Is chess a good game?

I am 20 years old. I have a FIDE rating of 2050 in classical chess. I learned the rules of the game at about 4 or 5 years old and have been casually playing in tournaments since I was around 13/14 years old. A couple years back I used to be absolutely CRAZY about chess. Especially when I just got into it more seriously at about 14, I thought it was my life calling. As time went by, the waves of excitement went up and then down and then up again and then down again, but right now I'm at an all time low. It's a daily habit to go online and play blitz, but I just don't enjoy it as much anymore. Classical tournaments used to be so much fun, but now, after I've been playing for about an hour or so I just can't wait for the game to be over. I have a hard time even finishing a 9 round classical tournament, it just feels like a hassle, like a really difficult, boring job which I would rather not be doing.

I would think that chess is maybe not for me, but I sometimes still get that childish excitement and happiness when I look at a beautiful endgame study or a beautiful, long calculation, which just makes me more confused.
That makes me think of the late great Bobby Fischer (who happens to be my chess hero, and my favorite player of all time). In his later years he would say over and over again how chess is a terrible game, how it's all about memorisation and packing a lot of information into your head, without talent being required....
What do you guys think? Is chess turning into a bad game or is my love-hate relationship with chess just my personal thing? Thanks in advance.

If you have a problem with chess - chess is not to blame for.

I don’t like chess, I love it! ;)

I think you've misunderstood me, @Sarg0n. I'm not looking to "blame" anything nor anyone. I'm expressing my feelings about the game, and asking if others have experienced something similar. Also, the title of the post is "Is chess a good game?" and you don't touch on that topic.

One can love a bad game, and there are many examples of this. For example, in the world of video games, some games which many consider to be not so good have very loyal fans who love them dearly. Doesn't make them good. The question if chess is still a good game or not I think is very valid, and I don't know the answer.

What I do know is that even if it has outlasted its period of high quality, it would be nothing to be embarrassed about - it lasted many centuries, which is much more than most other games manage.

What is a "good" game? It's good enough for most wood pushers. From what I've read, it's good enough for most people at your level too. Frankly, I'm amazed something hasn't superseded chess yet at the master level. Fischer random, Go, or a new game. If an objectively better game is out there waiting to be discovered, I hope it happens in my lifetime. If it already exists, please share it with the rest of us.

@ConanTheBarbarian You open with an excellent question. I don't have an answer to what makes a game good.

Many great masters of the past have shared this opinion that chess is somehow flawed. The most obvious one is Fischer, who proposed Chess960 as a solution, and I do think it is objectively a better game than chess, but it's not so easy to get adjusted to change I suppose.

Yasser Seirawan came up (not on his own, as he likes to point out) with an alternate version of chess, too, with significantly different rules than what normal chess has.
Capablanca proposed a different version of chess, too. I believe it featured two new pieces as well as a 10x8 board instead of the regular 8x8 chessboard.
If I remember correctly, someone also had the idea of starting a chessgame with two kings for both players, but I can't find who it was right now.

Don't get me wrong - I would hate to sound like a snob. I DO NOT, in any way, shape, form or fashion think that chess is not good enough "for me". I'm just experiencing my enjoyment of chess declining in recent times and I'm just having a conversation with other people in the chess community as to why that might be. Just sharing experiences.
I hope nobody will take this in any way personally or offensively, but that's probably asking too much.

@JARANDujo I'm not offended. I've read about the variants you've mentioned. I think the problem with Chess960, is that it doesn't solve a problem most amateur players have with the game. Openings rarely decide our games. I could only see amateur players accepting Chess960 as their primary game if it replaced Chess at the top level.

That said, this is a really interesting time for board games. For myself, I would like to see a cooperative strategy game become as popular as our game has. Instead of the traditional player vs. player we play now.

"Is chess turning into a bad game or is my love-hate relationship with chess just my personal thing? "
It happens to most of us. For an amateur it is easy: just stop playing for some time, pursue other interests. After a while you may want to pick up chess again and enjoy it. Sometimes a period of chess abstinention is dictated by circumstances: study, work, family. For a professional it is much harder: if you gain your living from it and if you cannot do anything else, you must play and you must play well. Nevertheless Kramnik often expressed his profound love for the game prior to his retirement.

" It's a daily habit to go online and play blitz, but I just don't enjoy it as much anymore. "
Then why do you play blitz? Do something else that you enjoy more.

"Classical tournaments used to be so much fun, but now, after I've been playing for about an hour or so I just can't wait for the game to be over." Then do not sign up for classical tournaments, do something else that is fun to you.

"it just feels like a hassle, like a really difficult, boring job which I would rather not be doing." Well, then do not. You are not forced too.

"I sometimes still get that childish excitement and happiness when I look at a beautiful endgame study or a beautiful, long calculation, which just makes me more confused."
Well then look at more endgame studies, maybe try to compose one yourself. Play through more games of your favourite player and enjoy.

Life is too short to do things you do not enjoy or that are not fun to you. Sometimes we must to earn our living, but a hobby should be fun and joy.

@tpr You do raise interesting points, and I definitely see where you are coming from. I'm just feeling kind of confused, since, like I said, until recently I used to think that chess is my life's calling (in one way or another). Classical tournaments were some of my favorite things to do in the world, and I would be capable of spending 8 hours of a day studying a book or a tournament...

I guess giving it some time, clearing my mind and letting go of chess for a while would help reset the whole thing. It's just such a big part of my life.

It is a game, it should be fun. Do not let it be an addiction.

Okay, I change my mind, I love chess. :D