I guess I should RETIRE from competitive Chess

@Subomega

I'm weary of this 'either-or' fallacy that's been made prevalent within this thread.

I am highly competitive.
Chess players are hyper-competitive by nature.

No, nobody said, "change your atitude to be not competitive to like a competitive sport."

I almost never play unrated. I like the competition.
It does not follow that playing for rating points is my primary motivation.
It does not follow that my drive to improve my rating is a sustainable reason for wanting to sit down at the chess board.

Every few weeks, someone just like the OP comes to these forums to announce how their infatuation with their points is no longer a sustainable reason for sitting down to play chess, and they announce that they're moving on.

I've seen nobody, ever, not a single one, whose ever voiced even a fraction of the interest and enjoyment in the creation, discovery, objectivity, art, and absolute science of chess that I share, come to these forums and announce that somehow after 1-2-5-10-50 years, they woke up one day and their enjoyment had magically vanished, and chess is no longer worth their time.

There are sustainable reasons for playing chess.
There are unsustainable reasons for "playing chess".

People that belong at the chessboard, especially those who learned chess before it was convenient, all had the Spirit of Chess tattoo "Chess For Life" somewhere behind our eyeballs.

We know why we play chess, and we can see when those same motivators are completely foreign and absent in others.

I agree with the OP. Chess is an enormous waste of time unless you can achieve a standard high enough to compete at top levels, or at least are good enough to teach/lecture/coach. If either those are not your goals or you do not have a realistic chance of attaining those levels, it is best either to abandon chess altogether or to relegate it to a very occasional past-time.

Among past-times, reading and music are more worthwhile.

@Subomega im 35 and this is my first time above 2100._. I was stuck in the 1900s for a while._ i think about what do i get out ofit , i remember it helps distract me of a lonely existance._. It keeps my drinking down._. Life for me is work 10 hours go home, nobody to talk to , but playing connects me to people who know how to play and share interests in the game . Ive had year or more gaps when i was younger now i play everyday or do tactics everyday to get from 1800 to 2000 takes alot of practice somedays your hot and others you struggle to get any half decent moves in._ Im a chess player for life now._. Maybe one day ill have a title or maybe ill just be that random person who walks in to your chess club beat everyone there and leave everyone wondering wtf just happened._

the argument was used when i heard a scam commentator about a chessgame. Even if you played before its convenient that doesn't make you a better person and doesn't give you a free pass. Second why need we talk people into chess, chess wont mind. Third i also heard no one leave after voicing that, because i never heard anyone voice those lofty goals. If someone told me that i would think he would want to sell me something.I honestly cannot believe it but maybe itstrue.

I quote lasker: by some ardent enthusiast chess has been elevated into a science or an art.It is neither. But its principle characteristic seem to ve- what humans delights in most- A fight. But i guess he wasn't a true chess4life guy.

Well I am sorry but I cant make sense of what you are saying..

If you really like chess then why not to play it for the joy of it, nobody said that playing on chess tournaments cant be just for the joy and instead has to be a live devoting process of memorizing all the possible machine moves etc ask GM Ivanchuk :P

Then you are mentioning your elo rate and age... if its not about joy of playing chess or at least not entirely and rather you would like to distinguish yourself in this game then age doesn't matter there are a few GMs who got their GM title after their 30s.... and I guess there are plenty more who got other titles (e.g IM ) well after their 30s... So what gives?

I think you just are psychologically down for whatever reason chess related or not and made this post due to that or that you really dont want to play chess anymore but for some reason fell bad for taking such a decision (e.g feeling that you'll disappoint your grandfather) and you seek for reinsurance for taking that decision.

Well there is no reason to stop playing chess whatever your goals are (be it joy or getting distinguished ).

But if you dont enjoy playing chess anymore then I guess its time to admit it to yourself and stop playing chess until you feel like playing again if such time comes ever in the future.

Life is good either way and I am sure you deserve love either way and that there are people that love you and if you think there are not any then just look closer :)

what about another fine board game............ parchesi, which actually has pawns.... or checkers.... monopoloy... chutes and ladders........and of course, candyland.... i've seen too many shells of master players........ on the downslope of life..... sad cases.... so sad..... i mean, it seems like some people put a LOT into their game, and then plateau at some point.... and that's it... other people (with ratings beneath them) may look up to them, but they don't seem that happy themselves.

Age and stress reducing your zeal of interest in chess?...Intact half of lichess players are same boat, but these two ....AGE AND STRESS overcoming by them...At this age the matured levels in game increases...I am at 64 years, but trying to learn the chess not to become prof.player or participate in competitions...My goal is i learned chess in my child hood....But my responsibilities and duties not allowed me to play frequently...Now I am learning the chess...Making blunders, learning from it, playing again properly etc. ..This process continues up to my last left days sure...Just enjoying the games by playing...You can spectator games, but real joy comes from playing games....Please play games for few more years...Your mind state will clears

It's very sad to see that chess players in the 21st century have lost contact with spirituality and inner wisdom



When a chess player moves, he should think "how can I contribute?" rather than "how can I win?".

Erase your old view for a moment, then conceptualise of chess as:
(1) a brotherly and participatory dialectical process of team art creation (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artist_collective). Is your opponent your enemy, or your co-artist? Could the pyramids have been built by one man?
(2) a coping mechanism that acts to alleviate loneliness (through distraction and companionship) while causing minimal harm to health and finances (compare to alcohol, drugs, etc). Visualize participating in the glicko2 pool for your chosen time control as a sort of anonymous therapy group where we all help one another as brothers.

Doesn't this more brotherly perspective of chess feel much more wholesome?

🙏 Warm regards, Burrower 🙏

I like this:

"When a chess player moves, he should think "how can I contribute (to a better position)?" rather than "how can I win?"

This paradigm makes not only every single game worthwhile, W/L/D, but every single move of every single game.
This way, the worthwhile enjoyment is guaranteed to be found in the process, not in the final score.

I equally like this:

"Is your opponent your enemy, or your co-artist?"

Exactly. A debate is useless without a competent argument/counter-argument.