Dr. Benjamin Portheault on Chess Psychology: Overcoming Mental Blocks, Pressure & Self-Doubt
Dr. Can's Chess Clinic
3,371 views
Benji's website: https://mindcreaser.com/
Benji's substack: https://mindcreaser.substack.com/
Benji's course 'Mindfulness for the Tournament Player': https://mindfulness-for-the-tournamen...
Follow Benji: https://bsky.app/profile/benjiporthea...
His piece on discipline: https://mindcreaser.substack.com/p/di...
Under the Surface: https://amzn.to/4hnw7EU
Life and Games of Mikhail Tal: https://amzn.to/42r4c2O
The Seven Deadly Chess Sins: https://amzn.to/4joJzu3
Think Like a Super-GM: https://amzn.to/3E59kPU
Benji later recommended the books by Wojciech Moranda.
🔵 My Chessable Courses: https://chessable.com/drcan
♟️ Find me on Chess.com: DrCanChess
♟️ Find me on Lichess: cantosh
🏆 2022 Chessable Community Author of the Year! https://www.chessable.com/blog/announ...
🏆 2023 Chessable Best Tactics Course of the Year! https://www.chessable.com/fundamental...
Connect on https://bsky.app/profile/drcanchess.b...
Connect on Twitter: DrCanChess
Go Chessable Pro using this link to support the channel: https://chessable.com/drcanpro
00:00 Intro
12:03 Pressure
14:37 Alan Watts' Fantasy
17:53 Meditation
21:04 Playing the Position in Front of You
27:01 Toxic Self-Talk
30:24 Rating Anxiety
33:42 Confidence and Self-Efficacy
41:23 Handling Losses
45:21 Pain = Suffering x Resistance
52:35 Time Trouble
55:07 Giving up Control
58:00 Self-Adopted Identities
1:00:28 Beauty in Complexity
1:03:46 Preserving the Love for the Game
1:15:31 Pre-Game Rituals
Benji Portheault, a seasoned performance coach with experience working with chess players of all levels, including super grandmasters, joined the podcast to discuss the mental aspects of chess. Throughout the conversation, he explored topics such as meditation, dealing with tilt, tournament preparation, and the psychology of chess success. Benji gave insights into how identity, confidence, and mindset play crucial roles in a player's performance. His approach combines modern psychology with meditation techniques to help players build resilience and manage the stress of competition effectively.
A major focus of the discussion was on managing emotions during games, particularly in high-pressure situations. Benji explained the importance of developing self-awareness, identifying negative thought patterns, and learning how to reset mentally after mistakes. He introduced techniques such as open monitoring meditation and mental reframing to help players regain focus and prevent one mistake from snowballing into further blunders. He also emphasized the need for practical routines before and during games, including recognizing the feeling of playing well and recalling past successful experiences to build confidence.
The conversation also touched on broader topics like rating anxiety, tournament nerves, and the importance of maintaining a love for the game. Benji encouraged players to cultivate a healthy relationship with chess, understanding that improvement requires embracing both wins and losses as learning experiences. He highlighted how professionals and amateurs alike struggle with the psychological challenges of competition, making mental training just as crucial as tactical and strategic preparation.
20 Comments
I remembered when I use to study fun gambits and playing them for fun, not to win. I enjoyed those days. Now, it's not longer fun. I find myself getting angry at the game and contemplating quiting.
Life is too short for a hobby you don't enjoy. This is gold. Also self efficacy. Chess sometimes creates a dissonance between the story of successes I have had in other sports. Is challenging af. I remember in the group lessons what has happened to some of the guys. Chess should have a warning "High in Frustration".
This podcast is gold. Thanks for this Can.
I have a longstanding interest in meditation, and use acceptance techniques (Acceptance Committment Therapy, is one version) with clients. I've found them to be very effective with obsessive thinking and anxiety, even panic attacks. Using them myself with my chess has been another thing entirely. After a hard loss, I've found it difficult to disidentify with the thoughts and feelings that come. That's not the fault of the techniques, just that to fully implement, at least in the beginning, a coach or therapist will be very helpful.
Thanks to both Dr. Can and Dr. Benjamin for a fascinating discussion.
Good episode, I feel like giving silly names to the toxic stories does help me a bit to detach from them.
In general no one sets any expectations for adult beginners as I often hear: you started very late so you 100% won't get any title, so what's the point, leave it to kids as serious sport and as for hobby it will take you years to be just average, decades to be good.
But guess what: the "pretending" thing works, I thought I'm gone in the head when I came up with this, so good to know it's a legit method 🙂
Dr. Benjamin Portheault on Chess Psychology: Overcoming Mental Blocks, Pressure & Self-Doubt
Dr. Can's Chess Clinic
3,371 views
Benji's website: https://mindcreaser.com/
Benji's substack: https://mindcreaser.substack.com/
Benji's course 'Mindfulness for the Tournament Player': https://mindfulness-for-the-tournamen...
Follow Benji: https://bsky.app/profile/benjiporthea...
His piece on discipline: https://mindcreaser.substack.com/p/di...
Under the Surface: https://amzn.to/4hnw7EU
Life and Games of Mikhail Tal: https://amzn.to/42r4c2O
The Seven Deadly Chess Sins: https://amzn.to/4joJzu3
Think Like a Super-GM: https://amzn.to/3E59kPU
Benji later recommended the books by Wojciech Moranda.
🔵 My Chessable Courses: https://chessable.com/drcan
♟️ Find me on Chess.com: DrCanChess
♟️ Find me on Lichess: cantosh
🏆 2022 Chessable Community Author of the Year! https://www.chessable.com/blog/announ...
🏆 2023 Chessable Best Tactics Course of the Year! https://www.chessable.com/fundamental...
Connect on https://bsky.app/profile/drcanchess.b...
Connect on Twitter: DrCanChess
Go Chessable Pro using this link to support the channel: https://chessable.com/drcanpro
00:00 Intro
12:03 Pressure
14:37 Alan Watts' Fantasy
17:53 Meditation
21:04 Playing the Position in Front of You
27:01 Toxic Self-Talk
30:24 Rating Anxiety
33:42 Confidence and Self-Efficacy
41:23 Handling Losses
45:21 Pain = Suffering x Resistance
52:35 Time Trouble
55:07 Giving up Control
58:00 Self-Adopted Identities
1:00:28 Beauty in Complexity
1:03:46 Preserving the Love for the Game
1:15:31 Pre-Game Rituals
Benji Portheault, a seasoned performance coach with experience working with chess players of all levels, including super grandmasters, joined the podcast to discuss the mental aspects of chess. Throughout the conversation, he explored topics such as meditation, dealing with tilt, tournament preparation, and the psychology of chess success. Benji gave insights into how identity, confidence, and mindset play crucial roles in a player's performance. His approach combines modern psychology with meditation techniques to help players build resilience and manage the stress of competition effectively.
A major focus of the discussion was on managing emotions during games, particularly in high-pressure situations. Benji explained the importance of developing self-awareness, identifying negative thought patterns, and learning how to reset mentally after mistakes. He introduced techniques such as open monitoring meditation and mental reframing to help players regain focus and prevent one mistake from snowballing into further blunders. He also emphasized the need for practical routines before and during games, including recognizing the feeling of playing well and recalling past successful experiences to build confidence.
The conversation also touched on broader topics like rating anxiety, tournament nerves, and the importance of maintaining a love for the game. Benji encouraged players to cultivate a healthy relationship with chess, understanding that improvement requires embracing both wins and losses as learning experiences. He highlighted how professionals and amateurs alike struggle with the psychological challenges of competition, making mental training just as crucial as tactical and strategic preparation.