I wish I never read this post. I was so happy but this made me sad. Thanks to some amazing replies I feel better now.
@AbhirupPal said in #21:
> I wish I never read this post. I was so happy but this made me sad. Thanks to some amazing replies I feel better now.
Next time choose the blue pill.
> I wish I never read this post. I was so happy but this made me sad. Thanks to some amazing replies I feel better now.
Next time choose the blue pill.
@jds108 said in #1:
> You will statistically never be an IM/GM. That your chess is average, that you're average, and hundreds if not thousands of players exist who are objectively superior to you.
>
> This is a hard reality to accept. To accept mediocrity no matter how much you play and study, you know? It makes me sad I will forever be terrible at this game.
I think it helps to detach your self worth from your rating. Just play chess and study chess to have fun, and don’t worry about the fact that you’ll never be a Grandmaster. The amount of sacrifices that someone has to make to be anywhere near world class at something is very extreme. And for what? So that FIDE recognizes you? Nobody else is going to care that you made Grandmaster. You won’t have lucrative endorsements and bikini models throwing themselves at you. You won’t be invited onto talk shows. You’ll just be some broke lonely dude in an apartment who can give a good lecture on the subtleties of the Ruy Lopez. Certainly there must be more to life than that. All that being said, if you only care about chess and nothing else and it makes you happy, then do it. But don’t say you weren’t warned that you’ll end up being some broke single guy living in a van down by the river.
> You will statistically never be an IM/GM. That your chess is average, that you're average, and hundreds if not thousands of players exist who are objectively superior to you.
>
> This is a hard reality to accept. To accept mediocrity no matter how much you play and study, you know? It makes me sad I will forever be terrible at this game.
I think it helps to detach your self worth from your rating. Just play chess and study chess to have fun, and don’t worry about the fact that you’ll never be a Grandmaster. The amount of sacrifices that someone has to make to be anywhere near world class at something is very extreme. And for what? So that FIDE recognizes you? Nobody else is going to care that you made Grandmaster. You won’t have lucrative endorsements and bikini models throwing themselves at you. You won’t be invited onto talk shows. You’ll just be some broke lonely dude in an apartment who can give a good lecture on the subtleties of the Ruy Lopez. Certainly there must be more to life than that. All that being said, if you only care about chess and nothing else and it makes you happy, then do it. But don’t say you weren’t warned that you’ll end up being some broke single guy living in a van down by the river.
@Le_Patzer83 said in #23:
>You won’t have lucrative endorsements and bikini models throwing themselves at you. You won’t be invited onto talk shows. You’ll just be some broke lonely dude in an apartment who can give a good lecture on the subtleties of the Ruy Lopez.
not true, all the good looking GMs have million dollar endoresements and many bikini babes throwing themselves on the players. This is a known fact about the game.
>You won’t have lucrative endorsements and bikini models throwing themselves at you. You won’t be invited onto talk shows. You’ll just be some broke lonely dude in an apartment who can give a good lecture on the subtleties of the Ruy Lopez.
not true, all the good looking GMs have million dollar endoresements and many bikini babes throwing themselves on the players. This is a known fact about the game.
@jeremy_chess said in #2:
> masters at chess was always once a beginner
Sometimes they still are. ;) And everybody is terrible compared to somebody else; it doesn't matter who you are...unless you're that one guy on top (and someday he'll be #2 again too).
> masters at chess was always once a beginner
Sometimes they still are. ;) And everybody is terrible compared to somebody else; it doesn't matter who you are...unless you're that one guy on top (and someday he'll be #2 again too).
For 99.99% of us, it's not only chess - we'll never be the best at *anything*. I'm a parent, and I try not to be a horrible one, but I long ago accepted that I'll never be the best parent. Probably not even the best parent in my neighborhood. Same goes for any activity: photography, writing, driving, making music... I just try to do *my* best and be a good person.
@MrPushwood said in #25:
> Sometimes they still are. ;) And everybody is terrible compared to somebody else; it doesn't matter who you are...unless you're that one guy on top (and someday he'll be #2 again too).
wise boi in the chat.
