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The James Altucher Show

Obsession, Chess, and the Myth of Mastery | James & Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam on the "New in Chess" Podcast

The James Altucher Show

James Altucher

Society & Culture, Talk Radio, Writer, Philosophy, Comedy, Chess, How To, Entrepreneurship, Jay, James, The James Altucher Show, Altucher, Author, Jay Yow, Education, Jay The Engineer, Business, James Altucher

4.6 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 15 June 2025

⏱️ 64 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A Note from James:

So the question is, I really feel that in order to get not good at something, but great at something, you have to be obsessed. You can't just wake up and decide to be obsessed—it has to be deep, almost irrational. Obsession is like addiction. It throws your life off balance, and yet... there’s this insane joy when you enter the subculture of your obsession and get better at it.

I’ve seen this recently in crypto. I saw it in chess in Norway, commenting on what might’ve been the best chess tournament ever. And I felt it again when I sat down with Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam from New In Chess.

We didn’t just talk about chess. We talked about obsession, aging, failing at something you love, and trying to find your place in a subculture that’s moved on without you.

If you care about learning, obsession, or just love chess, you’re going to get something out of this episode. Dirk and I recorded this in Stavanger, Norway. I hope you love this conversation as much as I did being a part of it.


Episode Description:

What does it mean to return to your first love after nearly 30 years away? In this special crossover episode, James Altucher sits down with Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam, editor of New In Chess magazine, to reflect on his lifelong (and recently rekindled) obsession with chess. They explore how obsession shapes mastery, why wisdom sometimes trumps raw skill, and what it’s like to try and reclaim an old identity as an older version of yourself.

James opens up about losing games to kids half his age, obsessively chasing improvement, and why it still might be okay to fail—as long as the journey is honest. From teenage blitz tournaments to dinner with Garry Kasparov, from neuroscience to narrative writing, this episode is as much about how to live as it is about how to play.


What You’ll Learn:

  • Why obsession is both a superpower and a danger
  • How James approaches relearning chess after a 27-year break
  • What changes in the brain as we age—and how to work with it
  • The surprising ways chess opens doors in life, business, and writing
  • Why storytelling and vulnerability matter more than "success" alone


Timestamped Chapters:

  • [00:00] The Power of Obsession
  • [01:00] Travel Tales: Norway and Crypto
  • [03:00] Chess Commentary and Podcasting with Dirk Jan
  • [05:00] Dirk Jan's Intro on James Altucher
  • [08:00] James' Curiosity and Love of Learning
  • [10:00] Starting Chess at 17 and Becoming Addicted
  • [13:00] Losing to Irena Krush and Facing Limits
  • [17:00] Chess, Ego, and Real-World Consequences
  • [22:00] How Chess Skills Apply to Business Problems
  • [26:00] Writing as a Path Through Vulnerability
  • [33:00] Returning to Chess: Memory, Aging, and Rediscovery
  • [37:00] Eric Rosen, Coaches, and Mental Decline
  • [41:00] Pattern Recognition vs. Calculation
  • [47:00] What Makes Chess Players Unique
  • [50:00] Interviewing Kasparov, Judit Polgar, Hikaru
  • [56:00] Obsession and the Myth of Talent
  • [58:00] Will the Book Get Written?
  • [60:00] The James Altucher Invitational
  • [62:00] Reflecting on the Journey


Additional Resources:


See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

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0:35.5

So the question is, I really feel in order to get not good at something, but great at something, you have to be obsessed.

0:46.6

You can't just be obsessed about anything.

0:48.7

I can't just wake up one morning and say, I'm going to be obsessed about learning languages today,

0:52.8

or are going to be obsessed at math or investing or whatever today.

0:56.2

You have to be legitimately deep down obsessed.

1:00.5

And I think obsession has good connotations and bad connotations.

1:04.8

Like, you know, obsession is like addiction.

1:07.8

Like you have to want something more than you want

1:11.1

just about anything else in life.

1:14.2

And that kind of reminds me of the definitions of addiction.

1:19.2

And so you have to have a little bit,

1:20.5

a little bit of craziness to be obsessed,

1:23.0

a little bit of something almost wrong with you.

1:26.6

So there's a couple questions. One is, can you nurture that

1:30.4

obsession in yourself and do it in a healthy way? And I'm not so sure. Like whenever I've gotten

1:35.3

obsessed with something, it's hurt other areas of my life. It removes the balance from your life.

...

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