425: The Intermezzo Effect: Chess Champion Jennifer Shahade Teaches How to Win at Life
The Simple Sophisticate - Intelligent Living Paired with Signature Style
Shannon Ables
4.7 • 944 Ratings
🗓️ 6 May 2026
⏱️ 37 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Chess. At first, the idea of thinking like a chess champion may sound like an impossible feat if we do not know how to play the game, but as winner of two U.S. Women's Chess Championships and the first woman to win the U.S. Junior Chess Open, Jennifer Shahade shares in her new book, it all comes down to thinking well. Or to put it more precisely, thinking sideways.
In my conversation with Jennifer, who is also a two-time Global Poker Award winner and silver Olympic medalist, she will share what she means by her chosen title, and then we will dive into specific decision-making strategies that champion chess players like herself use and how they also translate into creating a life we love living.
Be sure to tune in to the audio version of our conversation as we will talk about the power of embracing intermezzos, why presence is crucial to seeing and then seizing opportunity, why focusing on our strengths is far more valuable than zeroing in on our weaknesses, and many more worthwhile pieces of life advice as witnessed through the lens of the game of chess. I do hope you enjoy the episode as Jennifer was a great guest and shared freely. And her Petit Plaisir offers a new perspective on a word we may have unfairly defined negatively.
Find the Show Notes for the episode on The Simply Luxurious Life blog - https://thesimplyluxuriouslife.com/podcast425
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the simple sophisticate, where in 2014, this podcast premiered, and now in its 12th season, |
| 0:10.0 | the show continues to focus on the same principles it was founded upon, the art of living a life of quality over quantity. |
| 0:18.0 | Topics range from creating an everyday life you love living, strengthening mindfulness |
| 0:22.9 | practices, building a capsule wardrobe, preparing seasonally delicious meals, traveling and exploring |
| 0:29.2 | France and Britain, and living life to the fullest as you courageously honor your true self, |
| 0:34.8 | because living well really is quite simple once we know the skills of |
| 0:39.3 | cultivating contentment. I'm your host, Shannon Ables, and whether you're listening while |
| 0:44.7 | you're on your commute, exercising, working in the garden or art studio, in route or returning from |
| 0:50.4 | that dream destination, or sitting down and savoring a hot cuppa or a cafe au lae. Thank you for |
| 0:57.1 | tuning in. Let's get started. Welcome to episode 425 of the Simple, Sophisticate podcast. And in today's |
| 1:05.9 | episode, I am so thrilled to be able to welcome onto the show, a guest who is a master in a field |
| 1:15.0 | that to me seems to be one of the most difficult things to master. And when I watch these folks |
| 1:24.4 | do what they do, it truly is inspiring. But as our guests will share, |
| 1:30.0 | so much of it comes down to how we think and to choose to learn and then apply the skills |
| 1:37.5 | that will help us to think well. Who am I talking about? I'm talking about a multi-national chess champion. Jennifer Shahati. |
| 1:48.5 | And she just recently published a book, Thinking Sideways, which is all about thinking like a chess |
| 1:55.7 | player so you can win at life. In our conversation today, she'll explain what she means by the title, |
| 2:02.8 | thinking sideways. And she'll also talk about why it's important for us to take a second look |
| 2:07.6 | at long-term planning. You know what I'm talking about, those five, 10-year plans, those |
| 2:12.2 | milestones, where you want to be when you're this age or that age, or you know what I'm getting |
| 2:16.2 | at. Also, there are so many tie-ins to living a life of contentment. And we'll talk about those as well, |
| 2:22.2 | such as presence and why it is the key to discovering opportunity, both in the game of chess |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Shannon Ables, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Shannon Ables and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.