What is the hardest thing in chess???

Hello again and thanks to all of the responses to my previous topics, I appreciate it!

Now comes this question:

What is the most difficult thing for you, when dealing with chess?

For some, it's taking a tough loss, for others memorizing 42 variations of the Rubinstein Nimzo-Indian, and others is looking for a good plan in the middle game....

Personally, the hardest thing I found to be is the impossibility to pause and rest.  And what's worse, I know that it is very important to rest the head, the thinking, it inhibits improvement.   The mind is like a body, in a way, you can't work out non stop, the body will break down, it needs rest, to rebuild, to get stronger.  So MY dilemma is this, I can't stop to rest the mind, and I also know I must.  (discpline problem).... If I am not doing anythin, I hit chess, either reading an article or study tactics or going thru a game, etc...this is getting on my nerves...lol

What's yours?

The ones I have moset trouble with is maintaining my material and a good position.

Have the patience to think far enough .. Calculation and tactics and all that thing aren't that difficult .. But I really admire thoose who can do it for longer than 5min per move

The opening.  It's hard to learn in books, and when you try, no one at my level (myself or my opponent) stick to it for more than a move or two.

I find that while I'm playing I'm doing alright but as the game progress into the middle game I started to inwardly panic because either my opponent is making me do things I don't want to or the position of the pieces won't allow me to make the moves that I'd like to.  Fighting back this mild internal panic and allowing myself to stay calm and focused is the hardest thing for me at this point.

Waiting for my opponent to move....

The hardest things in chess are:

•  Organizing a good queenside defence with half of your pieces on the i file.
• Castling on a life-sized chess board. (especially is it's metal)
• Checkmate Fischer in 2 moves
• Checkmate Kasparov in 3 moves (it's really hard to resist the mate in 2)
• Teaching a cat to play. (especially my cat. Trust me, it's very hard)
• Play using chessmen cookies as pieces and not eat captured ones.
• Improve your endgame by studying openings
• Win a K+P+P+P+P+P+P+P+P vs. K+R endgame without pawn promotions
• Develop your knights right after opening with a3 c3 f3 h3

And the #1 hardest thing in chess is...

(dramatic music w/ drumroll)

Not having fun!

The 4th bullet point is intended as a mere joke and I do not wish to offend the great Garry Kasparov or his fans.

The hardest thing for me is getting to the middlegame with an advantage or equality. My openings are pretty weak, especially with black.

no one said winning yet?

The hardest thing for me right now in chess is trying to balance myself between being an aggressive, sharp, tactical player and being a positional player. Although I'm capable of playing both ways, I've never seemed to be able to find a happy medium between those two styles. This dilemma has cost me so many games. I'm always looking for ways to play gambits (impatient), and I often get lost when my opponent doesn't cooperate . To make matters worse, I do not like to play computers, something that will probably force me to be positional from move one. That's the hardest thing for me right now.

A close 2nd is the skill of analyzing pawn structures. Chess masters teach that pawn structure give clues as to how to continue an attack, or they tell you how your opponent will likely continue.  I have not mastered this skill.

for me the hardest thing is getting 2 excited i have had wins against 2000s sealed in blitz chess then i get to excited and fail :(

The hardest thing for me is the first forty moves(unless the game is longer).

 Is that good or bad?

The hardest thing about chess?

Winning and finding no milk left in the fridge for the Coffee, when you are on a roll!

Hi Spoiler -- When we are not doing anything, we turn to chess, which is healthier than some things we turn to at times when we are not doing anything. However, sometimes the best thing to do when we are not doing anything is to continue not doing anything. Because not doing anything actually is doing something, namely, "doing not doing." This is a Zen concept. We can benefit by learning not only to tolerate doing nothing, but to actively and passionately Do. Nothing. This is meditation. I was once on a Zen retreat where we were sitting meditating for hours and hours, and then it was time to eat and then wash the dishes. The guy I was washing dishes with said "this is so boring." Interesting, he had not felt bored sitting for hours and hours with his eyes half open (or maybe closed) watching his breath. Check out some meditation places in NY -- the New York Shambhala Center, the NY Insight Meditation Center, or maybe New York Zendo. It does wonders for the mind and the body.

Controlling the compulsion to spend every waking minute playing it.

Being of a tactical mindset, the hardest thing is resisting the compulsion to use the first tactic available without looking at the other options.

Mine is trying to stay equal in the middlegame. My opening theory and memorisation is pretty good, and still going strong, so I tend to play pretty solid openings. My middlegames are the worse, usually involes a blunder or overlooking my opponent's plan, or making a dubious move in a way, or missing a good move. If I come out of the middlegame fairly equal, I tend to shine pretty well in the endgame.

Either that or careless moves at certain stages of the game.

Hardest thing is to go to the next level of playing and understanding chess. I play chess from when I was 7 or 8 yo. And I never improved my game unless I gave some significant time and effort to the game. I can play relaxed now, and win most of my games with <1600 opponents. But when it comes to stronger players I am somewhat weak, and blunder prone. When I give my best I can cope with 1700 players with say 60-40 succes rate. But taking it to the next lvl is going to take some serious time, study, and thinking for me. As it had before. I believe that just playing wont get you better. I can not always count on blunders of my opp, and w8 for his/her mistakes. When I play stronger players, I have to show some briliance and understanding of chess in some higher levels. I can not just move my pieces and hope for the best. Every move I make make can cost me later or be a savior in every game, far beyond I can see.