chessfeels: conversations about chess, psychology & mental health

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

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

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 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 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.

What do chess teaching and practicing therapy have in common? It sounds like a joke, and probably is, but you'll have to listen if you want to find out the actual answer.

In the first podcast to ever feature two of the four highest rated chess players in the state of Nebraska, Omaha-based FM Nate Solon joins Julia and JJ to talk about how he studies openings and why that makes him better than other people. He also talks about his new book, "Evaluate like a GM," co-authored with GM Eugene Perelshteyn, and why 'evaluation' is an undervalued art in chess study.

Julia and JJ continue their conversation about how anxiety can impact your chess. They talk about how to notice when your thoughts turn from 'observational' to more 'reactive' or 'evaluative,' and how annotating your own (slow) chess games can be a great way to practice these observational skills.