Perpetual Chess Podcast

Dr. Joel Sneed is a professor, a practicing clinical psychologist and a highly-regarded chess author. And despite a busy professional and family life, Joel has achieved the rare feat of reaching a  2000+ USCF after starting tournament chess in his 30s. But, like many of us, Joel struggles to moderate his relationship with chess. He has long held a goal of reaching USCF Master, and puts a lot of pressure on himself to make it happen quickly. This has led to a repetitive cycle of despondency and quitting, followed by resuming chess, with renewed hopes of tackling his goals. In our conversation, we speak candidly about how Joel can derive more enjoyment from chess, and about what he would advise himself if he were his own patient. Joel also touches on how to manage anxiety around tournament chess, our thoughts on IM Levy Rozman’s GM-title pursuit,  and the lessons Joel learned from working with legendary Grandmaster (and co-author, GM Boris Gulko.). This was a fascinating conversation that I think will resonate