> Sometimes they still are. ;) And everybody is terrible compared to somebody else; it doesn't matter who you are...unless you're that one guy on top (and someday he'll be #2 again too).
wise boi in the chat.
I think the obvious answer is you just have to admit how much less effort you are willing to spend than the titled players. Lower rated players might PLAY chess as much, but doing the tactical/endgame/strategic study the gap in effort is massive. If you accept you put in less effort you can accept getting a lesser result. The only unhappiness occurs when you lie to yourself and claim you are making the same level of sacrifices in your life. People who become titled players normally treat chess study as a full time job. They love more than just playing, they love learning every aspect of the game and will do all the needed self improvement/learning that the rest of us are too lazy to do.
@jds108
Everyone (at least me) knows that.
Nothing new.
And for your question, for me chess is passion. I have no interest to become GM and I don't even think about that.
Also, if one is set to pursue career in chess then one has to carry will and determination to prove to be successful instead of thinking that chances are so low.
Remember the golden rule,
'Chess is not about probability, it's all about skill'
Everyone (at least me) knows that.
Nothing new.
And for your question, for me chess is passion. I have no interest to become GM and I don't even think about that.
Also, if one is set to pursue career in chess then one has to carry will and determination to prove to be successful instead of thinking that chances are so low.
Remember the golden rule,
'Chess is not about probability, it's all about skill'
Sometimes, it's enough simply to do something. You needn't also be the best at it.
Few individuals may stand out, or be remembered long after they're gone, but we're all part of something larger than ourselves --- connected to one another, the past and future, this planet and the cosmos it grew out of. You have chosen to share a portion of your journey with fellow players of this game. Which is cool, because (1) chess is cool; (2) some of the people who play it are pretty cool, too; and (3) you're cool, just for recognizing and appreciating that. :)
Chess is a simple language anyone can learn to speak. More than this --- and somewhat profoundly, I think --- it's like the distillation of all possible conversations, into an abstract model, consisting largely of symbolic logic with a little psychology thrown in. The players both try to frame the conversation their own way, and to this end they argue over the details of it. Anyway, but you don't need to be the best writer who ever lived just to be able to communicate. You know? Anyone can converse on a chessboard, in various dialects, with varying degrees of fluency.
And it's all relative. Because wherever you're at, you can find and play against others who are close to your level. And you know, some games played by average players are beautiful, even works of art; and some masters' games are boring draws, where nothing exciting or original happens the whole way through. Also, grandmasters blunder all the time in bullet for example, and the latest & greatest engines disagree with earlier ones. So actually nobody's perfect. But if this last World Championship taught us anything, it's that sometimes being human is an advantage. Doing the unexpected can be a strength.
In any case, you don't need to be a master to appreciate chess. And that's partly why it's such a great passtime. It engages your mind, invites & rewards concentration, gives you a mental workout, is aesthetically elegant, and is just plain fun. There are all too many less enjoyable things to do in this world (heh). And there are plenty of things to enjoy about chess --- so just do that. Enjoy it. :)
And when you witness one of those amazing games that floors you because it's so brilliant (like some of Tal's) . . . just appreciate it the way you would great music, or fine food. You don't need to know how to play all those instruments yourself, or cook like that, to be able to enjoy it. That you can simply follow along with it means (1) you have good taste, and (2) you're already luckier than most people on earth, who have never had the simple pleasure of witnessing such things, let alone understanding them.
I know I'll never be a chess master, because I started too late and don't play often enough. But this deep & beautiful game has enriched my life, without question. Few things are more satisfying than a really good game of chess. I have played some that had me on the edge of my seat, and I've witnessed others that blew my mind. I wouldn't trade those experiences for the world. I know I'm a better person for having discovered chess.
So it doesn't bother me at all that I'm not a master, just maybe an average club player on a good day. That's enough for me. You can't do everything to perfection; but with some things, just to be able to do them at all is enough. For me right now, chess is kind of low on my list of priorities in life. But I wouldn't even consider quitting altogether. It's just one of those things I do in my leisure time, rather than professionally. I respect people who play chess competitively for a living, but I'm actually kind of glad I don't, because of how little time I'd have for anything else, and because it might turn into a chore and become more stressful than relaxing. At the same time though, I'm happy to watch those players' games and learn what I can from them, and I'm grateful that I can play at all.
