EP 469- Author Brad Stulberg on What ‘Excellence’ Means for Amateur Chess Players

Jan 27, 2026

Brad Stulberg, best-selling author and co-host of Excellence Actually, explores what pursuing excellence looks like for amateurs. He discusses arrival fallacy versus summit fever. Conversation touches on chess as a microcosm of performance, balancing digital and analog learning, handling plateaus, and lessons from interviews with top players like Maxime and Kasparov.

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INSIGHT

Chess As A Microcosm For Excellence

Chess is a raw, objective microcosm of life with clear feedback and emotional highs and lows.
Elite performance mixes intuition and deliberate thinking similar across domains like surgery and music.

ADVICE

Define Excellence As A Process

Treat excellence as the ongoing practice of caring deeply and improving, not a fixed standard.
Focus on process and personal growth rather than chasing an outcome-number.

ADVICE

Choose Small, Consistent Gains

Get small gains consistently: aim to get a little bit better frequently instead of heroic sessions.
When progress plateaus, shift motivation from visible gains to curiosity and enjoyment of the craft.

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Best-selling author Brad Stulberg has devoted a large part of his professional life to studying what it means to be excellent. He has interviewed peak performers in fields ranging from athletics and music to, of course, chess. His new book, The Way of Excellence distills all he learned. In our conversation, Brad shares tons of helpful advice for anyone looking to improve at something. We tackle topics such as:

– What “pursuing excellence” means for an amateur chess player hoping to get a little bit better – Why Brad admires chess, and what he learned from interviewing GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave for his new book, – Brad’s advice for striking a balance between digital and analog life and learning

As a long-time fan of Brad’s writing and podcast, I was honored to speak with him about improving at chess and other domains.

0:00- Be sure to check out the bots and courses at Chessiverse.com. Use the code “Perpetual30” to receive a 30% discount on courses and premium offerings.

2:00- Brad joins the show. What is “arrival fallacy” and is it the same thing as what hikers call "summit fever?”

08:00- Why did Brad want to include chess in a book about excellence?

12:00- How would Brad define excellence for someone engaged in a hobby, such as a chess player who just wants to go up in rating class?

15:00- Brad’s advice for people working hard on chess who are not seeing any rating gains

Mentioned: The Myth of Sisyphus by Camus

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22:00- What did Brad learn from an exchange with Kasparov about the value of early-life specialization?

Mentioned: Kasparov’s reply here:

https://x.com/Kasparov63/status/2002428459688341793

25:00- Brad’s experiences as a chess player and parent

28:00- Digital vs. Analog life and the biophilia hypothesis

37:00- The value of consistency over intensity

40:00- What Brad learned from interviewing 70+ elite performers across domains

45:00- Brad’s parting advice

Thanks to Brad for joining me, here is how to keep up with him:

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/bradstulberg/

Substack:

https://bradstulberg.substack.com/

Webpage:

https://www.bradstulberg.com/

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