EP 419- Dr. Joel Sneed on Quitting, Unquitting & Tilting- Why Even an Accomplished Psychologist & Author Struggles to Manage his Relationship with Chess

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 with many of you. Timestamps of topics discussed are below. 

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0:02- What has been driving Joel’s repeated decisions to quit (then unquit) chess? 

Check out his USCF history here::

https://www.uschess.org/msa/MbrDtlMain.php?13103922

0:13- Joel tells a story of a frustrating recent experience where he struggled to remember an opening line. 

Mentioned: Episode 400  with NM Matt Gross, Episode 169 with Terry Chapman, Chess for Life by WIM Natash Regan and GM Matthew Sadler 

26:00 What is “acceptance commitment therapy?” 

Mentioned: Online value sorting tool:

https://meetingpointcounseling.com/tools/ACT-card-sort/

4 Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman 

35:00- How can Joel realign his goals to make chess more enjoyable? 

44:00- We discuss IM Levy Rozman’s GM title pursuit.

Mentioned: GM Arturs Nieksans, Erik Erikson’s 8 Stages of Life 

50:00- What did Joel learn from working with legendary GM Boris Gulko?

Mentioned: Lessons with a Grandmaster, GM Hans Niemann’s video for IM Levy Rozman

https://youtu.be/1p7rbQ723mQ?si=tok_0IZEBpsrLvtI

1:00:00- Patreon mailbag question: What is Joel’s advice for dealing with pre-tournament anxiety? 

Mentioned: Episode 309 with Dr. Joel Sneed

1:09:00- Thanks to Dr. Sneed for joining me, you can check out his books with GM Boris Gulko here:

https://www.amazon.com/Books-Joel-Sneed/s?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3AJoel%2BSneed

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