Someone I knew once said, "Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly." He turned the old adage on its head, and I don't always agree with him, but if you apply what he said to chess, I think that's the right attitude. After all, mistakes are how we learn, and there's always the next game. . . . Perfection is a goal you shall never attain in this lifetime, but that doesn't mean you can't always be moving toward it and improving yourself. In taking up chess you may have laid the foundation for a building that will never be completed in your lifetime, but I'd say that's actually a good thing, because it means you will always be growing. And as someone else said, "Life is about the journey, not the destination."
Cheers
Few individuals may stand out, or be remembered long after they're gone, but we're all part of something larger than ourselves --- connected to one another, the past and future, this planet and the cosmos it grew out of. You have chosen to share a portion of your journey with fellow players of this game. Which is cool, because (1) chess is cool; (2) some of the people who play it are pretty cool, too; and (3) you're cool, just for recognizing and appreciating that. :)
Chess is a simple language anyone can learn to speak. More than this --- and somewhat profoundly, I think --- it's like the distillation of all possible conversations, into an abstract model, consisting largely of symbolic logic with a little psychology thrown in. The players both try to frame the conversation their own way, and to this end they argue over the details of it. Anyway, but you don't need to be the best writer who ever lived just to be able to communicate. You know? Anyone can converse on a chessboard, in various dialects, with varying degrees of fluency.
And it's all relative. Because wherever you're at, you can find and play against others who are close to your level. And you know, some games played by average players are beautiful, even works of art; and some masters' games are boring draws, where nothing exciting or original happens the whole way through. Also, grandmasters blunder all the time in bullet for example, and the latest & greatest engines disagree with earlier ones. So actually nobody's perfect. But if this last World Championship taught us anything, it's that sometimes being human is an advantage. Doing the unexpected can be a strength.
In any case, you don't need to be a master to appreciate chess. And that's partly why it's such a great passtime. It engages your mind, invites & rewards concentration, gives you a mental workout, is aesthetically elegant, and is just plain fun. There are all too many less enjoyable things to do in this world (heh). And there are plenty of things to enjoy about chess --- so just do that. Enjoy it. :)
And when you witness one of those amazing games that floors you because it's so brilliant (like some of Tal's) . . . just appreciate it the way you would great music, or fine food. You don't need to know how to play all those instruments yourself, or cook like that, to be able to enjoy it. That you can simply follow along with it means (1) you have good taste, and (2) you're already luckier than most people on earth, who have never had the simple pleasure of witnessing such things, let alone understanding them.
I know I'll never be a chess master, because I started too late and don't play often enough. But this deep & beautiful game has enriched my life, without question. Few things are more satisfying than a really good game of chess. I have played some that had me on the edge of my seat, and I've witnessed others that blew my mind. I wouldn't trade those experiences for the world. I know I'm a better person for having discovered chess.
So it doesn't bother me at all that I'm not a master, just maybe an average club player on a good day. That's enough for me. You can't do everything to perfection; but with some things, just to be able to do them at all is enough. For me right now, chess is kind of low on my list of priorities in life. But I wouldn't even consider quitting altogether. It's just one of those things I do in my leisure time, rather than professionally. I respect people who play chess competitively for a living, but I'm actually kind of glad I don't, because of how little time I'd have for anything else, and because it might turn into a chore and become more stressful than relaxing. At the same time though, I'm happy to watch those players' games and learn what I can from them, and I'm grateful that I can play at all.
Someone I knew once said, "Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly." He turned the old adage on its head, and I don't always agree with him, but if you apply what he said to chess, I think that's the right attitude. After all, mistakes are how we learn, and there's always the next game. . . . Perfection is a goal you shall never attain in this lifetime, but that doesn't mean you can't always be moving toward it and improving yourself. In taking up chess you may have laid the foundation for a building that will never be completed in your lifetime, but I'd say that's actually a good thing, because it means you will always be growing. And as someone else said, "Life is about the journey, not the destination."
Cheers
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