avoid being stressed out by it. JJ suggests that 'playing too fast' is an underrated cause of time trouble. Julia talks about how to do work away from the board that can help handle panic and pressure in low-time situations. They each share terrible jokes about time and clocks. 

Does playing the Fried Liver make you a bad person? Would chess be a better game if there were no draws? Is Chessable overrated? Julia and JJ discuss their listener's worst opinions. Brought to you by Chessable.

Julia and JJ talk about what short- and long-term goals can look like, and the types of mistakes most of us make when setting goals or making plans towards achieving them. They also announce their new partnership with Chessable, but neglect to talk about whether using chessable can help with goal-setting. Links:Levy Rozman's tweet on ceilings vs floors100 endgames you must know courseGeller - Bolbochan 1962, discussed after 13...Qb7 and 20. Rxd5 as examples of planning

Sam joins JJ and Julia to discuss her journey back into chess obsession and improvement after coming out as trans and finding a newfound desire to put her all into life. Julia provides feedback on Sam's tendency to collapse in endgames against higher-rated opponents and in high-pressure games. JJ discusses the importance of perspective and reflection when determining whether a tournament was a success, and how this can impact choosing which section to compete in.  tw: discussion of suicide Follow Sam on twitterUpvote Sam's photo so she overtakes Levy and Hikaru on reddit againSam Shankland's Classical Sicilian LTR on Chessable, which Sam describes as "pretty life-changing" 

JJ and Julia are joined by opening researcher and blitz badass NM Gopal Menon to dispel the myth that your opening preferences can tell us anything about your style of play or your personality more generally. Once this is out of the way, they turn to the more important question of which openings correspond to what sorts of sexual kinks and proclivities. This one is particularly NSFW. 

Julia and JJ address questions they've gotten from listeners about the phenomenon of "tilt," and after discussing various strategies for getting over or working through a tilted episode by finding ways to reignite your passion for chess, switch to the more general question of what to do when that passion just doesn't seem to be there at the moment. They discuss the pressure of feeling like being a chess obsessive means the fire 'should' always be there, and why episodes of disillusion can be defense mechanisms against fears of bad play. This one's kind of a bummer. We'll be happier next week, we promise. 

Fresh off an almost-good tournament, JJ recounts their experience of getting fixated on the possibility of a large rating gain, and how hard it was to re-focus on their chess once this happened. Julia expands on the pernicious effects of ratings-fixation. JJ suggests less results-orients ways to refocus measuring chess improvement and progress, and Julia provides advice for how to navigate ill-timed intrusive thoughts about rating-panic. 

JJ laments that many of their students describe clarifying, forcing, but ultimately simplifying moves as "aggressive." Julia explains how different understandings of, and types of, aggression can map onto chess in different ways. They then dunk on GM Reuben Fine's psychobabble from the 1950s about chess and psychology, and close on a conversation about how misconceptions of aggression within a game of chess can alienate marginalized groups of people within the chess space more generally. 

Fellow chess podcaster Jon Mackenzie joins JJ and Julia to discuss what he describes as his own ambivalence towards the game of chess. Why is it that chess differs from other sports fandoms in terms of its focus on improvement? What is it about chess that can inspire such unique emotional pitfalls? Could JJ and Julia beat the Chess Pit guys in a fight? 

JJ and Julia return to the question of how psychological factors can impact one's chess game after a frustrating tournament where JJ kept running into familiar problems. During a "therapy" session, Julia helps JJ unpack a number of questions that plagued them throughout the event: should we minimize social time with friends in order to be more rested for our games? Why do we sometimes get fixated on a single, unnecessary variation that costs us precious time on the clock? Is there anything we can do at the board to reset our nervous system when panic sets in? 

Julia explains why playing chess, particularly blitz, can be addicting. JJ shares the ways blitz has impacted their quality of life. Julia proposes interventions for your blitz-addicted loved ones. JJ and Julia question what mechanisms chess websites use to promote addictive behavior and explore how we could use blitz in a way that fosters chess, and life, improvement.

In the first half of the episode, Julia and JJ talk about why 'the psychology of chess' can't just mean 'getting the feelings out of the way,' and explore more fruitful ways to reframe discussions about emotions and feelings in chess. Then, we learn how JJ and Julia first met, how they each got into chess, and why Julia does not have imposter syndrome. Finally, our hosts introduce future themes such as addiction, impulse control, and the concept of the 'adult disprover' who loves chess but not necessarily chess improvement. 

chessfeels episode 1 drops March 15th. Beware the Ides of Julia's half-birthday! Leave us a five-star review and be entered into a drawing for a chance to win three free months of LiChess Premium.