So recently I've been playing chess games, helping myself and abandoning school work but then, I came to a dead end and begin to ponder if I should play chess to be successful or just as a hobby. What do you think about it?
@Thinker001 said in #1:
> So recently I've been playing chess games, helping myself and abandoning school work but then, I came to a dead end and begin to ponder if I should play chess to be successful or just as a hobby. What do you think about it?
I assume u should improve more, before stopping to think of it as a hobby
"... Many aspiring young chess players dream of one day becoming a grandmaster and a professional. ... But ... a profession must bring in at least a certain regular income even if one is not too demanding. ... The usual prize money in Open tournaments is meagre. ... The higher the prizes, the greater the competition. ... With a possibly not very high and irregular income for several decades the amount of money one can save for old age remains really modest. ... Anyone who wants to reach his maximum must concentrate totally on chess. That involves important compromises with or giving up on his education. ... it is a question of personal life planning and when deciding it is necessary to be fully conscious of the various possibilities, limitations and risks. ... a future professional must really love chess and ... be prepared to work very hard for it. ... It is all too frequent that a wrong evaluation is made of what a talented player can achieve. ... Most players have the potential for a certain level; once they have reached it they can only make further progress with a great effort. ... anyone who is unlikely to attain a high playing strength should on no account turn professional. ... Anyone who does not meet these top criteria can only try to earn his living with public appearances, chess publishing or activity as a trainer. But there is a lack of offers and these are not particularly well paid. For jobs which involve appearing in public, moreover, certain non-chess qualities are required. ... a relevant 'stage presence' and required sociability. ... All these jobs and existences, moreover, have hanging above them the sword of Damocles of general economic conditions. ... around [age] 40 chess players ... find that their performances are noticeably tailing off. ..." - from a 12 page chapter on becoming a chess professional in the book, Luther's Chess Reformation by GM Thomas Luther (2016)
https://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/LuthersChessReformation-excerpt.pdf
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/world-chess-championship-inside-the-business-of-chess-magnus-carlsen-maurice-ashley-hikaru-nakamura-154502738.html
Keep chess as a hobby.
considering you well over 2000 Elo points short being able be chess professional you are ahead of time in this pondering.
As a profession. For electiricial is quite enough to in top 1 000 000 to make living out it (probably dont need to make it that high). While in chess you need to be in about 1000 to make enough money to live on it. As chess teacher running chess clubs on schools etc. is more doable but I dont think it high income job either
@Thinker001 said in #1:
> So recently I've been playing chess games, helping myself and abandoning school work but then, I came to a dead end and begin to ponder if I should play chess to be successful or just as a hobby. What do you think about it?
The same answer as the one given to aspiring poker players asking if they should quit their day job or school and go pro:
If you have to ask, then the answer is no.
Even some of the world champions had actual day jobs...
@Thinker001
Absolutely not.
Chess is one of the worst activities to make money. There is some money if you can become a popular youtuber / twitcher. But like Derg said treat it as a hobby and if you get good then so be it. Even then Masters don't make any money, even with coaching, books, whatever.
You have to be really really good if you want to make money
No :)
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