Enjoyment vs Study

Does studying chess take away from the enjoyment of playing it..... I know that learning various opening moves and studying strategies can contribute to your overall standing ...but ....will you enjoy the game better than someone who plays it through pattern recognition......

@benjialextie There is no versus / Enjoyment & Study go hand to hand . If you are trying to find a reason to NOT Study you didn't ... Obviously Studying Chess is fun'

@ThunderClap said in #2:
> @benjialextie There is no versus / Enjoyment & Study go hand to hand . If you are trying to find a reason to NOT Study you didn't ... Obviously Studying Chess is fun'

Well.....how.....how could studying chess contribute to enjoyment of it....when some couldnt even pronounce some of the weird names of the opening....its like

.....take a music piece you been listening to and enjoying for a long time ....and then you see someone dismantle and explain every sound that makes up that music piece......i dont think i want to hear anything about music scales chord progressions....c minor ....etc....or the fact that its main sound was a preset loop in a synthesizer......it diminishes the enjoyment of that music.....

We have a heavy burden. Chess has been written about since the 1600’s, well, the version we play today. So most knowledge requires a doctorate of study and other factors to become good.

I follow the saying of Ecclesiastes.. “better to have one fistful of tranquility and one fistful of work than two fistfuls of work and chasing after the wind.” So find what is your relaxation for the moment and what is work.

For me 2+1 games have become meditation for me. I’m not as worried about my rating. When it does become about my rating I study and find other things to rest my mind and find tranquility in what I’m doing.

@benjialextie That's a shame that you think learning about the structure of a piece of music diminishes your enjoyment. I find that to be in no way the case. Similarly, learning about how a painting is made, or how a cake is baked, etc. People appreciated great chess games more when they read a good analysis in a good book, normally.

@ambrooks said in #5:
> @benjialextie That's a shame that you think learning about the structure of a piece of music diminishes your enjoyment. I find that to be in no way the case. Similarly, learning about how a painting is made, or how a cake is baked, etc. People appreciated great chess games more when they read a good analysis in a good book, normally.

Well you brought up important points......to be fair....you are right in some respects....
honestly there are situations where learning the structure of your favorite music brings joy.....however.....in a lot of ways especially in pop culture music you do get a revelation that your favorite tune was a sample of a mix of a sped up version of ...a remaster of......earlier pieces of work.....and it kind of takes away from the originality of your music.....certainly takes the shine off of it.

So yeah.....i have no problem with people who enjoy chess analysis...but take a look at this for example..1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cd4 4. Nd4 e5 5. Nc6 bc6 6. Bc4 Nf6 7. Bg5 Be7 8. Qe2 d5 9. Bf6 Bf6 10. Bb3 O-O 11. O-O a5 12. ed5 cd5 13. Rd1 d4 14. c4 Qb6 15. Bc2 Bb7 16. Nd2 Rae8 17. Ne4 Bd8 18. c5 Qc6 19. f3 Be7 20. Rac1 f5 21. ...
Now I dont know about you but......given a choice between reading that......and playing chess......I play chess

I study far more than I play. Mostly bc I hate losing (which I do bc my focus is trash, I'm 50)
And I have no illusions of greatness I just want honest games which is limited on chess.com.

Haven't played here yet, i use A.B. to train and puzzles... i would like to keep that fake 1500 rating lololololol but looks like honest play has issues here too so I'm reluctant.

@benjialextie Actually, I think it is a GOOD thing when you discover that the piece of music you once liked was actually stolen and/or sampled from an earlier piece of music. Because the truth shall set you free - and that feeling of liberation is a great feeling. You can also appreciate the truly original stuff more - that will compensate you for the loss of enjoyment for the rip-off product.

Also, I'm not sure I understand your point about the chess game. Are you saying that you would rather play a game of chess than read through some random piece of chess notation? Because that was not analysis, it was merely notation.

When I started playing chess, I was also very eager to start reading many books. However, I never really enjoyed any of them. Lately, 99% of the time, I am just doing puzzles on missed tactics from my own games. Thankfully, my rating has still been steadily increasing. If not, I might have had to change my way of studying again.

So, I think you need to change your approach to 'Chess Studies'. Maybe think of it as ways to better your chances of winning your chess games in the future. Heck, if you need to do meditation before every chess match to win and you enjoy doing it, then do it.

It's a completely personal thing, I'm not sure what answer you're looking for. Lazzaknight just said they've never enjoyed reading chess books and prefer puzzles, whereas I absolutely love studying chess books and trying out the ideas over the board and don't enjoy puzzles that much. Everyone will give you a difference view. You need to figure out what works for you, more strategic players will probably do more study, whereas positional players will be more inclined to focus on puzzles.

I probably spend x3 the amount of time studying than playing, it's hard to quantify how much that impact that has had on my level of play, but I think it's been significant. I would suggest starting with a little amount, like 30 mins a day of study and see how that works for you. Also, I recommend trying stuff over the board so you are not just memorising, but fully understanding it.